Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Hughes | QUANG TRI, Vietnam – 18th Theater Medical Commanding General Command Maj. Gen. E....... read more read more
QUANG TRI, Vietnam – The Government of Vietnam and U.S. Army Pacific ceremoniously started Pacific Friendship 2025 in Quang Tri, Vietnam on Sept. 9, 2025.
Pacific Friendship 25 is the inaugural occurrence of the annual engagement designed to meet humanitarian assistance and disaster response, medical, engineering and civil needs of the Vietnamese people while reinforcing longstanding relationships between Vietnam and the United States.
“We are proud to celebrate the 30th anniversary of bilateral relations with Vietnam and a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership rooted in mutual respect and shared aspirations. Pacific Friendship is an example of the breadth and depth of our cooperation” said U.S. Ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Marc Knapper during the opening ceremony.
The U.S. and Vietnam are scheduled to complete 12 engagements in activities such as demining, medical training, and infrastructure projects, which will directly benefit Vietnamese citizens across 10 locations throughout the province while indirectly helping the greater Indo-Pacific region improve its posture to respond to both manmade and natural disasters.
“As we embark on this journey together, we have a shared commitment to strengthen our ability to respond to disaster-related events. By building our relationships with each other, we will be better able to work together to respond with agility and innovation during future disasters,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. E. Darrin Cox, the commanding general of the 18th Theater Medical Command (TMC) and the Army Forces representing U.S. Army Pacific for the event.
“We firmly believe that the Pacific Friendship 2025 will go beyond tangible projects and activities, inspiring trust and opening up new, deeper, and more sustainable opportunities for cooperation between Vietnam and the United States, between Quang Tri and international friends, for peace, Friendship, and sustainable development”, said Quang Tri People’s Committee Vice Chairman Hoang Nam.
According to U.S. Army Maj. Kaitlin Cugno, the 18th TMC engagement planner, the United States has allocated $1.5 million of the U.S. Department of Defense FY25 budget for Pacific Friendship 25.
Since 2007, the United States Department of Defense has contributed more than $39 million towards the construction of critical infrastructure in Vietnam. This includes 44 schools and 28 clinics that also serve as emergency shelters during disasters, 12 bridges, and 12 Disaster Management Coordination Centers across 32 provinces. These projects aim to enhance Vietnam’s resilience in natural disaster-prone areas and reinforce our partnership across the country.
Starting in 2007, under the Pacific Partnership framework, the U.S. has partnered with a rotating province in Vietnam on medical, humanitarian, and engineering efforts. Additionally, since 2014, the Oregon National Guard has hosted the Disaster Management Engagement Activity (DMEA) in collaboration with Vietnam’s National Committee for Search and Rescue to enhance incident and natural disaster response capacity, further strengthening collaboration and regional preparedness.
| Date Taken: | 09.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2025 07:02 |
| Story ID: | 547718 |
| Location: | VN |
| Hometown: | QUANG TRI, VN |
| Web Views: | 168 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Pacific Friendship 2025: U.S. Army deploys to Vietnam for humanitarian mission, by SFC Timothy Hughes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
