PACIFIC OCEAN –
The Military Sealift Command joint high speed vessel USNS Millinocket (JHSV 3) arrived in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations May 31 in support of Pacific Partnership 2015 (PP15).
Millinocket and embarked Task Force Forager, led by an expeditionary command element from the Navy's 30th Naval Construction Regiment (30 NCR) from Port Hueneme, California, are currently serving as the secondary platform for Pacific Partnership 2015. The primary platform for the mission is the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19).
"As commander of Task Force Forager, it is a true honor and privilege to lead the 120 service members embarked on the joint high speed vessel Millinocket for this valuable mission," said Commander, Task Force Forager, Capt. James Meyer. "The diverse embarked task force is comprised of Airmen, Marines, Sailors and Soldiers and our partner nations from Australia and New Zealand."
Millinocket will visit Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, the Philippines, and Vietnam and will conduct medical health exchanges, engineering engagements, civil military assistance and community relation events in cooperation with partner and host nations.
"The crew is excited to carry out our part of Pacific Partnership and demonstrate the ways joint high speed vessels like Millinocket can enhance partnership and cooperation in the region."
Now in its 10th iteration, Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific Region.
While training for crisis conditions, Pacific Partnership missions have provided medical care to approximately 270,000 patients and veterinary services to more than 38,000 animals.
Additionally, PP15 has provided critical infrastructure development to host nations through the completion of more than 180 engineering projects.
The JHSV is a flexible platform that can be used to provide rapid projection of task tailored forces in response to a wide range of military and civilian contingencies such as non-combatant evacuation operations, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief. It is a ship that can specialize in getting people and equipment quickly into and out of areas stricken by disaster or affected by contingencies.