Navy Cmdr. Gabe Valerio, from San Diego, performs a pterygium excision on a patient aboard the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), anchored off of Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia, as part of Pacific Partnership 2024-1, Jan. 17, 2024. Pacific Partnership, now in its 19th iteration, is the largest multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific and works to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships.

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Keywords: 2024-1, 24-1, medical, pacific, partnership, pp24, surgery