Cambodia received similar assistance in 1995, Colon said. The earlier package included a complete mobile surgical field hospital, he said, as well as training of Cambodian military medics. Air Force Col. Phyllis Easley led the team to Cambodia and will head the third team into Laos this summer. She said this time could be more challenging because of the rugged conditions team members will face.
Conditions are primitive and unhealthy, to say the least.
Joe Kelley, Pacific Air Forces command surgeon. But like the Cambodian assistance that preceded it, the aid to Laos will help strengthen political relations between the United States and Laos, he said. In addition, we will probably provide medical assistance to Vietnam in the future, as well as to Mongolia and even China. Humanitarian assistance builds the status of the United States in the eyes of the recipients, Kelley said. Such programs, he added, are integral to decreasing tensions and preventing war.