CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii -- The annual conference, this year co-hosted by Canada and the United States from September 4-6, provided a forum for 26 senior Indo-Asia-Pacific military leaders to strengthen military-to-military relationships, discuss common defense issues and foster regional cooperation.

“I was delighted to co-host this year’s Pacific Command Chiefs of Defense Conference with Admiral Harry Harris, Commander U.S. Pacific Command. This was the first time the event was held in Canada, and I want to sincerely thank the organizers for their hard work in making it a success. This was an excellent opportunity to discuss a wide range of defense and security issues with our Asia-Pacific partners, which only serves to enhance security and confidence in the region."

Topics of discussion during the conference included the threat from North Korea, trends in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, combating and preventing violent extremism and peace support operations.

Harris said, “We share many challenges in the Indo-Asia Pacific but through bilateral and multilateral engagements like these and cooperation with other nations in the region, I am confident that when we face these challenges together, we will prevail together.”

Senior Enlisted Leaders (SEL) for many of the country’s represented also came to the conference to discuss ways to bolster and promote leadership in the enlisted ranks.

Sgt. Maj. Anthony Spadaro, PACOM SEL, said during one meeting, “A vested enlisted force, developed through programs of merit, can more precisely understand, translate and transmit the commander’s intent, which allows the commander more strategic bandwidth during operations.”

Topics discussed by the SEL portion of the conference included the importance of Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) development and multilateral training opportunities between partner nations.

The group consisted of sixteen SEL representatives from throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and Spadaro hopes to increase that number to twenty members for the 2018 CHODS conference.

With allies and partners, PACOM is committed to enhancing stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region by promoting security cooperation, encouraging peaceful development, responding to contingencies, deterring aggression, and, when necessary, fighting to win. This approach is based on partnership, presence, and military readiness.

“I was extremely pleased to talk with so many of our allies and partners in the region this week to enhance our military relationships, regional collaboration and discuss our shared security concerns,” said Harris.