VISAKHAPATNAM, India -- The United States Marine Forces Pacific and Pacific Air Forces command surgeons and Indian Air Force, Army and Navy members participated in TIGER TRIUMPH, a bilateral amphibious exercise focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, 13-21 Nov.

This is the first time MARFORPAC and PACAF command surgeons have teamed up with the Indian military to share best practices on moving patients across water, land and air with a focus on command and control, point of injury care, patient transport and casualty evacuation.

Surgeon Commodore Shankar Narayan, Commanding Officer of India Naval Hospital Kalyani, encouraged the participants to use this exchange to develop a mutual understanding of each services’ respective medical response capabilities in order to most efficiently save lives and ease suffering during future natural disasters.

During the bilateral exchange subject matter expert focused on lessons learned and HADR focused table top exercises (TTX) in a post disaster environment, where roads, air and seaports are no longer accessible due to a natural disasters, such as Cyclone Hudhud that made landfall in Visakhapatnam in 2014.

Following the academics and TTX, the team conducted a medical field exercise at Kakinada Beach, reinforcing the lessons learned and providing U.S. Marines and Air Force medics an opportunity to work with their Indian counterparts.

“This exchange enhanced both military’s professionals and helped develop a deeper mutual understanding of overall medical operations of tactics, techniques, and procedures which are vital towards successful regional and international relief operations,” said Group Captain (Dr.) Kishore Kumar Pooniwala, Indian air force rapid action medical team director.

HADR exercises such as Tiger Triumph demonstrate a universal desire to relieve suffering for victims effected by manmade or natural disasters.

Medical focused exchanges can provide a pivotal stepping-stone to develop future exercises, supporting U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s objectives while enhancing U.S. – partner nation contacts, familiarization of mutual medical capabilities and regional medical security cooperation efforts.