CFE-DMHA supports Gema Bhakti 2014
07.01.2014
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – Jobe Solomon, a disaster management and humanitarian assistance advisor for the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, supported U.S. Pacific Command’s Training and Exercises Directorate and U.S. Army, Pacific at the bilateral military exercise Gema Bhakti in Jakarta, Indonesia June 23 – 27.
The Indonesian Armed Forces, or Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), hosted staff officers from Indonesia’s military services, the Hawaii National Guard, Hawaii Air National Guard and III Marine Expeditionary Force in the operational-level disaster response exercise using the Multinational Forces Standing Operating Procedures (MNF-SOP) and United Nations humanitarian civil-military coordination (UN-CMCoord) guidelines.
During the five-day event, Solomon provided presentations on humanitarian principles, disaster management stakeholders and civil-military coordination during disaster response. He also led the integration of participants from International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the World Food Programme, as well as staff from the national and provincial disaster management agencies.
“More international organizations participated in Gema Bhakti this year than in the previous year,” said Solomon. “Having multiple organizations represented added value and further enriched the experience for the military training audience.”
Additionally, Solomon and the humanitarian participants were able to provide real-time input into the scenario events, achieving a more realistic training environment that forced the service members to adapt to ever-changing situations.
“The humanitarian participation was critical as it provided the military personnel the kind of insights and understanding that we do not possess,” said Col. Suzanne Vares-Lum, vice chief of the joint staff, Hawaii National Guard. “The humanitarian organizations … are the experts in the [humanitarian assistance and disaster response] arena and can apply their expertise to [shape military support to the response effort].”
Vares-Lum added one of the most significant lessons participants learned was how to establish, organize and operate a Multinational Coordination Center (MNCC), a process very few individuals experience.
“The exercise was out of the comfort zone of the [Hawaii National Guard] and TNI planners,” said Solomon. “The training audience was primarily staff officers accustomed to solving problems as part of an operating unit like a Joint Task Force. This exercise did not test those abilities, but rather, their ability to set-up an MNCC from scratch with foreign partners, coordinate with diverse organizations and understand their role in the broader international disaster response environment - to which they rose to the challenge.”
In real-world disasters, MNCC’s have no tasking authority, said Vares-Lum, but “is really a group of liaison officers attempting to coordinate relief according to the affected state's priority requirements. Once we came to this realization, we began to operate more efficiently; therefore, we were able to respond to the HADR requirements more effectively.”
Jobe Solomon, a disaster management and humanitarian assistance advisor for the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, gives a presentation on humanitarian principles and civil-military coordination during disaster response to participants in the multinational staff exercise Gema Bhakti June 23. The five-day exercise provided staff officers from the Indonesian National Armed Forces and Hawaii National Guard with operational-level planning experience for a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response scenario. (Courtesy photo).