The Navy’s Strategy for Saving the World
The Navy's Strategy for Saving the World by David Axe, War is Boring.
For millions of people in Latin America, Africa and Asia, the U.S. Navy no longer conjures up images of war games and nuclear submarines. Instead, the sight of American sailors means one thing: free medical care.
In recent years, the Navy has started dispatching dozens of hospital ships—some as big as shopping malls—to aid developing nations. The crews consist of doctors, nurses, engineers, pilots, volunteers and even acupuncturists, all there to help.
As I learned while covering the Kearsarge ship in Nicaragua, the Nashville in Gabon and the Comfort in Panama, these missions aren’t about altruism; they're about winning friends and influencing nations…