Leaders of 25 armies across the Pacific theater gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh today for the opening ceremonies of the 38th Pacific Armies Management Seminar. The theme for this year’s event is: “A new focus on the Asia-Pacific region: Opportunities and challenges for land forces.” PAMS however, is nothing “new” to the leaders of armies attending this largest annual gathering of land forces.

Few military seminars in the world have had the resilience and value that PAMS has produced for more than 36 years. Expanded from the original nine nations attending PAMS I in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1978, with 25 nations invited to attend PAMS XXXVIII in Dhaka, Bangladesh, undoubtedly PAMS has become one of the premier theater security cooperation events for the United States Army in the Pacific. For senior army leaders it has become the most significant event for building interpersonal relationships among armies in the Indo-Asia Pacific. Its professional development opportunities for future leaders have helped PAMS pass the test of time.

“The attendees here represent the current and future senior military leadership of our respective countries. The work we do here, over the next few days, will have impacts in the years to come as participants move into the most senior military positions in their countries,” said Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, U.S. Army Pacific commanding general and co-host of the 38th iteration of PAMS during his opening remarks of PAMS 38. “Most importantly, the relationships that are renewed here for some, and initiated here for others, will form the channels of communication that will help to avert crises among us, and that will enhance military cooperation when we find ourselves responding to an international crisis where we find common interests,” added Brooks.

Numerous countries’ armies have volunteered to co-host the coveted land seminar. Previous PAMS have taken place in New Zealand, India, Australia, Japan, Philippines, Fiji, South Korea, Canada, Singapore, Chile and many more. Bangladesh has consistently sent a national delegation to PAMS and has provided subject matter expert presentations on numerous occasions. This year marks the second PAMS co-hosting for the Bangladesh Army, as it has hosted a PAMS previously in 1994. The Bangladesh Army’s close partnership with the U.S. Army through numerous exercises and cross-training activities, to include the Pacific Resilience Disaster Relief Exercise & Exchange, the largest U.S. Army disaster exchange in the region, led them to co-host once more.

“We have a number of courses that we train every year with the U.S. and Bangladesh. We expect to double-up our military-to-military cooperation even further,” said Lt. Gen. Md. Mainul Islam, Chief of General Staff of the Bangladesh Army, during the PAMS 38 press conference.

Not 24 hours since the opening remarks of PAMS 38 were delivered and PAMS is once again proving its staying power. PAMS 39 is scheduled to take place in Bali, Indonesia next year, with the Indonesian Army, Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI-AD).