Pacific Angel 24-3 concluded in Quang Ngai and Quang Nam provinces, Vietnam, with a closing ceremony following 10 days of concurrent engineering, medical events and subject matter expert exchanges, Aug. 30.

“These missions are critical to deepening cooperation and interoperability across the Indo-Pacific to confront common challenges in humanitarian relief and disaster response efforts in order to enhance capacity and combined readiness,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Bradley Emmet, Pacific Angel 24-3 mission commander. “I’m extremely proud of the efforts over the past 10 days, and thank our host nation for their cooperation and coordination with our team.”

During the 10-day mission, members assigned to 356th Expeditionary Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force Squadron conducted construction efforts by repairing and renovating the Tinh Khe Elementary School and the Tinh Khe Medical Clinic. With a combined 1,200 man-hours dedicated to these efforts while overcoming extreme heat and language barriers, the team completed the renovations and were able to increase patient capacity at the Tinh Khe Medical clinic and ensure the students were in a fully functioning classroom by the first day at the Tinh Khe Elementary School.”

“This is a great opportunity for us to expand our partnership in this region. We were able to take away a lot of great information from the local community and leaders while also giving back to this province.” said Master Sgt. Steven Thomas, Pacific Angel 24-3, project lead. “We look forward to the next iteration of Pacific Angel where we can expand on these efforts.”

While engineering efforts were taking place, U.S. Air Force medical teams were hosting and conducting medical exchanges with the Vietnam Air Force. During these exchanges, the U.S. Air Force medical members exchanged their practices and techniques with the Vietnamese Air Force, better integrating multilateral capabilities and enhancing interoperability in the region.

Pacific Air Forces look forward to expanding engagement opportunities, particularly in areas of humanitarian aid/disaster response, security enhancement, aviation safety, airlift and maintenance to leverage training programs, and enhance partner capacity tools and defense trade.