CFE-DM hosts DASD Witkowsky
07.24.2015
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs Anne A. Witkowsky is on her first visit to Hawaii in the role, and paid a visit to the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE-DM) July 24.
As part of her duties, Witkowsky has policy responsibility for humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and provides policy oversight to CFE-DM with mission guidance; U.S. Pacific Command has day-to-day operational control of the Center.
“[The Center] is an important piece of the worldwide set of efforts we oversee in humanitarian assistance and disaster response,” she said. “And it is a key element within the (Department of Defense) line of effort.”
Scott Aronson, humanitarian assistance advisor to U.S. Pacific Command for the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) was also in attendance to discuss recent USAID-led disaster response operations in Nepal.
“In this region, the relationships between the civilian-led agencies and the DOD are excellent,” said Aronson. “Having both OFDA and CFE-DM present under U.S. Pacific Command) results in a very well integrated humanitarian response mechanism; there is an immense amount of coordination and understanding between them.”
CFE-DM is designated as the civil-military coordinating authority for U.S. Pacific Command in disaster management.
Witkowsky stopped in Hawaii on her way to participate in Asia-Pacific Regional Peacekeeping Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia. She will also visit the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance in Jakarta, where a member of the CFE-DM staff will accompany her.
Col. Joseph Martin, director of the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, points out historic landmarks in Pearl Harbor to Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs Anne Witkowsky during her visit to Ford Island July 24.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs Anne Witkowsky (center) meets with the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE-DM) and U.S. Agency for International Development Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance personnel during her visit to the CFE-DM headquarters building on Ford Island July 24.
(From left) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability and Humanitarian Affairs Anne Witkowsky meets with Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance Director Col. Joseph Martin and Deputy Director Douglas Wallace at the organization’s headquarters in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii July 24.