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U.S. Pacific Air Forces kicked off its fourth and final Pacific Angel (PAC Angel) exercise of the year in Papua New Guinea, Sept. 9.
Since its inception in 2007, PAC Angel has evolved to an annual joint and combined humanitarian operation that provides general health and engineering assistance to nations in the Pacific region. This is the second PAC Angel engagement to take place in Papua New Guinea.
“What we’re doing specifically is refurbishing several school sites here in Lae and also running a health services outreach at one of the school sites," said Lt. Col. Ryan Evans, PAC Angel 19-4 mission commander. “Another important part of PAC Angel is we’re conducting subject-matter expert exchanges. We put some of our brightest professionals from various specialties together so they can talk and share and learn.”
More than 80 military members from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, along with the Papua New Guinea Defense Force and the Red Cross in the local area will be part of the effort.
The health services outreach initiative for PAC Angel 19-4 includes the staging of five clinics: primary care, optometry, physical therapy, pharmacy and dental. The engineering component includes civic action projects at several schools where a team of more than 25 engineers will renovate classrooms, restore water catchment systems used to filter drinking water, and repair bathroom facilities.
After 12 years and more than 30 iterations, PAC Angel engagements have directly impacted tens of thousands of people throughout the Pacific, and gives participating countries the opportunity to build relationships and strengthen capabilities.
“PAC Angel prepares us for the types of responses we might need to have in the event of a humanitarian disaster,” said RAAF Flt. Lt. Emma Dingle. “Getting to know each other and how our respective militaries function and how we can best work together means that we can provide a smoother response in the event that something goes wrong that we’re not expecting.”
PAC Angel 19-4 is scheduled to conclude Sept 14.
| Date Taken: | 09.09.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 09.13.2019 15:48 |
| Story ID: | 338922 |
| Location: | LAE, PG |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, PAC Angel 19-4 brings medical, engineering aid to Papua New Guinea, by MSgt Jerilyn Quintanilla, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
