Photo By Katryn McCalment | Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army, Gen. Humberto Oviedo Arriagada, and Center for...... read more read more
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – Commander in Chief of the Chilean Army, Gen. Humberto Oviedo Arriagada, visited the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance on Ford Island Aug. 13 to discuss disaster response best practices and possible future collaborations.
The visit provided CFE-DMHA Deputy Director Douglas Wallace a chance to brief the general and his staff on the Center’s mission to include academic research, information sharing practices and educational programs. In particular, the two organizations discussed training and education that improves coordination between civilian and military units during disaster response operations.
“After the horrible earthquake in 1960, Chile started to figure out how to manage this type of event,” said Oviedo. “By the 2010 disaster, we began (to focus) more on military cooperation with civilian authorities.”
In recent years, Chile has developed software that provides a common operating picture for civilian and military organizations that improves interoperability, said the general.
“Chile does not have a national guard,” said Oviedo. “Just military forces, so we must tailor the military for defense and also situational missions like disasters… by conducting more exercises that improve coordination and coverage.”
The discussion also included lessons learned from disasters in Bangladesh, Japan, Nepal and the Philippines. Dr. Imes Chiu, the Center’s chief of applied research, discussed numerous examples of nations and organizations that are working on disaster preparedness, including Columbia University’s “Day 3” conferences, that can be easily incorporated into military training exercises.
“Chile has made really great progress in their disaster preparedness,” said Chiu. “Visits like these that offer time to exchange information and ideas are beneficial to both sides.”
The general also met with U.S. Army Pacific Commanding General, Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, during his time in Hawaii.
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2014 15:00 |
| Story ID: | 139686 |
| Location: | PEARL HARBOR, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 241 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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