This mission stop will host a fly-in only team of 76 Pacific Partnership 24-1 (PP 24-1) personnel. Due to the size of USNS Mercy (T-AH 19), the ship was unable to anchor off the coast of Pohnpei.
The fly-in team will have PP24-1 medical, U.S. Pacific Fleet band, and Humanitarian and Disaster Relief members serving in Pohnpei. The arrival of the team marks the next phase of the PP 24-1 mission that will enable participants, including U.S. and Pohnpei, to work together to enhance disaster response capabilities and foster new and enduring friendships.
Pacific Partnership was last in Pohnpei in 2015 aboard Military Sealift Command’s Joint High Speed Vessel, USNS Millinocket (JHSV 3).
“I would like to thank the government of Micronesia for inviting Pacific Partnership to your country,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark A. Melson, Commander, Task Force 73 and executive agent for this year’s mission. “It is a true testament of our enduring bonds of friendship and shared vision of a stronger Indo-Pacific. We at the Pacific Partnership team are honored to work alongside you in making that vision a reality.”
At the invitation of host nations, the Pacific Partnership’s mission partners conduct tailored humanitarian civic action preparedness activities in areas such as disaster response, public health, and host nation outreach events.
Pacific Partnership’s medical team, working with the Pohnpei Department of Health, will provide tailored medical care focusing on surgical care, training for first responders, clinical care, subject-matter exchanges, and community education.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet Band will be holding community outreach concerts at local schools throughout Pohnpei, as well as a public concert at Pohnpei State Gym on Friday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m.
“We greatly appreciate the service of the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces participating in Pacific Partnership 2024,” said U.S. Ambassador Jennifer Johnson, ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia. “Pacific Partnership 2024 builds on our people-to-people ties with the citizens of the FSM and expands our deep and enduring partnership in the islands.”
Pacific Partnership focuses on multiple lines of effort to help build resilience and host nation capacity to support essential humanitarian services.
This year’s mission will also feature nearly 1,500 personnel from allies and partner nations including Australia, Chile, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and New Zealand.
Born out of the devastation brought by the December 2004 tsunami that swept through parts of South and Southeast Asia, Pacific Partnership began as a military-led humanitarian response to one of the world’s most catastrophic natural disasters. Building on the success and goodwill of this operation, the U.S. helped spearhead the inaugural Pacific Partnership mission in 2006.
Pacific Partnership, now in its 19th iteration, is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Each year the mission team works collectively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific.
For more information about Pacific Partnership visit www.facebook.com/pacificpartnership, www.instagram.com/pacific_partnership/ or https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/PacificPartnership. Pacific Partnership public affairs can be reached via email at cherylcollins.pp24@gmail.com.
