U.S. Navy “Seabee” engineer, Lt. Mark Roys, checks the installation of a water treatment plant’s new static mixer. Photo courtesy of USGET

U.S. Navy dental personnel extract teeth from a Timoresepatient at Suai Hospital. Photo by PH(AW) Clover B. Christensen, USN

After completing the project, the Marines and sailors returned to the landing pad to board helicopters for the flight back to their ship. They left the small community of Aidabaleten with an improved schoolhouse for the children and materials to help them continue the restoration process.

U.S. Navy “Seabee” engineers build the concrete support pedestals for a new Bemos Water Treatment Plant. Photo courtesy of USGET

"As a MEU, we train to be able to conduct missions along the spectrum of conflict – from combat operations to humanitarian assistance," said U.S. Marine Col. Anthony Haslam, Commanding Officer, 11th MEU (SOC). "The Marines and sailors did an outstanding job and completed their projects with a level of detail well beyond all expectations. Coming and helping the generous people of this newly independent nation was an extremely rewarding experience for all of us. It was also a great opportunity for Marines and sailors to see a new country and a different way of life."

The Marines and sailors were supporting the USGET, a temporary U.S. military organization subordinate to the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) in Hawaii. The project was USGET’s final humanitarian assistance effort before ending several years of operations in the country. The Commander, USPACOM set up USGET in February 2000 to provide a continual U.S. military presence in Timor-Leste and coordinate humanitarian assistance projects conducted by visiting U.S. military units. A USPACOM representative assigned to the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Dili arranged the projects.

The closure of USGET signaled the final transfer of humanitarian assistance missions to civilian authority – a direct outcome of the increasingly stable situation in Timor-Leste. Visits by U.S Navy ships and other military units to the new nation will continue on a reduced scale in 2003.

A U.S. Air Force doctor, Maj. Kenneth Siu, examines an East Timorese baby in Maubara during a U.S. military medical program for local citizens. Photo courtesy of USGET