VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka -- U.S. service members from the Indo-Pacific region joined forces with the Sri Lankan military, multinational partners, and non-governmental organizations for the health services outreach portion of Pacific Angel (PAC ANGEL) 18-4 in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka, Aug. 13, 2018.

PAC ANGEL is an annual combined engagement that empowers other nations and organizations to build their humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities.

“We appreciate Sri Lanka’s willingness to host major exercises and engagements such as PAC ANGEL 18,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Nicole Christiano, medical troop commander assigned to the 146th Air National Guard Airlift Wing, Channel Islands, Calif. “Exercises like this are critical to advancing our ability to operate together and prepare for future engagements.”

The week-long medical event will provide health services to include general medical, dental, physical therapy, optometry, and pharmaceutical services for the people of Sri Lanka. The PAC ANGEL 18-4 team is expecting to treat at least 1,000 patients daily.

“Together with our partner nation, we were able to learn a different perspective on medicine,” Christiano said. “It’s this type of hands-on training and interaction that will ultimately help us work together if we are ever called to operate in an emergency capacity.”

U.S. participants, together with host nation military personnel, have positively impacted the lives of tens of thousands of people through PAC ANGEL’s 11-year history. The commander of U.S. Pacific Command directed the implementation of a recurring humanitarian assistance engagement to promote continued U.S. commitment and goodwill to neighboring nations in the region.