13 July 2008, 15:11 CET
News summary
(WASHINGTON) – After much debate, Asia is finally expected to agree to hold its first civilian-military disaster relief exercise with key powers such as the United States, Russia and the European Union.
It will set the stage for real emergency response to disasters, such as the recent cyclone that ravaged Myanmar and left 138,000 dead or missing as its ruling military junta came under strong criticism for blocking aid efforts.
An upcoming ministerial meeting in Singapore of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Asia’s top security forum, may agree to hold the disaster relief exercise among its 27 member nations as early as 2009, a US official said.
ARF senior officials agreed in May to conduct such an exercise that could pave the way for militaries of ASEAN, China, India, the United States, Russia and EU member states to help coordinate a disaster relief response.
“So, I hope that at this meeting, we can move that to the next stage — to the point it is agreed and planning begins so that it could actually happen as early as next year,” US envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Scot Marciel told AFP.
“I know next year sounds like a long time away but in the ARF world, it takes a while to have consensus on everything,” he said.
Asked whether the ARF foreign ministers would endorse the plan at their July 24 talks in Singapore, Marciel said, “I think it is a good possibility.”
“There is genuine interest and enthusiasm for this and political will is there.”
Disaster relief had been a hot topic in ARF since a tsunami swept through the region in December 2004 killing 220,000 people in a dozen countries.
The United States, Japan, Australia and India forged a loose coalition to help coordinate relief to victims of the tsunami, triggered by an undersea earthquake that struck off Indonesia.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to attend the ARF ministerial talks after skipping the annual gathering in Manila last year, an ASEAN diplomat said.
Aside from the ASEAN states of Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, ARF comprises Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, European Union, India, Japan, the Koreas, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Sri Lanka and the United States.
The ARF, the principal official forum for security dialogue in Asia, adopted a set of guidelines for disaster relief cooperation at the Manila talks last year.
It also agreed to terms of reference for a troika comprising the incoming and previous ARF chairs and a non-ASEAN member to quickly convene during an emergency for decision making.
Marciel cautioned that certain “technical issues may get into the way” of a swift ARF disaster relief exercise.
They include sensitivities such as the issue of “military of one country operating in another country,” one State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“There is a need to have agreement on that (but) there has been a lot of work done already on this in ARF,” Marciel said.
Asia is the world’s most disaster-prone region, at the mercy of tropical storms, earthquakes, floods, landslides and other calamities.
In May, aside from the devastating cyclone in Myanmar, an earthquake in China’s southwestern Sichuan province left nearly 88,000 people dead or missing and up to five million homeless.
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Pictures of Disaster Relief Exercise
To provide realistic training in a RIMPAC humanitarian disaster relief exercise, local civilian Red Cross volunteers gather to play the roles of refugees. Photo by PH2 Lena Gonzalez, USN
Landing stores with Somerset’s Lynx helicopter to assist an earthquake-struck village in a disaster relief exercise
Firefighting Team after attacking oil fires as part of the Disaster Relief exercise during DANEX 06.
JTF-Bravo MEDEL team teach trauma course to Honduran medical proffesionals
JTF-Bravo MEDEL team teach trauma course to Honduran medical proffesionals
JTF-Bravo MEDEL team teach trauma course to Honduran medical proffesionals
JTF-Bravo MEDEL team teach trauma course to Honduran medical proffesionals
All Wet
New Horizon Peru
JTF-Bravo performs humanitarian mission in El Salvador
JTF-Bravo performs humanitarian mission in El Salvador
JTF-Bravo performs humanitarian mission in El Salvador
JTF-Bravo performs humanitarian mission in El Salvador
JTF-Bravo performs humanitarian mission in El Salvador
JTF-Bravo performs humanitarian mission in El Salvador
Servicemembers support El Salvador disaster relief exercise
Civil engineers enhance El Salvador exercise with imagery
Civil engineers enhance El Salvador exercise with imagery
Staff Sgt. Emmrid Gilbert plays the role of a victim with a femur fracture at a Honduran medical conference July 8 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The Joint Task Force-Bravo Medical Element team member played the role to give the medical professionals who attended a more realistic view of a trauma case. Sergeant Gilbert is deployed from the U. S. Air Force Academy, Colo. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Joel Mease)
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E-mail a friendArmy Lt. Col. Barry Martin (right) teaches a course on abdominal and thoracic trauma to more than 200 medical professionals at a Honduran medical conference July 8 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The colonel was part of Joint Task Force-Bravo Medical Element team who taught Hondurans how to handle trauma. Colonel Martin is deployed from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Washington D.C. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Joel Mease)
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E-mail a friendCapt. Dennis Spencer discusses with a group of Honduran doctors and health technicians techniques used in dealing with fractures at a Honduran medical conference July 8 in Teguicigalpa, Honduras. More than 200 medical professionals from across Honduras attended the course offered by Joint Task Force-Bravo Medical Element. Captain Spencer is deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Joel Mease)
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E-mail a friendMaj. Jade Hin teaches a course about airway breathing management July 8 at a Honduran Medical conference in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. More than 200 medical professional attended the course offered by the Joint Task Force-Bravo Medical Element. Major Hin is deployed from Misawa Air Base, Japan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Joel Mease)
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E-mail a friendJOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFPN) — Soldiers from Bravo Company 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, and Airmen from the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing conduct water skills training here July 8. The training, consisting of a 25-meter swim in full uniform and five minutes of treading water, is designed to make sure the Soldiers and Airmen can function in the water and that they will be able to respond and react during operations in varying watery terrains. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Senior Airman Julianne Showalter)
