U.S. Navy Leads Multinational Team in Pacific Partnership Mission

The Pacific Partnership 2024-2 (PP24-2) mission team worked alongside allies and partners to strengthen relationships and bolster host nation capacity to provide essential humanitarian services. The group also supported efforts to reduce the risk of, prepare for, and respond to humanitarian disasters.

Led by PP24-2 Mission Commander U.S. Navy Capt. Daniel J. Keeler, and embarked aboard Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport ship USNS City of Bismarck (T-EPF 9), the team made stops in the Federated States of Micronesia, the Philippines, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

“It’s crucial to collaborate in advance to build relationships within the region before a disaster occurs. Each country offers a diverse range of skills and resources that can be invaluable in times of need,” said Keeler. “By engaging in this proactive planning and training, we foster deeper understanding and strengthen cooperation. This foundation not only facilitates a smoother response in a crisis but also enhances our resilience as we navigate future challenges together.”

Over two-and-a-half months, nearly 1,500 military and civilian personnel from Australia, Canada, Chile, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, Great Britain, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Tonga, Vanuatu, Vietnam, and the U.S. supported the PP24-2 mission. The multinational and whole-of-government approach used to plan and execute operations with partner nation militaries, host-nation civilian agencies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGO), the U.S. State Department, U.S. interagency, and U.S. military services fosters multilateral cooperation.

Pacific Partnership focuses on multiple lines of effort in medical and public health, engineering, and host nation outreach to help build resilience and host-nation capacity to support essential humanitarian services. Individual projects are tailored to the specific needs and requests of each host nation.

“We partner together; we learn from each other; we identify what are better practices; and we prepare to be able to help people,” said Royal Australian Air Force Wing Cmdr. Scott Minchin, PP24-2 deputy mission commander. “We join the military effectively to help people, and Pacific Partnership is where that lives and breathes in the person-to-person connections made at every mission stop. We are working together very effectively in one of the greatest opportunities I have had.”

Each multinational team partnered with their host nation counterparts to conduct live search and rescue field training exercises, subject matter expert exchanges, cooperative health engagements, community veterinary outreach and civilian-military workshops on disaster response. The collaborative efforts aimed to improve collective capacity and multilateral cooperation to respond to a disaster and enhance regional partnerships at all levels.

The medical team completed 1,116 eye exams and handed out 1,035 pairs of glasses; conducted 164 dental exams with 76 extractions and 35 oral surgeries; carried out 55 side-by-side subject matter expert exchanges in various medical fields such as ophthalmology, physical therapy, nursing, general surgery, radiology, and oral surgery; and trained nearly 400 nursing professionals and students. The veterinary team from the New Zealand and U.S. armies did more than252 spay and neuter surgeries and two days of side-by-side subject matter expert exchanges.

Engineering efforts included renovations at three elementary schools and two medical facilities; repairs and maintenance to equipment at Yap International Airport; subject matter expert exchanges in coastal erosion and water purification, including site surveys; and the assembly of a playground at an elementary school.

The host nation outreach team held 97 events, including school engagements, interfaith dialogues, gender peace and security workshops, moral injury training, and bandmaster classes. The Pacific Partnership band featured a rock band and an island vibes band composed of members of the U.S. Navy and the Australian Army. They performed 31concerts during the mission.

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) teams from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Army Civil Affairs held workshops to bolster host-nation capacity to provide essential humanitarian services and support efforts to reduce the risk of, prepare for, and respond to humanitarian disasters. The effort focused on the activation, staffing, organization, deactivation, and demobilization of an emergency operations center and an introduction of the incident command system to local government and NGO agency peers. They also held six boating safety workshops.

The mission was also joined in Vietnam by U.S. Pacific Air Forces personnel during their tandem Pacific Angel mission. The U.S. Air Force team completed 10 days of concurrent engineering, medical events and subject matter expert exchanges.

For more information about Pacific Partnership visit, www.clwp.navy.mil/Pacific-Partnership.