The visit by docking landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD J2) to Fiji has fostered new and enduring friendships with their Fijian counterparts.

USS Pearl Harbor Commanding Officer Sameer Khanna said the interaction strengthened its Pacific partnership in addition to working with Fijian personnel to enhance disaster response capabilities.

With the aim of equipping our local forces for its multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission in the Blue Pacific, Commander Khanna said upon their arrival that the partnership conducted tailored humanitarian and civic preparedness activities in the areas of engineering, disaster response, and public health.

“During this year’s mission on board, there were 1500 personnel, including soldiers and marine officers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom,” Commander Khanna said.

“We started off the disaster preparedness campaign in Papua New Guinea before we came to Fiji,” Commander Khanna said.

He said community engagement was one of the highlights during their arrival; the warm welcome by local forces and friendly people they met along the streets of Suva were cherished memories they would take back.

One of the joys of their visit, he said, was getting involved with the community; the welcoming military personnel and the friendly people they met on the streets of Suva.

“This is our fifth stop in the Asia-Pacific region, and most of the crew members have been enjoying the scenery for the past few days,” he said.

Bringing the Fire Department officers on board last Saturday, which was an eye-opening event for most of them, he added, was one step in trying to improve disaster preparedness.

The USS Pearl Harbor will depart our shores on Thursday.

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