An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | April 8, 2013

Kentucky Soldiers make big impact on small Comoros islands

By Courtesy Story

MORONI, Comoros - The last place Soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard ever thought they would be is on the Comoros Islands (officially called Union of the Comoros) off the coast of Eastern Africa.

After all, they were deploying to Djibouti, 1,600 miles north of the Comoros.

But that is exactly where Capt. Matthew Doughman, 1st Lt. Justin Gilliam, and Spc. Ryan Stull would end up. The mission was a 1-week military-to-military exchange to provide 28 Comoran soldiers “best practices” in first aid.

The Comoros is roughly twice the size of Louisville and is made up of three islands of more than 700,000 people. It is strategically located in the mouth of the Mozambique Channel in the western Indian Ocean roughly 200 miles east of Mozambique and 200 miles northwest of Madagascar.

In April 2012, heavy rains caused the worst flooding in decades in the Comoros. These downpours triggered landslides, collapsed bridges, contaminated fresh water supplies and isolated many communities from evacuation. With approximately 46,000 people displaced, France and India, along with the Red Crescent and Red Cross and funding from the U.S.’s USAID, began sending disaster-relief teams and supplies to the affected regions of the country.

To better prepare Comoros to handle future disasters, the country submitted a request to the U.S. Embassy in Madagascar, which also serves as home for the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to the Comoros, for a U.S. military-to-military team. The team would provide medical training on first aid, casualty evacuation procedures, CPR, and field hygiene to the Comoran military, whose members are often the first responders to a disaster.

After receiving the request at the embassy, it was sent to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) offices in Djibouti, where the Kentucky National Guard’s Task Force Longrifles was selected for the mission.

Doughman, a native of Crestview, Fla., served as mission commander and said he was thrilled to get an opportunity to visit the Comoros and work with the Comoran military.

“You can probably count on your hand the number of times National Guard Soldiers of any state have gotten to train in this beautiful country,” said Doughman.  “You could tell the Comoran Soldiers had a huge sense of accomplishment and took the training very seriously as well,” he added.

Gilliam, of Lexington, Ky., a medical services officer for Task Force Longrifles, was also selected to provide support for the mission. His responsibilities included teaching preventative medicine, CPR, and casualty-evacuation techniques.

“Many of these Soldiers have never received formal CPR training and I think the floods of 2012 have really provided them an experience that emphasizes why it is so important,” said Gilliam.

1st Lt. Yasser Said, the Comoran Liaison Officer who helped coordinate the mission, is excited about future partnerships as well.

“It’s a good thing to have the U.S. Soldiers here and we hope to have more of these kinds of partnerships in the future,” he said at the completion of the training.

All of the Task Force Longrifles Soldiers agreed the best part of the exchange was seeing how proud the Comoran soldiers were to have first aid skills so that they can better serve their fellow soldiers and civilians in times of crisis.

“The Comoran Soldiers were incredibly thankful to receive this training and I hope we made as big an impact on them as they have on us,” Doughman said.

 

 

Related Articles
Left to right, West Virginia Army National Guard Sgt. Michael Atik, Qatari Emiri Land Forces soldier Sultan Saleh Al-Mrri and West Virginia Army National Guard Solider of the Year Spc. Dominic Starry pose for a photo in Umm Salal Muhammed, Qatar, Feb. 5, 2025. The West Virginia Army National Guard hosted its annual Best Warrior Competition in partnership with Qatar Armed Forces Feb. 2-5, 2025, at the National Service Academy in Doha, Qatar.
West Virginia, DC Guard Compete in Qatar for Best Warrior
By Officer Candidate Ayden Norcross, | Feb. 7, 2025
UMM SALAL MUHAMMED, Qatar - Sixty-five service members from the West Virginia and District of Columbia National Guard traveled 7,000 miles to Qatar’s National Service Academy for the 2025 Best Warrior Competition.Qatar and...

Members of the Bulgarian Defense Ministry and the Tennessee Air National Guard pose for a photo after Bulgaria took delivery of its first batch of F-16 “Fighting Falcon” aircraft at Lockheed Martin’s Greenville, South Carolina, site, Jan. 31, 2025. Tennessee and Bulgaria have been partners in the Department of Defense National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program since 1993.
Tennessee National Guard Supports Bulgaria’s F-16 Acquisition
By Tech. Sgt. Darrell Hamm, | Feb. 7, 2025
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Bulgarian Air Force received its first batch of F-16 “Fighting Falcon” aircraft at Lockheed Martin’s production facility Jan. 31, marking a milestone in its efforts to modernize its military as a NATO...

A U.S. Air Force Airman assigned to the 146th Airlift Wing marshals a C-130H Hercules at the Combat Readiness and Training Center, Gulfport, Mississippi, Feb. 5, 2025. Exercise Sentry South-Southern Strike is a joint military training focusing on contingency response operations, agile combat employment, aeromedical evacuation, maritime training, specialized fueling operations and strategic airlift and airdrops.
Air Guard Conducts Sentry South-Southern Strike Exercise
By Senior Airman Shardae McAfee, | Feb. 7, 2025
GULFPORT, Miss. – Approximately 500 service members from the Active, Guard and Reserve components of the U.S. military participated in exercise Sentry South-Southern Strike 2025 at the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training...