For Spc. Joshua Phillips, coming to the Philippines for Balikatan 2003 offered a chance to try new foods — including dog — and interact with his combat-hardened Philippine peers.

Phillips, and his Hawaii-based unit — the 58th Military Police company — weren’t rappelling from helicopters or firing on the range with the more than 1,000 other U.S. Balikatan participants.

They accompanied engineers and doctors spreading goodwill.

Nearly every exercise U.S. forces engage in worldwide includes a humanitarian element. U.S. personnel build schools and help the sick by the thousands. But they couldn’t do it without force protection.

U.S. Army MPs and Philippine Marines stand in sweltering jungle heat to guard medics and builders — and keep order among throngs of patients at Medical Civic Action Projects or MEDCAPs.

When thousands of people line up for medical treatment, MPs stop the crowds from pushing — and help people who faint in the heat. They guard the mission and learn about handling crowds in dangerous places.

“It really shows them how much we have in the U.S.,” said Master Sgt. Carolyn Emery, Civil Military Operations’ force protection officer. “This is an experience they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

The soldiers watched Philippine troops find their own food and make due with old dilapidated boots and uniforms.

“It’s really an eye-opener, what they go through in their normal lives,” Phillips said. “Everything’s provided for us. They have to go out and find it.”

He and other MPs were pleased to learn about Philippine culture, especially trying new foods. One example: Philippine soldiers served up dog.

“It tastes like fried spare ribs,” said Cpl. Jonathan Guzman, with the Guam National Guard. “I didn’t make a meal of it. It’s tasty though.”

The worst part was simply knowing what they were eating, he said. Both guards said it’s all part of experiencing a different culture.

Not all the MPs echoed those sentiments: “I cannot eat that — that’s a pet for me,” said Sgt. Humberto Perez. 

Shoulder-to-shoulder

For this year’s Balikatan — a Tagalog word meaning shoulder-to-shoulder — U.S. forces aided Philippine personnel in three engineering projects, building and renovating schools in three villages, and administered medical aid to about 20,000 people during nine MEDCAPs.

At Talisay, a dusty village several hours from Clark Air Base, one new classroom building and two renovated classroom buildings will give hundreds of children a cooler, cleaner place to learn.

The new buildings have chalkboards, better lighting and windows.

On hot days, the classrooms became sweatboxes, and the tin walls echo to the point of distraction, said Leonisa Padila, third-grade teacher.

“I’m a teacher back home,” said Army Lt. Col. Mike Ertman, a reservist who teaches at a public school and The Navy War College in the States. “This doesn’t look like much, but it’s light years ahead for this place.”

At Amadeo, a village in Cavite, the new school offers sisters Nikki and Mae Causaren a comfortable place to study.

Nikki, 12, likes the new colors after a fresh coat of paint. Mae, 8, likes the new chairs and space, she said through a translator.

Philippine Army Tech. Sgt. Luis L. Ramirez, who helped build the Causarens’ school, said working with U.S. servicemembers offered him a chance to learn new skills and work with more modern equipment and supplies. “They are helpful, and we learn a lot,” he said.

At Talisay, Philippine Seabees first dug out a foundation for the new building, using hand shovels and a lot of sweat. They took out a mango tree and its roots to make space, said Petty Officer 1st Class Federico Aspiras, the Philippine petty officer in charge.

The projects help children, and they also added $800,000 to the local economy, Ertman said.

“It helps a lot,” said Melvin Mendoza, owner of JMJV Trading, who supplied much of the project materials.

The project also gave U.S. servicemembers valuable experience in jungle construction, especially learning masonry from their Philippine counterparts,

“They can do things with concrete our guys can only dream about,” Ertman said. “It’s a good opportunity to bring our guys’ skills up a bit.”

Helping the sick

In a classroom cooled by two small oscillating fans, Army Capts. Melissa Mazur and Robyn Brand, who are pediatricians, held tiny infants in their laps looking for signs of trouble. For most, ear infections were the worst of it. But the two also discovered small children with uncorrected heart disease, an ailment not often seen in developed countries.

“In the U.S., most of them get corrected at birth,” Brand said.

The doctors checked thousands of tiny ears, throats and heartbeats in rapid succession without the benefit of time and laboratories for tests. Other doctors did similar jobs on adults.

“We can’t give long-term care,” said Col. David Crudo who headed the MEDCAPs. “There’s some limitation on what we can and can’t do.”

The medics did dentistry, optometry and minor surgery, although most of the surgeries were circumcisions. Boys are about 8 when they have the procedure done in the Philippines, medics said.

About 50 military medical personnel, half American and half Philippine, aided about 20,000 villagers during Balikatan’s nine MEDCAPs. The Americans included Navy personnel from Okinawa, Army from Hawaii and National Guardsmen from Guam.

The quick diagnostics and care aid the community and teach the servicemembers skills they could use in a refugee crisis or other mass medical emergency, Crudo said.

“We get out here and have our personnel train in somewhat austere conditions,” he said. “Diagnostic skills, acute care and working with what you’ve got.”

Four-legged aid

Beverly Garcia strained under the weight of 4-year-old Mochie, a sandy dog with a worried look.

“He’s heavy,” she said. Mochie squirmed but stayed calm for his rabies and distemper shots and oral worm medicine.

Military veterinarians and vet techs spent their time during Balikatan administering aid to dogs, cats, cows, horses, rabbits, pigs, fighting game cocks — which are kept as pets not fighters — a lizard, guinea pigs and water buffalo.

“Most people here are farmers,” said Army Sgt. Michael Hudson, from the Pacific Rim Veterinary Command. He is based in Kadena, Okinawa.

The vets go to the larger animals at various villages, but the dogs and cats come to them during the MEDCAPs. They’re treated in the open air above a dirt floor.

“It’s far different than in a clinical environment,” Hudson said of the conditions. “It makes it a little more difficult. We can’t really prescribe anything since we can’t test for anything.”

No laboratories or testing means creating some risks — certain medicines could be harmful to a pet with heartworms.

“You’re trying to do the lesser of two evils,” he said.

Hudson said he’s enjoyed the experience. As a former field soldier, he’s used to adapting to difficult situations.

But the lizard that came for treatment was a surprise, Hudson admits.

“We really couldn’t do much for him.”