BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Wednesday 12 June 2013 - Medical personnel from the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus nations kicked off a three-day Force Integration Training (FIT) program today at the Berakas Garrison. Through the FIT program, participants will be able to learn more about each others’ military medical services, share knowledge and experience in military medicine, as well as forge friendships that will increase regional cooperation.
This morning, the first steering committee discussion was held at the Multinational Coordination Centre (MNCC) chaired by the Joint Force Commander, First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Haji Mohd Tamit, the Chairman of the ADMM Plus HADR & MM Exercise. The steering committee member countries are Brunei Darussalam, China, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam.
The MNCC is the main planning headquarters where it facilitates military to military cooperation and coordination in support of the National Disaster Management Centre and regional and local disaster management agencies and Assisting State foreign disaster response agency to help achieve unity of effort in the response. The roles of MNCC are to plan, monitor, coordinate and execute joint operations under National Command.
During the ADMM-Plus HADR & MM Exercise, personnel from ADMM-Plus nations will be stationed across the appropriate staff branches of the MNCC. The MNCC Commander and staff will ensure process and procedures are coordinated and communicated effectively at the Combined Joint Level and Component Level; and to strengthen the joint interoperability amongst the ADMM-Plus nations. Composition of the MNCC staffed by the ADMM Plus countries are the Naval, Air, Medical, Media, Engineered, Coordinators, Information, Communications and Logistic Cells.
Following the FIT, medical forces will be participating in the Field Training Exercise (FTX) in various parts of Brunei and Temburong in a simulated multinational Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operation, which aims to bring practical cooperation amongst ADMM-Plus nations to the next level through the actual deployment of medical assets and personnel. The FTX represents the culmination of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group (EWG) in Military Medicine (MM) three-year workplan, which began with a workshop in Singapore in 2011, followed by a Table Top Exercise in Tokyo in 2012 and a Disaster Needs Assessment Course in Darwin in 2013. The co-chairs of the EWG-MM are Singapore and Japan and they work closely with Brunei as well as Vietnam and China in the planning and preparation of the military medical scenarios of the ADMM-Plus HADR/MM Exercise. Vietnam and China co-chair the EWG-HADR. As such, the exercise highlights that there is complementarity between HADR and MM and that militaries in the region can work together to enhance inter-operability.
During the day, pilots and air crew from Brunei, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and US were also briefed on Air Traffic Control procedures at RIMBA Airbase. During the brief, participants had a better understanding of air field operations, air field departure and recovery routes to Temburong, as well as flight safety procedures. The brief to the participants also served as an area familiarisation to orientate ground troops during embarkation and disembarkation drills to the aircraft.
In addition, exercise participants familiarised themselves with the OPERA system, a Command Control and Information System, which serves as a tool to track exercise troops when they are on the ground. The system has the ability to create better situational awareness to the Multinational Coordination Centre during the conduct of exercise.
The inaugural ADMM-Plus HADR/MM Exercise will be held in Brunei from 17 to 20 June 2013 and will underscore the progress that ADMM and ADMM-Plus have made in enhancing practical cooperation amongst the militaries in addressing non-traditional security challenges.