CEBU, Philippines --
Senior military representatives from both the United
States and the Philippines were on hand to kick off the joint and bilateral U.S.-Philippine
mass casualty response training here as part of U.S. Pacific Command’s Air
Contingent Sept. 26.
The Air Contingent is helping build the
capacity of the Philippine Air Force and increases joint training, promotes
interoperability and provides greater and more transparent air and maritime
situational awareness to ensure safety for military and civilian activities in
international waters and airspace. Its missions include air and maritime domain
awareness, personnel recovery, combating piracy, and assuring access to the air
and maritime domains in accordance with international law. The deployment of
the air contingent detachment is another example of how the United States and
the Philippines are committed to maintaining credible combat power throughout
the Indo-Asia Pacific region while the U.S. continues to work closely with the
Philippines and our network of partner nations. This is just one way we are exercising
continued presence and demonstrating our commitment to our partners and allies
in the region. As part of
the engagement, U.S. experts in mass casualty response from across the
Department of Defense will exchange ideas and techniques with their Filipino
counterparts in the critical skills of triaging, staging, treating and
transporting victims of a mass casualty event, a critical skill in an area of
the world long-affected by disasters of various size and scope.
“Thirty years ago, if a mass casualty event struck
the Philippines, the U.S. military would’ve been called upon to assist in any
number of ways,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Brian Pecha, U.S. Pacific Command surgeon
general. “Now, [the Filipinos]… may need our assistance with airlift and some
logistics, but we can have a true subject matter exchange in which they share
lessons learned from previous disasters and we’re able to share with them
lessons learned from recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Armed Forces of Philippines Brig. Gen. Mariano
Mejia, AFP surgeon general, noted that preparedness is key in this situation.
“Our partnership with the U.S. and civilian sectors
is very important,” Mejia said. “We should have awareness, innovations and
policies in place for all stakeholders. With close cooperation, we know each of
our contributions and also the capabilities of the civilian sectors in the
event of a disaster.”
The relationship between the U.S. military and both
civic and military leaders throughout the Philippines is marked by a long
tradition of cooperation.
According to Filipino officials, there is never a
bad time to prepare for the next disaster.
“This training is very timely,” said Mejia. We have
all the disasters of the world right here: typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, all
of them, so we need partners like the U.S. both before and during the disaster
so we can be prepared.”
“There is an old saying, ‘In a crisis, you don’t
rise to the level of expectations, you fall to the level of your training,’”
said Pecha. “It takes continual training to be able to work effectively amongst
the different organizations.”