*Capt. Blankenship when he took command of the Medical Treatment Facility aboard the Comfort for the second time just before the World Trade Center attack.*

For many weeks, emotions have been running rampant for most Americans. Many are worried about how this COVID-19 global pandemic is going to affect their lives. Some fear they will lose their jobs, while others fear their businesses will take a big hit during the aftermath of this health crisis. For many who have been diagnosed with the awful Coronavirus, they are fearing for their lives.

Amidst all of this fear and concern, it was refreshing to see our country receive a small sense of hope as we witnessed the USNS Comfort sail into New York Harbor on March 30. Whether seeing it firsthand or watching it on TV or social media sites, it was an awe-inspiring moment that put a smile on everyone’s faces for a moment and even sent chills down the arms of many. A massive Naval hospital ship, the Comfort was deployed to New York City to assist local hospitals with medical services because of the overcrowding of health care facilities due to the massive number of Coronavirus cases which were continually on the rise.

The USNS Comfort is no stranger to Texarkana’s Capt. Charles Blankenship, M.D., FACS. As a matter of fact, it is appropriate to say that he knows the ship inside and out. As the commanding officer of the Medical Treatment Facility on the Comfort, Capt. Blankenship took it to Kingston, Jamaica, in 1994 to process Haitian immigrants who were trying to escape the turmoil in Haiti during Operation Sea Signal and also during Operation Uphold Democracy for the planned invasion in Haiti. He served as CO of the MTF onboard the ship from 2000-2004, supplying support to New York City after the World Trade Center attack in 2001 (Operation Noble Eagle) and also during the invasion of Iraq in 2003’s Operation Iraqi Freedom.

With two hospital ships in the U.S. naval fleet, both the Comfort and Mercy are excellent platforms for humanitarian missions. “I took it to the Baltic Sea visiting Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia for a NATO Partnership for Peace Operation. And once a year, it was used for sea trials to exercise the mechanical aspects of the ship and to train the crew,” Capt. Blankenship explains. “Every year, one of the ships deploys for a humanitarian mission. Comfort went to New Orleans for support after Hurricane Katrina, and Mercy went to Southeast Asia after they were hit with the tsunami.”

Built in 1976, the huge 900-feet-long Comfort is a converted oil tanker which was purchased by the Navy in 1987 and converted to a hospital ship. Its flight deck can handle all of the rotary wing aircraft in the military. Patients can be transferred to the main deck by elevator or by a ramp. The main deck is the primary patient care area arranged from forward for initial patient management to care units aft. There are approximately 900 patient care beds below the main deck. “If you were to come aboard the Comfort asleep, when you awakened, you wouldn’t have a clue you were on a ship because it looks like a modern hospital with all the equipment being modern, state-of-the-art medical equipment,” Capt. Blankenship explains. The main deck has a 50-bed casualty receiving unit connected to the flight deck by elevators and a ramp. There is a state-of-the-art radiology suite with a CT scanner adjoining the casualty receiving area. A water-level ramp is available for patients arriving by boat. The next area is the operating room area with 12 operating rooms, one of which can be used for invasive radiology procedures. “Aft of the ORs is the recovery room and four intensive care units with 20 beds per unit, one of which was converted to an isolation unit,” he continues. “There is a large pharmacy on the second deck along with a medical repair department both of which can provide the same support as any major hospital.” There is also a fully-equipped physical therapy unit onboard and a state-of-the-art laboratory next to the pharmacy.

The normal daily crew for the Comfort is 56 active duty, primarily enlisted with an Officer-In-Charge who becomes the Executive Officer for the MTF during deployments. The daily crew is responsible for maintaining the medical equipment and medical supplies. The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is the civilian manned part of the Navy that mans many of the supply ships and the hospital ships. This explains why the ship is the USNS Comfort. The daily crew is about 12 MSC personnel and during deployment, about 50. However, during a crisis situation, there are 1,200 medical crew members onboard.

A retired naval officer with a memorable military career, Capt. Blankenship grew up here in Texarkana and enjoys living here again. “I like the uniqueness of the city being on the state line,” he says. A 1967 graduate of Texas High School, Capt. Blankenship received his undergraduate Biology B.S. degree from Baylor University in 1971. He graduated from The University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio in 1976. He initially registered in the Navy’s Senior Medical Student Program which paid full pay and benefits as an ensign only for the senior year of medical school. “During my first year of medical school, a new program, Health Professions Scholarship Program, was developed. I was selected in the first group to receive the scholarship with all school expenses paid plus a $400 per month living stipend. Participants were also required to serve six weeks of active duty each summer,” he continues.

*Capt. Blankenship with New York City Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington at the site of the attack at the World Trade Center.*

After graduation, Capt. Blankenship did an internship in surgery at the Naval Regional Medical Center in San Diego, followed by a general surgery residency at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Oakland. After his residency, he was immediately detailed to serve as surgeon onboard the aircraft carrier, USS Coral Sea. After general surgery residency, his permanent assignment was at NRMC Oakland as surgery staff and training officer for the general surgery residency. Next, he was transferred to Naval Hospital New London which is in Connecticut. Three years later, he was transferred to National Naval Medical Center Bethesda in the Washington, D.C., area. Initially a staff surgeon there, he also became a team leader of one of three teams in the residency training programs, followed by assignment as the Chief of General Surgery (1990-1996) and program director of the general surgery residency program (1990-1995).

Capt. Blankenship retired from the Navy in 1996 and went into private practice in the Bethesda area with a former resident. He explains, “Before the first year was over, I was fed up with having to argue almost daily with insurance companies to do the right thing for my patients. In the Navy, I didn’t have to worry about whether my patients could pay for their medical care and could do whatever I thought was appropriate for their care. Because of my frustration with private practice, I contacted one of my previous Navy colleagues who told me I could come back in the Navy under the Retired/Retained Program where I would receive full pay and benefits just like when I was in the regular Navy.” He then returned to active duty in September 1997 and stayed in the Retired/Retained Program for 14 years, finally retiring from the Navy in 2011.

Married to a former Navy nurse, Capt. Blankenship moved back to Texarkana in October 2011 because his wife wanted to move to Texas, and it would give them a chance to be close to his family. The couple has four children: a daughter who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, served her obligation, and married an Army Kiowa Warrior helicopter pilot and now the Apache; two sons who are active duty U.S. Marine Corps officers; and a son who graduated from law school, obtained a Masters in International Law, and works at Shell Oil Company as a Trade Control Attorney.

Capt. Blankenship has served as a faculty surgeon in the University of Arkansas Medical System Area Health Education Center Southwest in Texarkana with the primary responsibility of teaching Family Medicine residents about the diagnosis and treatment of breast disorders. In 2015, he joined the Collom and Carney Clinic as the Medical Director for the Advanced Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Center at Wadley Regional Medical Center. He currently serves as Vice President of the Main Street Texarkana Board of Directors and is Medical Director for First Choice Pregnancy Resource Center.

When asked what his feelings were when he saw the Comfort pulling into New York Harbor in March, Capt. Blankenship replies, “The site of the ship did take me back to 2001. Watching it pull into port this time made me return to 2001 when I wrote my kids while we were in port and told them our lives were changed forever. With this pandemic, we are still experiencing the changes started on September 11, 2001.”

As for his plans for the future, Capt. Blankenship would really like to see the economic development of old downtown Texarkana centered around family-oriented, local businesses. And, he is also “working on waking up every day.”

*This photo of the USNS Comfort passing the Statue of Liberty as it enters New York Harbor in 2001 looks strangely similar to the photos taken of it arriving for the pandemic support in March 2020.*

Feature Stories

A Memorable Military Career