Australien/Vietnam — Pacific Partnership 2010 — Sappers Give Hope to Vietnam

Sec­ond Com­bat Engi­neer Reg­i­ment based at Gal­lipoli Bar­racks, Bris­bane assist­ed in the com­ple­tion of works at the Hope Cen­tre in Quy Nhon, Viet­nam dur­ing Pacif­ic Part­ner­ship 2010.

The largest of four engi­neer­ing projects in Viet­nam, 45 engi­neers from the Unit­ed States and Aus­tralia as well as vol­un­teers from Viet­nam and Unit­ed States Naval Ship Mer­cy con­duct­ed a refur­bish­ment of the 50-room build­ing. The scope of work includ­ed installing light fit­tings, fans, and plumb­ing ser­vices, tiling, replace­ment of the roof as well as paint­ing all inte­ri­or and exte­ri­or walls. The Hope Cen­tre is a school for 100 dis­abled chil­dren and will re-open in 2011. 

Aus­tralia is par­tic­i­pat­ing in the annu­al US-led human­i­tar­i­an assis­tance mis­sion. Twen­ty-two ADF per­son­nel have joined USNS Mer­cy as the first of three sep­a­rate Aus­tralian con­tin­gents to rotate through the region over the next three months. 

The PP10 mis­sion marks the fifth year of Aus­tralian sup­port, and will pro­vide engi­neer­ing and med­ical assis­tance in Viet­nam, Cam­bo­dia, Indone­sia, East Tim­or and Papua New Guinea. 

Aimed at strength­en­ing inter­na­tion­al rela­tion­ships and inter­op­er­abil­i­ty for dis­as­ter relief through­out South East Asia and Ocea­nia, ADF per­son­nel will be based out of USNS Mer­cy in Viet­nam, Cam­bo­dia, Indone­sia and East Tim­or. Addi­tion­al­ly, RAN assets HMA Ships Labuan and Brunei will pro­vide assis­tance with ship to shore move­ments in some countries. 

The entrance to Quy Nhon Har­bour, Viet­nam with Tran Hu’ng Dao stat­ue in the back­ground. Tran Hu’ng Dao was a war­rior and Gen­er­al of the Dai Viet armies that repelled two Mon­gol inva­sions in the 13th Cen­tu­ry. Dao is con­sid­ered as one of the most accom­plished Gen­er­als in world his­to­ry. Source: Aus­tralian Depart­ment of Defence Click to enlarge

Aus­tralian Defence Offi­cers attached to Unit­ed States Naval Ship Mer­cy (USNS Mer­cy) dur­ing Pacif­ic Part­ner­ship 2010 and the Aus­tralian Defence Attache for Viet­nam, Colonel Stu­art Dodds (back, third from left) at the USNS Mer­cy recep­tion in the vicin­i­ty of Viet­nam. Back left to right: Flight Lieu­tenant Dan­ny O’Neill; Lieu­tenant Eliz­a­beth Liv­ing­stone; Defence Attache for Viet­nam, Colonel Stu­art Dodds; Lieu­tenant Colonel Helen Mur­phy, Com­man­der Aus­tralian; Nation­al Com­mand Ele­ment for Pacif­ic Part­ner­ship 2010; Lieu­tenant; Dier­dre Smith; Major Thien Pham; Lieu­tenant Rebekah Polkehn Front left to right: Squadron Leader Toni Mur­ray; Major Suzanne Steel; Lieu­tenant Kara Wans­bury; Lieu­tenant Cameron Hawkins Source: Aus­tralian Depart­ment of Defence Click to enlarge

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia