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  2. ADF medics return to Philippines

ADF medics return to Philippines

17 July 2014

Royal Australian Air Force nursing officer Flight Lieutenant Ben James (centre) supervises a health examination on a Filipino lady at the DIIT District Health Centre in Tacoban on July 7. More than 600 people sought treatment on the opening day of the free clinic.

During Pacific Partnership 14 Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel John Cronin (left) shakes hands with Roselle, a dental assistant at the DIIT District Health Centre in Tacloban, where 100 Australian, US and Japanese doctors, dentists and nurses conducted a free clinic under the auspices of Pacific Partnership 14 during July 4-15.

Flight Sergeant Troy McKibbin (left) translates a conversation between Lieutenant Commander Yamasaki, the pilot of the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force hover-craft (middle), and PP14 Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel John Cronin, of the Australian Defence Force. The JSMDF hover-craft inserted 150 Australian and US military personnel on the beach at Tacloban, in the Philippines, near where US General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore after the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in WWII.

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Australian Defence Force (ADF) medics have returned to the Philippines as part of an annual United States-sponsored humanitarian and civic assistance exercise that will help some of the many thousands of people adversely affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

The ADF personnel have joined with 100 US and Japanese military doctors, dentists and nurses under the auspices of “Pacific Partnership 14” (PP14) to help the people of Tacloban city with free health clinics and medical care.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Cronin said nine Australian medical and support staff are working hard to complement the success achieved by the ADF when it conducted Operation PHILIPPINES ASSIST in November 2013.

“The ADF’s support to last year’s relief and recovery efforts is something we can all be proud of because it featured complex air, sea and land operations that helped the Philippines respond to the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan,” he said.

The ADF personnel assigned to PP14 are proud to be providing follow-up assistance, but none more than Leading Aircraftsman (LAC) Sean Boller, from Canberra, who was part of the Australian Medical Assistance Team which spearheaded PHILIPPINES ASSIST only three days after the typhoon.

“It is great to be back in the same area only eight months after Typhoon Haiyan because I can put it all into perspective,” he said.

“I still have vivid memories of the disaster relief operation because we flew in a RAAF C-130 Hercules aircraft into Tacloban city, which was completely destroyed by winds in excess of 315-kmph.”

Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez thanked the PP14 senior leadership, including Lieutenant-Colonel Cronin, at the opening ceremony on 5 July.

“The international response to Typhoon Haiyan was so successful because of the planning and conduct of the Pacific Partnership series of disaster relief exercises over the past nine-years,” he said.

Lieutenant-Colonel Cronin said the annual series of exercises was conceived as a way to improve the interoperability of the region’s military forces, governments, and humanitarian organisations during disaster relief operations.

“Op PHILIPPINES ASSIST demonstrated that it is absolutely critical that the ADF and our regional partners stand ready to assist when natural disasters occur,” he said.

This year, PP14 has delivered assistance including medical, dental, veterinary and engineering aid to Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

The mission concludes in the Philippines on 19 July, when the ADF team will embark in a Japan Maritime Self Defence Ship, the JS Kunisaki, for the voyage to Okinawa, before flying home.

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