Planners Set Scene for Pacific Exercise Scenario

By Navy Capt. Dora Lockwood

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii, July 9, 2014 – U.S. 3rd Fleet planners conducted a scene-setter here July 5 and 6 for the multinational and interagency participants of the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief scenario of the Rim of the Pacific exercise.

Navy Cmdr. Eddie Yandoc, 3rd Fleet’s lead humanitarian assistance and disaster relief planner, set the scene by describing the disaster that exercise participants will respond to in the coming days and weeks.

“What we are trying to do is bring together a coalition so disaster relief efforts are better coordinated,” Yandoc said. “The goal is to have a better understanding of what assets are available and how best to employ them.”

One of the key objectives of the HADR scenario is to have greater civil-military interaction and cooperation, he noted.

“We will have heavy interagency participation during this year’s exercise,” Yandoc said. “As militaries, we run exercises and we know how to work together. The countries represented here are comfortable working in a military environment, but in many cases, we don’t have the opportunity to work with other agencies until we are in a real disaster. We are here to learn together in a controlled environment, so we can better respond in a real-world situation.”

In addition to country capabilities briefings, representatives from several agencies discussed best practices of civil-military engagement, humanitarian aid and foreign assistance. Presentations were given by U.S. Agency for International Development, the Australian Civil Military Centre, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Project HOPE.

Rene Van Slate is the humanitarian assistance advisor at U.S Pacific Command for USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. She explained that when disaster strikes and assistance is requested by a host nation, OFDA is the U.S. governmental agency responsible for coordinating the U.S. relief efforts.

“Our mandate is to save lives, alleviate suffering and reduce social and economic impact of a disaster,” Van Slate said. “If you see one of us on the ground during a disaster, we are leading entities of the U.S. government, we are identifying needs by working with our humanitarian partners, and we are setting priorities for the U.S. government’s assistance.”

This year, the HADR scenario includes a medical component designed to cross-train and share medical capabilities between military and civilian responders ashore and afloat.

“From a medical perspective, we have not in the past been involved in operational exercises on this scale,” said Navy Capt. Tim Hinman, 3rd Fleet surgeon. “We have done a lot of tabletop training, but this is the first time we will train in a realistic, multinational effort in coordination with civilian and military medical facilities in Hawaii.”

This is the first time in RIMPAC history that the hospital ship USNS Mercy will participate in the exercise.

“Mercy is making use of all opportunities to train for the future,” Hinman said. “The hospital ship will utilize their new small boat capability to transfer patients to the shore.”

When called upon, Navy Medicine can bring vast capabilities and clinical expertise to a disaster relief effort.

“This HADR exercise provides the opportunity to focus on identifying Navy Medicine capabilities that are available and appropriate for filling the gaps in the civilian humanitarian response,” said Capt. Colleen Gallagher, senior Navy representative to USAID. “It is the coordination and communication with organizations such as OCHA, USAID OFDA, as well as the host nation that are key to building success for a real disaster response.”

Twenty-two nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 26 to Aug. 1, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans.

RIMPAC 2014 is the 24th exercise in the series that began in 1971.