Photo By Staff Sgt. Teresa Cantero | A U.S. Army Soldier from the 9th Mission Support Command wears the 2025 Croix du Sud...... read more read more
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NOUMEA, New Caledonia – The French Armed Forces in New Caledonia hosted the opening ceremony for Exercise Croix du Sud at Les Artifices, a military facility in Noumea, April 21, 2025.
Croix du Sud is the 11th iteration of a 14-day biennial joint/multilateral field training exercise organized and led by the FANC, focusing on disaster relief, crisis events, and enhancing partnership and interoperability between the United States and the militaries of Oceania countries with approximately 2,000 participants and using 13 aircraft and five ships from 18 countries.
Maj. Gen. Yann Latil, Commander in Chief of FANC described the main goal of the exercise as being able to respond effectively to natural disasters and related security issues in the South Pacific and to promote unity between nations.
"Preparing to combat natural disasters also means preparing to address security challenges in the Pacific and sending a message of unity among nations committed to peace, security, free movement in the oceans, and strengthening the integrity of our countries."
Five nongovernmental organizations are participating in the exercise, which is more than ever before and reflects the emphasis on a more accurate simulation of a real world response while effectively integrating civilian and military forces.
Sgt. 1st Class Steven Underwood, a Soldier with the 322nd Civil Affairs Brigade and the operations and intelligence non-commissioned officer for 9th Mission Support Command (MSC) Soldiers participating in this year’s exercise, shared what an honor it is to participate and build partnerships with the FANC and the other participants in the exercise.
"As a civil affairs unit we support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions, so working alongside foreign nations and the ability to have command and control of joint task force operations is of value to the entire unit."
The 322nd Civil Affairs Brigade is the Army Forces Command (ARFOR) and lead U.S. element from Fort Shafter, Hawaii with Soldiers assigned to the 9th MSC, the only reserve component in the Pacific region with the capability to support the U.S. Army.
A U.S. Marine from the Combat Logistics Battalion 1 (CLB-1) attending Croix du Sud and acting as the emergency control center officer in charge during the exercise, Capt. Angela Rivera, shared how the exercise provides valuable hands-on training including medical training and experience with handling the demanding roles of an evacuation control center which would be activated in response to a natural disaster.
"CLB-1 provides real world medical assistance and we also are equipped with an evacuation control center team [ECC]" she said. "If there were to be a natural disaster or any sort of scenario where we needed to evacuate American citizens or any other civilians, we would deploy our medical team."
Rivera also shared how she looks forward to working with the U.S. Army military police company to coordinate security during crisis operations.
"It's going to be extremely beneficial and awesome to see us working with the [U.S.] Army's MPS [military police] and see what they can bring to the table when it comes to providing security for us and the citizens going through an ECC."
In addition to the 368th Military Police Company and the 322nd Civil Affairs Brigade, other 9th MSC units attending include the 305th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment and the 962nd Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company.
3,000 French Soldiers are permanently stationed in the Pacific and approximately 1,800 are part of the FANC.
In addition to the U.S. military and France, the other participating countries include Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, the United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Japan, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Peru, Singapore, Belgium, and the Philippines.
| Date Taken: | 04.21.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2025 18:40 |
| Story ID: | 496901 |
| Location: | NOUMEA, NC |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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