Photo By Cpl. Patrick Mahoney | Senior military leaders from around the Indo-Pacific region gather for the 4th annual...... read more read more
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HONOLULU -- The Pacific Amphibious Leaders Symposium, or PALS, concluded Thursday after three days of panels, briefs and discussions in Honolulu, Hawaii, May 21-24, 2018.
PALS, which was hosted by U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, gathered senior military leaders from allied and partner militaries to build closer military-to-military bonds and discuss important aspects of amphibious operations, capability development, crisis response and logistics. Leaders of 22 different militaries from the Indo-Pacific region participated in the symposium.
The symposium consisted of several panel discussions and briefings to discuss a variety of subjects, ranging from amphibious operations, humanitarian assistance and interoperability, with a focus on logistical support.
“I am convinced no single [military] has the resources, has the capabilities or the capacity to handle these types of challenges by themselves; we will need to pitch in together. So the more we talk about that, the more we think through it, how to combine our logistics, we’ll be better when we get to our next one,” said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. David H. Berger, commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific.
Japan Self Defense Force Maj. Gen. Shinichi Aoki, commanding general, Amphibious Raid Deployment Brigade, or ARDB, echoed similar sentiments.
“This conference is very [beneficial] for us to first know each other and share the information concerning amphibious operations or amphibious circumstances surrounding the [Indo-Pacific] region,” Aoki said. “If we could share the information and [get to] know each other we [can] discuss much [deeper] and exchange not only our technique, but also doctrine-level, it is very [beneficial] for us.”
The symposium brought militaries together with the focus to improve their amphibious capabilities as a whole.
“The Pacific is a really big area, we often come together in different combinations and different times and spaces when we need to work closely together, and so we need to understand each other before we get to that point,” said New Zealand Air Commodore Andrew Clark, air component commander, New Zealand Defence Force. “In amphibious operations, because it is a difficult area, no one has all the answers. And so to be able to get leaders together to discuss where different people are, that really benefits everybody.”
PALS allowed the militaries participating to exchange ideas, information and future plans to help improve their logistical capabilities.
“In Peru we’ve had several activities that demonstrated the importance logistics has,” said Vice Adm. Fernando Cerdan, commander, Pacific Operations, Peruvian Navy. “During the first few months of the year we had the natural disaster of El Niño. We had to mobilize all our military forces: the navy, army, air force and other departments of the state, to assist the population.”
Berger talked about how important it is for everyone to learn from each other during the symposium.
“I am very grateful, thankful, for everyone who was up here, everyone who stood here and helped inform the rest of us,” Berger said. “You were frank, you were open. Even when things went not well you brought that to light, said ‘we did not do this as well as we could next time, and here is what we are changing.’ That is powerful. That is learning.”
One of the key focuses of PALS was to not only learn new ideas, but also to learn to work together and build working relationships with each other.
“We learned a lot and we will bring all the knowledge that we get from here and we will tell our government that we need to support similar symposiums like this,” said Philippine Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Alvin Parreno, commandant, Philippine Marine Corps. “It will bring the leaders together, where interoperability is very important, because nowadays the byword is not separation, but jointness, combined, synchronization and integrity.”
Berger also spoke to the importance of building relationships so that militaries could work well together in the future.
“I am also very grateful for the personal relationships,” Berger said. “I know if there is a crisis in the next six months I will lean on you and you can lean on me because of personal relationships. I am thankful for the people I’ve gotten to know this week … We may have no-notice, no-warning, 24 hours, you need to be there within 24 hours. You cannot build a relationship in 24 hours, they have to exist beforehand.”
Events like PALS help military forces ensure stability and prosperity worldwide. Participating militaries can return home with not only a new and shared knowledge and understanding of their amphibious capabilities, but also strengthened relationships with their partners in the Indo-Pacific region.
| Date Taken: | 05.25.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.25.2018 20:21 |
| Story ID: | 278523 |
| Location: | HONOLULU, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 162 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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