Mission

Pacific Partnership promotes cooperation between military and civilian organizations to effectively prepare for disaster response.

History

In the aftermath of the December 2004 "Boxing Day" tsunami that devastated parts of South and Southeast Asia, the United States mobilized numerous military assets and personnel to support the relief effort. Seeing the opportunity to build on the goodwill and lessons learned from that initial mission, the U.S. Navy planned and executed the inaugural Pacific Partnership (PP) mission in 2006; its primary aim was to proactively prepare for a more effective response to natural disasters while strengthening relationships and security ties between nations. 

Disaster emergencies, both natural and man-made, remain an ever-present threat to life, security, stability, and prosperity throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility. Initially, efforts were heavily humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) focused but PP has evolved over the years to use an all-hazards approach with expanded lines of effort in medical and public health, engineering, and host nation outreach. Individual projects are tailored to the specific needs and requests of each host nation. This approach prioritizes regional engagements to focus on building human connections, bolstering host nation capacity for managing non-traditional threats (e.g. climate change, pandemic), and enhancing cooperation between allies and partners to uphold a free and open Indo-Pacific.