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Western Pacific Humanitarian Assistance Exercise Develops Cooperation

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS070821-03
Release Date: 8/21/2007 9:23:00 AM

From U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

BALI, Indonesia (NNS) -- Delegates from the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), including the United States, gathered in Bali Aug. 21 for a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) table-top exercise.

The location of the four-day exercise is symbolic for many of the WPNS delegates, as it is the site of a tsunami that ravaged Indonesia four years earlier.

Even though Bali is a tiny slice of the more than 17,000 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia, most people in this region can recall with vivid clarity the day when a devastating tsunami struck the western most part of the world’s largest archipelago state, killing more than 220,000 people and displacing a half million more in Aceh.

“The tsunami caused an enormous loss of life and property,” said Adm. Slamet Soebijanto, Chief of the Indonesian Navy.

The total damage was estimated by the Asian Development Bank at $5 billion, almost equal to the gross domestic product of Aceh.

Many navies across the Western Pacific, including the U.S. with its aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), provided humanitarian assistance to the region immediately following the catastrophe.

However, despite the outstanding support from many different nations, the 2004 tsunami highlighted the need for a coordinated effort to handle a large-scale natural disaster.

Two years ago in Chile, the 24 nations of the WPNS met to discuss HADR in a seminar setting.

The next step in the learning process is taking place in Bali in the form of the table-top exercise designed to facilitate the exchange of best practices and lessons learned from the seminar in Chile. The exercise is also being held to increase interoperability and cooperation among the WPNS members.

U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Robert F. Willard addressed the WPNS at the start of the exercise Aug. 21 and spoke of the importance such an exercise will have on the region.

“Very little can be accomplished alone, and we are all made stronger by our ability to work together,” said Willard.

Additionally, Willard praised the Indonesian navy for hosting the exercise, which demonstrated to participants the broad range of coordination and synchronization required to rapidly respond to a wide range of natural disasters.

Capt. Kevin Johnson, a U.S. Navy planner stationed in Pearl Harbor, said the next logical step in the process is a field exercise.

“HADR is a concept that everyone can agree on,” said Johnson. “These types of exercises get every navy in the region talking and networking.”

Johnson added that the HADR exercise is a good example of the Chief of Naval Operations’ "1,000-ship navy" concept. “Many navies are working together for a common goal,” said Johnson.

The WPNS, formed in 1988, aims to increase cooperation in the Western Pacific among navies and to provide a forum for discussion of maritime issues.