By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Karolina A.
Oseguera, Pacific Partnership Public Affairs
TACLOBAN, Philippines (NNS) -- Five Sailors and one Airman
were frocked at the MacArthur Landing Memorial Park in Tacloban, July 10.
"This is a major step in leadership," said Capt.
Brian Shipman, commander of Pacific Partnership 2014. "Being able to do
this at the very place where Gen. MacArthur came ashore to fulfill his promise
of leadership is very hard to put into words."
The frocking ceremony took place in the morning in front of
the lagoon of the standing liberators. The monument signifies the spot where
the American liberation forces of Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed and recaptured
the Philippine Archipelago during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
"It is an amazing feeling to be standing in the very
place where this battle happed," said Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Wetzel. "We are
here on a Japanese ship working alongside the Japanese Maritime Self Defense
Force (JMSDF) and the Royal Australian Navy in Pacific Partnership. This just
goes to show how far we have come."
One of the frockees, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Nicholas
Beck said he feels honored to be able to be frocked at such a great historical
landmark as MacArthur Park. After the ceremony was finished, each of the
frockees were congratulated and the attendees stayed behind to take photos in
front of the monument with the JMSDF JS Kunisaki (LST 4003) in the background.
"These Sailors and the Airman are going to remember
this for the rest of their lives," said Shipman. "They are going to
tell their kids and grandkids that they got promoted in front of the memorial
of one of our greatest military events in history."
Pacific Partnership is in its ninth iteration and is the
largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief
preparedness mission conducted in the Asia-Pacific region.
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