Pacific Angel to Provide Care, Strengthen Relationships

U.S. Pacific Air Forces announced Operation Pacific Angel 2009, a humanitarian assistance mission, is set to begin on July 10 in Indonesia, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

Operation Pacific Angel is a joint and combined humanitarian assistance operation conducted in the Pacific area of responsibility to support U.S. Pacific Command's capacity-building efforts.

Pacific Angel will conduct civil military assistance activities including: aeromedical evacuation subject matter expert exchanges, medical civic assistance programs, medical subject matter experts in infection control and basic life support, dental civic assistance programs, and engineering civic assistance programs.

As explained in the recent 13th Air Force news story, Pacific Angel will be conducted in two iterations. The first iteration will have concurrent operations conducted at Kupang, West Timor, in Indonesia, and Dili City, Timor Leste in July. The second iteration will be conducted at Dong Ha City, Vietnam in September.

Humanitarian and civic campaigns such as Pacific Angel help to improve the lives of the people in which it comes in contact. They also build regional capacity by strengthening relationships and improving security cooperation between national governments, militaries, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations during disaster relief operations.

This is officially the second year for Operation Pacific Angel. Last year, the operation was conducted in Thailand and Cambodia.

Collaborative efforts such as Pacific Angel support U.S. Pacific Command’s (PACOM) focus on partnership, readiness, and presence. PACOM maintains a constant presence throughout the Asia-Pacific region and works with its friends and allies to be better prepared to face challenges and crisis together.