Pacific Endeavor 2012 reaches milestone

Courtesy Photo | Nepal Lt. Col. Riddhi Narsingha Ren (left), Multinational Communications Interoperability corporate board member, observes Dr. Sanjeeb Prasad Panday of Tribhuvan University, MCIP academia advisor, making contact with Nepal officials from Changi Naval Base, Singapore, Aug. 8 using military high frequency communications to enter the amateur radio network during a communications test in Pacific Endeavor 2012. (U.S. Pacific Command photo by Army Staff Sgt. Carl N. Hudson)  

CHANGI NAVAL BASE, SINGAPORE

08.15.2012

Courtesy Story

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command         

CHANGI NAVAL BASE, Singapore – Pacific Endeavor 2012 reached a milestone on Changi Naval Base, Singapore, Aug. 8, integrating military high frequency (HF) communications into the amateur (Ham) radio community.

Proactive communications measures were taken after Nepal authorities predicted a catastrophic 8.0-scaled earthquake would be expected in the near future within the vicinity of Nepal capital, Kathmandu.

“Kathmandu is very vulnerable to disaster,” said Dr. Sanjeeb Prasad Panday of Tribhuvan University in Latipur, Nepal, an academia advisor for the Multinational Communications Interoperability Program. “If [the earthquake] hits Kathmandu, there will be mass casualties. At that time, all the [mobile] communications systems will be overrun or destroyed.”

Due to the nature of logistical issues of Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief operations, MCIP representatives have suggested a more immediately viable solution to a complex problem.

“Well before any of the responders can make it to [a disaster] area, the only thing you have is what’s existing at the location and many times the only thing there is an amateur radio operator,” said Scott Griffin, MCIP technical director. “It’s a proven network amongst the HF infrastructure.”

With amateur radio operators now capable of speaking with other officials during an emergency, government and non-government organizations can relay information to each other in the effort to reduce human suffering in the aftermath of a catastrophic event.

“Ham radio operators have been deeply involved in disaster response everywhere in the world for as long as there’s been ham radio because there are very many of them scattered around geographically,” said Arthur Botterell, disaster management consultant from Carnegie Mellon University and academia advisor for MCIP. “Most of them have some sort of relationship with their local governments. They’re a great resource. People tend to think of them as a last resort when everything else fails but the fact is frequently their the first ones on the air from a disaster area because they were there already.”

The Singapore Armed Forces hosted Pacific Endeavor 2012 on Changi Naval Base and facilitated logistical support while obtaining amateur radio licensure in order to test the amateur radio link with Nepal authorities using an Integrated Communications System (ICS).

According to Nepal Lt. Col. Riddhi Narsingha Ren, MCIP corporate board member, a large-scale earthquake strikes every 50 or so years, however, his larger concerns lays with a second potential impact from the earthquake due to the melting glaciers within the surrounding Himalayan mountain range.

“We’ll have to use the amateur radio,” said Panday at the test site. “We’re trying to establish a link between Singapore and Kathmandu so at the time of disaster, this maybe the only means to communicate with the outside world.”

Now that emergency procedures have been made to add the military communications to the ham radio network, HADR operations for the expected earthquake in Kathmandu have a better chance to succeed.

• Date Taken: 08.15.2012
• Date Posted: 08.16.2012 00:00
• Story ID: 93298
• Location: CHANGI NAVAL BASE, SG