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E-mail a friendMarine Lance Cpl. Christopher Johnson removes excess poly from the edges for a school being built in Yanamilla, Peru, in support of New Horizons Peru 2008, a humanitarian event that benefits thousands of Peruvians. Nearly 300 members from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy came together to provide Peruvians with new schools, clinics and water wells. Corporal Johnson is a combat engineer deployed from the Marine Wing Support Squadron 472, Det. Bravo at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Tracie Forte)
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E-mail a friendCapt. Manny Silviera reviews a prescription for a Salvadoran boy May 8 at a make-shift pharmacy in a school at Comasagua, El Salvador. Medical aid was provided during Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2008, the U.S. Southern Command and Salvadoran Ministry of Defense-sponsored exercise held throughout the Central American region May 5 to 15. During the exercise, medication valued at more than $10,000 was dispensed to Salvadorans in need. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. William Farrow)
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E-mail a friendSalvadorans await entrance to a school near Comasagua, El Salvador, May 8 during Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2008, the U.S. Southern Command and Salvadoran Ministry of Defense-sponsored exercise held throughout the Central American region May 5 to 15. More than 1,600 Salvadorans from the area received general-practice, dental, and eye care, as well as medication and public health instruction. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. William Farrow)
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E-mail a friendArmy Staff Sgt. Alfred Wyatt gives anti-parasitic medicine to a young Slavadoran boy May 8 at a school near Comasagua, El Salvador, during Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2008, the U.S. Southern Command and Salvadoran Ministry of Defense-sponsored exercise held throughout the Central American region May 5 to 15. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. William Farrow)
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E-mail a friendCapt. Charlene Kirby examines a Salvadoran boy May 7 at a school near Comasagua, El Salvador, during Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2008, the U.S. Southern Command and Salvadoran Ministry of Defense-sponsored exercise held throughout the Central American region May 5 to 15. Captain Kirby was part of the 18-person team of Soldiers and Airmen from Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, who spent two days operating a clinic at an elementary school, triaging more than 1,600 Salvadoran villagers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. William Farrow)
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E-mail a friendDr. Miguel Coello examines the leg of a Salvadoran woman at her home May 8. The woman was unable to walk to the school near Comasagua, El Salvador, where free medical care was offered during the medical readiness training exercise portion of Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2008, the U.S. Southern Command and Salvadoran Ministry of Defense-sponsored exercise held throughout the Central American region May 5 to 15. Dr. Coello is Joint Task Force-Bravo’s Medical Element liaison officer. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. William Farrow)
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E-mail a friendMaj. Paul Miller examines a Salvadoran girl May 7 at a school near Comasagua, El Salvador during Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2008. The exercise, which was U.S. Southern Command and Salvadoran Ministry of Defense-sponsored, held throughout the Central American region, ends May 15. The medical readiness training exercise allowed Joint Task Force-Bravo to deploy a medical team to perform real-world medical care during the disaster planning and operations-focused exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. William Farrow)
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Members of Joint Task Force-Bravo unload a UH-60 Blackhawk in preparation for Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarias 2008 May 4 at Comalapa Air Base, El Salvador. The American servicemembers are involved in the U.S. Southern Command and Salvadoran Ministry of Defense-sponsored disaster relief exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. William Farrow)
WWII vets fly on “Spirit of Go For Broke”
WWII vets fly on “Spirit of Go For Broke”
COMPACAF reads for Hickam Keiki
PACAF Airmen participate in Exercise Balikatan ’08
PACAF Airmen participate in Exercise Balikatan ’08
PACAF Airmen participate in Exercise Balikatan ’08
PACAF Airmen participate in Exercise Balikatan ’08
PACAF Airmen participate in Exercise Balikatan ’08
PACAF commander visits Kunsan
PACAF wins Creech Maintenance Excellence award
PACAF wins Creech Maintenance Excellence award
PACAF wins Creech Maintenance Excellence award
Crew chiefs at work
Throw down
PACAF commander
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — Veterans of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion climb on board the “Spirit of Go for Broke”. Waiting for more than a year and a half after the June, 14 2006 christening of Hickam’s seventh C-17, Globemaster III, added to Hickam’s fleet of eight –the men for whom it was named after finally get their ride on the aircraft. They took to the skies for a 45-minute flight around some of the Hawaiian Islands. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Tom Czerwinski)
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E-mail a friendHICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii — Surviving members of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion pose in front of one Hickam’s C-17 aircraft the “Spirit of Go For Broke” which was named after the motto of the historic World War II Army units that consisted of Japanese Americans mostly from Hawaii. The “Go For Broke” unit was one of the most highly decorated units during WWII. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Tom Czerwinski)
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E-mail a friendGeneral Carrol H. “Howie” Chandler, Pacific Air Forces commander, reads for a first grade class at Hickam elementary school during The National Education Association’s ‘Read Across America’ program on Mar. 10. The annual event is a reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on or around Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Justin Huett)
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E-mail a friendMaster Sgt. Joseph Salvador explains the C-17 Globemaster III to members of the Philippine Air Force prior to taking off on mission Feb. 27 from Clark Field, Pampanga, Philippines during Exercise Balikatan 08. Sergeant Salvador is a loadmaster from the 204th Airlift Squadron Hawaii Air National Guard, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. Balikatan is an annual combines bilateral exercise involving U.S. military and Armed Forces of the Philippines, subject matter experts from the Philippine Civil Defense Agencies and observers from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore working on humanitarian and disaster relief efforts. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo)
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