U.S. Embassy Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea: Pacific Partnership 2015 operational humanitarian missions may be months away, but a team of personnel from the United States Pacific Fleet will arrive next week in Arawa on the southeast coast of Bougainville to survey potential areas for U.S. assistance. The team will travel to Buka and onto Rabaul, East New Britain Province. A separate U.S. Pacific Fleet survey team will visit Honiara and Malaita in the Solomon Islands to further develop contacts, begin the planning process, and assess potential Pacific Partnership 2015 projects.

Pacific Partnership was founded to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster resilience to Pacific nations following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The global response to the 2004 tsunami, and the widespread goodwill and cooperation that resulted formed the genesis of Pacific Partnership's mission to proactively deliver humanitarian assistance to the nations in the Pacific.

Pacific Partnership 2015 continues the annual deployment of U.S. Pacific Fleet forces in cooperation with regional governments, partner military forces, humanitarian, and non-government organizations. Besides providing medical and humanitarian assistance, Pacific Partnership's overarching goal is to improve the interoperability of the region's military forces, governments, and humanitarian organizations during disaster relief operations.

Each year, Pacific Partnership missions strive to increase partner nation capacity and capabilities while strengthening relationships with friends, allies, and partners of the United States. Pacific Island host nations for 2015 are: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Kiribati. Pacific Partnership 2015 activities may range from medical, dental, and veterinarian care to construction projects and crisis response training.

Papua New Guinea previously benefitted from the Pacific Partnership program, most recently in Wewak and Vanimo during 2013. This year's engagement in Papua New Guinea is planned for Bougainville and Rabaul. The program will be a great opportunity to expand people-to-people ties with the United States and deliver benefits for the people of Bougainville. For the Solomon Islands, Pacific Partnership programs will concentrate on Honiara and Malaita.