Personnel from the U.S. Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, French Navy and Papua New Guinea Defence Force marked the successful completion of five days of bilateral training and increased mutual cooperation during the Pacific Angel 24-1 closing ceremony at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, August 30, 2024.

Pacific Angel 24-1 was a five-day search and rescue focused field training exercise and subject matter expert exchange. During the exercise, PNGDF personnel received training and exchanged knowledge with U.S. Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and French Navy subject matter experts on areas such as aircraft maintenance, adverse terrain survival and swift water personnel recovery.

“This is the first time we had PNGDF participate with U.S. aircraft, which goes a long way to building the capability for them to fly more complex military operations like humanitarian assistance and disaster response,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Todd Larson, Pacific Air Forces director of strategy and plans. “My biggest takeaway from this exercise is the variety of uniforms present, like that old saying goes… You don’t want to be exchanging business cards when disaster strikes, so these connections are great and should stand the test of time.”

Primarily a search and rescue centered exercise, Pac Angel 24-1 focused on establishing the PNGDF aeromedical evacuation capability and provided an excellent opportunity to improve combined readiness and interoperability between the U.S., RAAF and Papua New Guinea. It allowed for the exchange of techniques related to emergency response triage and care, casualty evacuation, infectious disease control, engineering programs, airfield operations and repairs.

During the closing ceremony, PNGDF Col. Bruno Malau, PNGDF chief of staff to deputy commander, briefed on this year’s exercise accomplishments, and stated that the exercise demonstrated remarkable dedication to the nations’ partnership.

“I would like to congratulate you all on a successful exercise, this week we took a small but significant step in the right direction to improve the government’s ability to provide effective search and rescue capabilities,” Malau said. “This exercise ensured interoperability, Papua New Guinea’s growing military partnership with the United States and Australia, and strengthend our commitment to the promotion of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Total participation included more than 60 U.S. Air Force, 18 Royal Australian Air Force, 9 French Navy and 45 PNGDF personnel, two HC-130J Combat King IIs from the 39th Rescue Squadron, one RAAF C-27J Sentry, one French Navy Dassault Falcon 20G and one PNGDF PAC-750.

The U.S. military continues to strengthen relationships with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific through operations such as Pacific Angel to prepare for emergency situations and ultimately to preserve peace and stability throughout the region.