U.S. Army Medical Contingent to Task Force Forager Pacific Partnership 2015: Lessons and Best Practices

Pacific Partnership 2015 PP15 Task Force Forager was a joint and multinational engagement in the Pacific theater. The U.S. Army provided a substantial medical team executing a variety of cooperative health activities. This newsletter highlights those engagements. PP15 was the 10th iteration in a series of multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response missions intended to strengthen relationships, improve disaster preparedness, andenhance collective disaster response efforts among all participants. In 2015, the U.S. Pacific fleet executed parallel operations in support of Pacific Partnership 2015 with two platforms The U.S. Naval Ship USNS Mercy, and the USNS Millinocket with the U.S. Army medical contingent aboard. In total, Task Force Forager conducted operations in four countries the Republic of Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and the Republic of the Philippines.Task Force Foragers PP15 team included personnel and assets from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces as well as the Department of Homeland Security, including the U.S. Coast Guard. The task force also consisted of partner nation militaries and nongovernmental organizations from Australia, New Zealand, France, the Republic of Korea, and Project HOPE Health Opportunities for People Everywhere, a global health education and humanitarian assistance organization. As a combined joint task force, Task Force Forager engaged in a variety of local outreach efforts in areas such as humanitarian civic activities engineering projects and medical, dental, and veterinary services.