Son of Newport News woman participates in humanitarian mission in South Pacific

Photo By Chief Petty Officer Michael Russell | Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Figueroa, religious programs specialist, invites children to play a game of soccer with during a community relations project at Illiomar village. Pacific Partnership is a humanitarian assistance initiative, which promotes cooperation throughout the Pacific, which will visit five island nations this summer: Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and the Federated States of Micronesia.  

DILI, EAST TIMOR

06.28.2011

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Russell 

Pacific Partnership 2011

ABOARD USS CLEVELAND - Petty Officer 2nd Class Richard Figueroa, religious programs specialist, son of Emilia Figueroa, from Newport News, Va., is serving in support of Pacific Partnership 2011 aboard amphibious transport dock ship USS Cleveland. Figueroa is the brother of Margie Otero, also a Newport News resident and he graduated Woods High School in Newport News.

Cleveland is the lead vessel for Pacific Partnership 2011. Pacific Partnership is the Pacific Fleet’s annual mission to Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands to engage in partnerships with host nations by improving dialogue, effecting a lasting, positive change, and employing subject matter expert exchanges in order to improve the capabilities and interoperability of the U.S. and partner nations when dealing with natural and man-made disasters.

“The best part of my job is helping people,” said Figueroa. “This is a great opportunity to interact with and help people that really need it.”

Cleveland will visit the Kingdom of Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and the Federated States of Micronesia, and the military group will be accompanied by non-government organizations like Project HOPE, Vets Without Borders, and the University of California, San Diego Pre-Dental Society.

“It's also a chance for the people of the world to see how caring the United States and its people are,” said Figueroa.

Pacific Partnership developed as a mission following the tsunami in 2004, which devastated Indonesia and much of the South Pacific. Since then, Pacific Partnership has treated 150,000 patients in 15 countries, and is supported by all U.S. uniformed services and partner nations that include Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. Other nations providing teams include Canada, Spain, Malaysia, and France.


For more news from Pacific Partnership, visit:

www.cpf.navy.mil/pp11

http://pacificpartnership/wordpress.com

www.facebook/pacificpartnership

http://twitter.com/pacificpartner

• Date Taken: 06.28.2011
• Date Posted: 06.28.2011 00:49
• Story ID: 72864
• Location: DILI, TL