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Members of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army, Royal Cambodian Army, Royal Thai Air Force, Vietnam People’s Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force in partnership with non-government organizations began humanitarian assistance operations June 13, 2016 as part of Pacific Angel 16-2 in Kampot Province, Cambodia.
The Pacific Angel mission is a U.S. Air Force-led multilateral humanitarian assistance and civil military operation that builds partner capacity through medical and health outreach, engineering civic projects and subject matter exchanges. The mission enhances participating nations’ humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities while providing needed services to people throughout the region.
During the joint and combined humanitarian and civic-military outreach, the Pacific Angel team — comprised of civilian and military doctors, dentists, carpenters, plumbers, electricians and planners — work together in partnership to provide humanitarian assistance to the residents of Kampot Province, located in the southern region of Cambodia.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Vinh Trinh, Pacific Angel 16-2 mission commander, emphasized the importance of the combined effort involved from the planning stages of the mission to now.
“By planning together and now executing together, we have come to develop a common understanding of our capability,” said Trinh. “In the humanitarian assistance scenario, when time is of the essence, it’s nice to have already established a relationship, and that’s exactly what we’re doing now.”
This year’s Pacific Angel involves five countries with a total of more than 250 participants.
“This is a very important relationship for Cambodia’s citizens and the Royal Cambodian Air Force to cooperate and exchange knowledge in medicine, engineering and humanity,” said Royal Cambodian Air Force Col. Meas Vutha, RCAF chief officer.
Throughout the week, Cambodian, U.S. and Australian military civil engineers are conducting renovation projects for four local schools and two health centers in Kampot Province. The multinational military team of electricians, structural craftsmen, carpenters and plumbers are repairing and replacing doors, locks, windows, wiring, ceilings, faucets, toilets and air conditioning units to revitalize selected public schools and health clinics in the province.
“It is collaborative work; we get to learn a lot from the Cambodians, and interact with our other multinational partners. That teamwork, coming together, we get to learn in a different type of environment than we would normally work in, so it’s a great experience for us,” said Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Schumacher, Pacific Angel Civil Engineer lead. “Here, we are able to share knowledge of our different crafts and learn their techniques and they can learn our techniques, so it helps both of us.”
Simultaneously, Cambodian, Thai, U.S., Vietnamese and Australian medical professionals opened a health services outreach clinic shoulder-to-shoulder with their civilian counterparts from Project Hope and East Meets West non-government organizations.
The clinic, located at Por Thivong Primary School in Tuek Chhou district June 13-15, and at the Ang Chum Trapaing Chhuk Secondary School in Kampong Trach district June 16-18 in Kampot Province, includes general health, optometry, dental, family medicine and physical therapy services, as well as a small pharmacy. With the help of interpreters, multinational doctors and medical technicians, the teams provide acute care and educate patients on preventative health measures and self-treatments for various ailments.
“We’re really focusing on quality over quantity,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Donna Hornberger, Pacific Air Force Surgeon General nurse and Pacific Angel Health Services Outreach lead. “Our message in this is really the exchange – the knowledge and partnerships that we can gain from the each other, especially the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.”
The medical capabilities that are being shared not only bolster the capacity of the Cambodian forces, but the relationships built and sustained with multinational partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region aid in future humanitarian efforts and in preserving peace and stability in the region.
“The significance of this mission is the bilateral and multilateral partnerships built and our ability to provide support to the Cambodian people,” said Vutha. “As we partner together, we gain more knowledge on practical practice as well as engineering skills to better aid our citizens.”
Hornberger said if there is ever time whether there is a disaster here or in neighboring country, building this partnership and learning how to work together is key.
“All of the medical supplies used at the clinics can be bought inside this region,” she said. “If a government was to call in the U.S. or Royal Australian Air Force, the providers are going to already have a good understanding of what they can use, because of the relationships that they are building by working with their Cambodian, Vietnamese and Thai counterparts.”
Vinh emphasized that the relationships built today will make it that much easier to work together in case of emergencies tomorrow.
“It’s [the relationship] absolutely important to why we are conducting this mission,” he said. “We have to be ready when the call comes to respond to humanitarian assistance or disaster relief operations. This time we are able to plan it, when the call comes we don’t have that luxury, so building that relationship, common knowledge and interoperability is absolutely critical.”
Since 2007, Pacific Angel missions have improved the lives of tens of thousands of people and help local government and international aid agencies respond quickly to emergencies. It aids in enabling the country to assume control of recovery efforts, and efficiently use equipment, training and connections they already have to provide medical and engineering assistance to local citizens in need.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2016 16:45 |
| Story ID: | 201070 |
| Location: | KAMPOT, KH |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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