US, allies to hold naval exercises off Tacloban MANILA, Philippines - With lessons learned from the multinational outpouring of humanitarian assistance following the worlds most destructive typhoon that hit Eastern Visayas last Nov. 8, the US Pacific Fleet and Japanese naval forces will lead this years military humanitarian and disaster response in Tacloban, Leyte. Dubbed as the Pacific Partnership 2014 (PP14), US Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Harry Harris Jr. announced the holding of PP14 in Tacloban with Japan as co-leader in the multinational naval humanitarian and disaster relief operation exercises. “Friends help friends in times of need. America did not, and will not hesitate to respond,” Harris declared. For this year, the host nations for PP14 will be Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Timor-Leste, in that order. In the Philippines, it will be held in Yolanda-stricken Tacloban in June. “(PP14) is a humanitarian and disaster response-based exercise. Pacific Partnership 14 is very important because the things we learned in the previous situations, we were able to use in the tough relief operations like the last disaster Yolanda,” Harris said. According to Harris, Japan will provide the central ship of the exercises that will be anchored in Tacloban. Aside from Japan and the US, the PP14 will include the combined employment of mission platforms and capabilities from the Australian and New Zealand military forces. Japan will be the lead for the seaborne phase – which includes a visit to Tacloban currently scheduled for late June – and US forces will be aboard the JDS Kunisaki. In broad terms, the PP14 participants will undertake: • 5 medical projects focusing on restoring capacity and building capability at the Tacloban City Hospital and city health clinics; • 5 rehabilitation and construction projects: 2 at the city hospital, one at the San Jose city health clinic, and two at San Fernando City Elementary School; and • 1 veterinary project focusing on restoring capacity and building capability at the city veterinary clinic. Harris arrived here Sunday night. He met yesterday with Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista and Philippine Navy flag-officer-in-command Jose Luis Alano to work out, among other things, the final details of PP14. In an exclusive interview with The STAR before he left Manila last night, Harris said he is especially excited for the upcoming PP14 taking place in the Philippines a few months after he spearheaded Operation Damayan for Yolanda in November last year. “This is my first trip with this new capacity. The first time was when I took Operation Damayan that crossed my desk under USS George Washington,” he said. “The power of being in the Pacific was demonstrated in Damayan. We couldn’t do much more in Damayan unless we are here. Enhanced defense cooperation in the region will help us better and we are pleased with the US-Philippine relationship,” he pointed out. He particularly referred to the ongoing talks on the increased rotational presence and access of US forces in the Philippines sans basing agreement. “With Operation Damayan, we could have done even more. If we have good access agreement, we could have more construction work and it will enable us to do more,” he stressed. Harris assumed command of the US Pacific Fleet in October last year. “Just a few weeks later, the first major operation on my watch was the response to Typhoon Yolanda,” he noted. At its peak, he cited, the joint US military effort in Operation Damayan included more than 13,400 personnel, 66 aircraft and 12 naval vessels led by the USS George Washington aircraft carrier strike group, an amphibious ready group, Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and the USS Freedom. “Operation Damayan underscores how the US Navy’s forward presence in this region is absolutely critical – we simply could not have responded as quickly as we did if we were not already here,” Harris pointed out. It also provided yet another example of how training together and developing strong ties through military engagement foster effective partnerships, he stressed. Pacific Partnership was borne out of the devastation wrought by the December 2004 tsunami that swept through parts of Southeast Asia. It started as a military-led humanitarian response to one of the world’s most catastrophic natural disasters. During the Pacific Partnership exercise in 2012, Harris recalled the multinational forces worked with Philippine authorities in Samar, just north of Tacloban. The PP14 is a completely separate event from the annual Phl-US Balikatan military exercise. The exercise portion of Balikatan is scheduled to be held this May in Luzon and Palawan. But the humanitarian assistance projects in the Balikatan will start earlier and are scheduled to go to Legaspi in Albay and also to Tacloban. abs-cbnnews/nation/regions/02/24/14/us-allies-hold-naval-exercises-tacloban
Posted on: Tue, 25 Feb 2014 13:09:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015