Thirty-eight Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen have embarked on a 16-week humanitarian aid mission, sponsored by the Commander US Pacific Fleet.
Pacific Partnership is an annual mission, which started in 2005 in response to the Indonesian tsunami crisis.
Commander of the Australian Contingent, Commander Ashley Papp of the Royal Australian Navy, says it aims to develop the ability of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to operate in close cooperation with its military colleagues from the US , New Zealand
"Working closely with our friends and allies in this way in times of peace helps us to refine our procedures, understanding and cooperation, so that in times of crises we have already trained on how to deliver the right support, at the right time, in the right way when needed," Commander Papp said.
The Australian contingent departed Hawaii on board USS Cleveland, with Tonga
There are also 12 engineers from 6 Engineering Support Regiment (17 Construction Squadron) who, during the next four months will be working with US ‘Sea Bees’ (Construction Battalion) and local engineers on basic construction tasks including construction of steel and timber frames for houses, installing various sized water tanks and filters, and other reconstruction activities.
Also joining the group is veterinarian, Captain Jonathan Lee, who is a reserve infantry officer with the 51st Far North Queensland Regiment.
"I think it is an excellent opportunity to operate with allied nations including the USA and New Zealand
Some of the Pacific Partnership 11 team have participated in the mission in previous years.
"Pacific Partnership allows a large number of people to have life-changing medical services which otherwise wouldn't have been available to them," said surgical nurse Lieutenant Steven Line, Royal Australian Navy Reserve. When the opportunity came up to deploy again I jumped at it.”
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The Pacific Partnership campaign evolved from the unprecedented international disaster response for countries devastated during the 2004 Asian tsunami. Follow-up missions recognised the benefits derived from cooperation between national governments, militaries, international organisations, and non-governmental organisations during disaster relief operations, as well as in civic assistance projects. In an effort to capitalise on the experiences and relationships formed during that tragic disaster, the concept of a recurring mission was established to:
- Strengthen relationships with host, partner nations, and other partner organisations.
- Build partner capacity to conduct peace, stability, and consequence management operations
- Improve US and Partner Humanitarian Assistance/ Disaster Relief capacity
- Improve security cooperation among partner nations.
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has contributed to Pacific Partnership since 2006 and is enthusiastically rejoining the multi-national and multi-skilled Pacific Partnership team for 2011.
Pacific Partnership 2011 seeks to build on the relationships established in previous Pacific Partnership missions to deliver a variety of medical, dental, engineering, and veterinary projects in the Pacific region.
Pacific Partnership 2011 is supported by USS Cleveland and will deliver engineering and medical aid to Vanuatu, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and the Federated States of Micronesia from 1 April to 25 July 2011.
ADF contribution
The ADF contribution to the Pacific Partnership mission will include approximately 50 people who will deploy in two phases comprised primarily of engineering and medical personnel: - 12 Australian Army Engineers from 17th Construction Squadron based in Sydney
- Approximately 40 medical and dental personnel in two phases from the Navy, Army and Air Force
- Two Landing Craft Heavy ships based at Cairns: HMA Ships Betano and Balikpapan
- Four person Deployable Geospatial Team from Sydney
- ADF Contingent Command
AUS DoD