Pacific Partnership Mission Reaches First Stop in Samoa

Pacific Partnership, an annual humanitarian assistance-focused training mission sponsored by U.S. Pacific Fleet is underway in Samoa, the first of five Oceania locations the mission will visit over the next several months.

USNS Richard E. Byrd, the mission’s enabling ship, arrived off the coast of Samoa July 1. A ceremony to mark the opening of the mission there is scheduled for July 3.

Since arriving, the focus has been logistics as materials have been moved ashore to the locations where engineering and medical civic action projects will take place. One such location is Sasina Village on Savail’l Island, where a group of U.S. Navy civil engineers began work on a project to renovate a community hall there as medical professionals prepared to provide services in partnership with a local clinic. A ‘host nation’ section on the Pacific Partnership website provides a brief overview of the locations and nature of the various projects that will take place in Samoa and other mission locations, including the Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tonga.

Pacific Partnership, in its fourth year, works by, with and through partner nations, non-governmental organizations and other U.S. government and international agencies to conduct a variety of humanitarian civic assistance missions.

In line with the U.S. Pacific Command strategy, Pacific Partnership is designed to strengthen regional partnerships and improve multi-national readiness.

Keep up with the mission on the Pacific Partnership website, which includes news, photos, and links to a variety of social media sites and networks dedicated to the mission.