Photo By Chief Petty Officer Kegan Kay | LA UNION, Philippines (Aug. 27, 2023) – U.S. Army National Guard 1st Sgt. Rodolfo...... read more read more
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LA UNION, Philippines -- Pacific Partnership returned to San Fernando, La Union, Philippines for the second time in eight years this past August. For 1st Sgt. Rodolfo Acosta, Pacific Partnership 2023 also served as a homecoming. Acosta, who is a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard with the 7th Engineer Battalion, was born in Napaset, La Union, approximately 30 minutes north of San Fernando.
Acosta moved to the United States when he was four years old. Returning to his home country all these years later, he is able to give back to his Philippine community.
Now in its 18th year, Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission in the Indo-Pacific region. Acosta is a member of the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief team, helping in urban and mountain search rescue training with local Filipino organizations to prepare in case of disaster.
“Being born here and being Filipino is like helping the community that is so close to my hometown,” said Acosta. “Giving them my experience and knowledge in urban search and rescue is important because Filipinos live in a place that has so many natural disasters. At least I get to kind of help out and share my knowledge,”
In addition to sharing his knowledge and experiences, Acosta trained alongside Philippine Army and Air Force service members, and the San Fernando City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in conducting urban various search and rescue trainings and subject matter expert exchanges.
The Intent of Pacific Partnership is to expand the collective capacity to respond to disasters and other humanitarian situations that can have regional and global impacts. This ultimately benefits the security and prosperity for all Indo-Pacific nations, including the United States.
“We are learning while they are learning,” says Acosta. “We have different equipment than them, but we are able to learn from how innovative they are and how they conduct specific rescues.”
When asked if he would do it all over again, Acosta said that if had the opportunity, we he would do it to help his community.
For more information about Pacific Partnership, visit www.facebook.com/pacificpartnership, www.instagram.com/pacific_partnership/ and https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/C-LGWP.
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2023 11:49 |
| Story ID: | 452506 |
| Location: | PH |
| Hometown: | SAN FERNANDO, LUZON, PH |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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