Cmdr. Bruce Potenza examines surgical instruments on board the USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) on Aug. 19, 1999. The Kearsarge, USS Ponce (LPD 15) and USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) and the 2,100 embarked Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) have been ordered to the vicinity of Istanbul, Turkey, to assist in the ongoing humanitarian and medical relief assistance in the aftermath of the recent earthquake in western Turkey. The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group and its embarked 26th MEU's comprehensive medical facilities enable the ships to provide effective care and disaster relief in support of humanitarian missions. The three-ship group contains approximately 631 beds, six operating rooms and five X-ray rooms. Eight medical doctors, three dental officers and 88 medical corpsmen are assigned to the ships. Potenza, a Navy Reserve doctor whose specialty is trauma and critical care, was activated from Fleet Hospital Unit 23 at the Naval Reserve Center in Madison, Wis.