PAC Angel 19-4 helps strengthen relationships in Papua New Guinea

LAE, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

09.10.2019

Story by Staff Sgt. Jerilyn Quintanilla 

Pacific Air Forces

LAE, Papua New Guinea — Looking out at the sea of camouflage uniforms floating around the Bowali Primary School grounds it’s hard to miss the diversity within the Pacific Angel (PAC Angel) 19-4 team.  And that diversity is exactly what makes this mission an ideal platform to build and strengthen joint and international partnerships. 
 
PAC Angel 19-4 is part of a series of exercises focused on health services outreach and engineering civic action projects held throughout various nations in the Indo-Pacific region.
 
This iteration brought service members from the U.S., the Royal Australian Air Force and the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to Papua New Guinea to assist with medical and engineering projects in Lae. 
 
Although not his first PAC Angel mission, this iteration’s lead engineering planner, Master Sgt. Gavin O’Neill-Henry, has found the experience to be unique and full of new opportunities to learn from the local military and civilian population.
 
“Working alongside the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) and local contractors here has been a fun challenge. We’ve been learning how they accomplish work here and they’re learning how we would accomplish work back in the states, and trying to come up with a good process to get to the end result the best and fastest way we can,” he said.
 
Unlike O’Neill-Henry, PNGDF Capt. Alice Purol, a general medicine clinician, is seeing the PAC Angel mission up close for the first time. As one of the medical providers participating in the exercise and a native of the country she is experiencing the impact of the exercise from two different perspectives.
 
“This a chance for us to see how other militaries work, their experiences, their challenges, their achievements,” said Purol. “It’s also to observe the way other countries practice medicine. We’ll have a lot to take back to our team.”
 
“The people in Lae will be so happy to receive the services and medicines, and the schools are very privileged to have their facilities repaired,” she continued. “It’s great to see our countrymen and women get this type of care.”
 
Although short in duration, the relationships formed between the individual engineers and medics are representative of the growing connection among the Indo-Pacific countries.

“To work with the community, build the partnerships and bridges between us and the local military forces is fantastic,” said O’Neill-Henry. “That’s what PAC Angel is about—trying to build that working relationship and friendship; it’s something much greater than PAC Angel 19-4.”

• Date Taken: 09.10.2019
• Date Posted: 09.13.2019 16:13
• Story ID: 339438
• Location: LAE, PG