BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Tuesday 28 May 2013 – In less than a month time, Brunei Darussalam will be hosting the Inaugural ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine Exercise (HADR & MM Ex) that is scheduled from the 17th June until the 20th June 2013. This combined exercise will bring together more than 2,000 military personnel from the 10 ASEAN countries as well as the 8 Plus countries which include Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States. The exercise participants will arrive as early as the 1st June 2013.
Last week, the Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin visited all of the relevant sites to finalise preparations for the upcoming exercise. Also joining the visit was the Joint Force Commander, First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Tamit, the Chairman of the ADMM Plus HADR & MM Ex.
The inaugural ADMM-Plus HADR & MM Exercise will be held back-to-back with the 2nd ASEAN Militaries’ Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Exercise that is scheduled for 16 June 2013. Both exercises are the major deliverables during Brunei Darussalam’s ADMM and ADMM-Plus Chairmanship this year.
The exercise is intended to be based on natural disaster scenario affecting a fictitious state. Exercise play will focus on activities related to search and rescue, military medicine, engineer tasks and delivery and distribution of aid and supply by land, air and sea in the emergency phase of a ‘disaster’. The exercise is essentially a military-to-military cooperation exercise, designed to formulate and develop a common set of Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs). The exercise objective is to elevate military practical cooperation from ASEAN level to ASEAN Plus level, and build upon ASEAN militaries’ experiences of previous exercises. Essentially, the objective is to enhance military-to-military interoperability, coordination and cooperation amongst the 18 participating countries.
The multi-national field exercise is expected to take place in two districts in the country, with the sites located at Brunei Muara District – the Naval Base Muara, Rimba Air Base and Kampung Mentiri and; Temburong District – Bangar Community Hall, Kampung Biang, and Selangan Primary School. Among the expertise expected to be involve in the exercise include medical, engineers, search and rescue, naval and air components. A Multinational Coordination Centre (MNCC) will be set up near the Muara Naval Base, with subsidiary Incident Coordination Center (ICC) at Community Hall in Bangar Temburong as well as in Kampung Mentiri. The members of the public residing in the vicinity of the exercise sites are advised not be alarmed by the influx of local and foreign military personnel as well as the movement of military vehicle convoys and air or naval assets. The Ministry of Defence also advises members of the public to refrain from entering the exercise sites for safety and security reasons. The Ministry of Defence also assures that inconveniences to the public will be minimized and controlled. In this respect, the Ministry of Defence seeks the continued support and understanding of local residents in ensuring the success conduct of this inaugural multi-national field exercise.
For the military medicine, various countries will bring their health and medical personnel to be showcased in the exercise. The general public can benefit from the free medical services as part of the social-civic activities to be offered during the exercise. Field military medical hospitals will be deployed at Muara Naval Base and Bangar Community Hall, which will be opened to the public to carry out medical services such as minor or medium surgical procedures such as circumcision (berkhatan) and non complicated hernia operations. Primary Health Care services similar to the outpatients services (OPD) will be available throughout the exercise period providing minor illness clinics and general health care screening. Alternative traditional medicine such acupuncture treatment will also be offered by Traditional Chinese Practitioner. In Selangan Primary School, a Primary Health Care services will be provided to include medical screening and dental services. All the medical services conducted will be provided by certified multi-national medical practitioners.
In line with this year’s theme of ADMM, “Securing Our People Our Future Together”, these exercises will enhance our forces’ interoperability and preparedness in responding to disaster. More importantly, the exercises will provide platform for people-to-people interactions and as an avenue for confidence building measure that will increase our common understanding, camaraderie and mutual respect and surely will pave the way for more practical cooperation and interaction into the future.