Pacific Partnership, Pacific Friendship Wrap Up Joint Mission in Quang Tri, Vietnam

QUANG TRI, Vietnam – After two weeks of disaster management, medical, engineering, and outreach activities designed to build multilateral cooperation and collective capacity to respond to disasters, U.S. Navy-led Pacific Partnership 2026 (PP26) and U.S. Army-led Pacific Friendship 2026 (PF26) concluded their joint mission with a closing ceremony at the Gold Coast Hotel in Quang Tri, Vietnam on July 3, 2026.

The mission, which began June 22, brought PP and PF together for the first time, strengthening the bonds between the U.S. and Vietnam through medical exchanges, disaster management activities, infrastructure construction and improvements, and community outreach events.

“Pacific Partnership’s return to Vietnam is a testament to the strength of the U.S.-Vietnam relationship and what we can accomplish together,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Robert Reyes, PP26 mission commander. “It has been truly inspiring to see our joint U.S. military and partner nation personnel integrate with Vietnamese experts in multiple lines of effort over these past two weeks. Together we were able to connect with thousands of members of the Quang Tri community, whether through professional knowledge exchange, face-to-face conversations, or our joint construction efforts.”

The approximately 270 U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen were joined by personnel from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and German Armed Forces to work alongside the Government of Vietnam during the mission, marking Pacific Partnership’s 14th visit to Vietnam and Pacific Friendship’s second.

"Our joint mission demonstrated what's possible when partners come together to exchange expertise and address common challenges," said Maj. Gen. E. Darrin Cox, commanding general of the 18th Theater Medical Command and Army Forces for PF26. "Over the past two weeks, we worked alongside our Vietnamese, U.S. Navy, Canadian, and German partners to exchange knowledge across critical medical and disaster management subjects, learn from one another, and strengthen the capabilities that allow us to respond more effectively together when disasters occur. Every Pacific Friendship builds on the last, and we're already looking forward to returning next year."

Pacific Friendship led a mass casualty (MASCAL) drill at Hon La Port, supported by PP26 and Vietnamese civilian and military personnel. The exercise simulated a joint response to a Category 5 typhoon, with teams recovering simulated casualties from a Maritime Administration of Quang Tri vessel and transferring them aboard the U.S. Army Runnymede-class landing craft utility ship USAV Paulus Hook (LCU 2033), where PF26 and PP26 medical personnel worked through casualty reception, triage, trauma care, and preparation for evacuation to a higher level of care, demonstrating how expeditionary medical capabilities can bring life-saving care during maritime disaster response.

The PP26 and PF26 medical teams, composed of diverse specialties, including optometry, ophthalmology, dentistry, neurology, orthopedics, physical therapy, biomedical technicians, and environmental health, shared knowledge with medical professionals at hospitals in the area during multi-day engagements. They were able to reach nearly 1,200 patients through PP26-led optometry and joint PP-PF dental outreach events.

“We logged approximately 450 clinical hours side by side with over 1,000 Vietnamese expert colleagues to conduct joint medical knowledge exchanges on trauma, stroke, disease surveillance, dental care, specialized eye surgery, and medical equipment repair,” said Capt. Tiffany Uranga, PP26 director for medical operations. “We additionally combined our strengths, enhanced cohesion, and bolstered health resilience in the community through our community outreach event at the Quang Tri Provincial CDC, sharing information on a variety of health and wellness topics and conducting optometry and dental screenings for local participants.”

To enhance collective irrigation management, flood control, and preparedness skills, the PP26 disaster management team held a 4-day workshop. On the fourth day, U.S. and Vietnamese team members hiked to sites at Phi Vinh Reservoir and Le Ky River and discussed best practices for flooding mitigation based on historical data and the experiences of the local experts.

“Our goal for the workshop was not just to sit and present, but to encourage dialogue between U.S. forces and the organizations in Vietnam that handle disaster management,” said U.S Army Capt. Tucker Adkins, disaster management lead for the Vietnam mission stop. “We had representatives from more than six organizations in Quang Tri Province here, engaging in dialogue to learn about best practices and compare our disaster management systems with theirs. We discovered that we face many of the same challenges and have found similar solutions. The ability to have respectful back-and-forth exchange was truly enriching.”

Meanwhile, the joint mission team completed two engineering projects in Quang Tri: the construction of a 6-room restroom facility at Quang Xuan Primary School, and the renovation of four restrooms along with safety improvements at Le Ninh Regional Clinic. In coordination with local authorities, U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 5 and Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 worked alongside U.S. Army engineers assigned to 411th Engineering Battalion to complete the two projects.

“We constructed a new women’s restroom facility and upgraded the existing teacher restrooms, which previously had only two stalls and 16 urinals for a student body with more females than males,” said Senior Chief Constructionman Dina Beale, senior enlisted leader for the PP26 Vietnam mission stop fly-in engineering echelon, on the construction efforts at the school. “These improvements will significantly enhance sanitation, privacy, and overall quality of life for both students and staff.”

Beale, a U.S. Navy Seabee and daughter of a U.S. Army veteran, said she had a deep appreciation for the professionalism, dedication, and team work the Army brings to every mission.

“We are especially blessed to be collaborating across services to deliver something that will benefit this community for years to come and reflects the best of what joint operations can achieve,” said Beale.

To foster lasting people-to-people connections, volunteers from the two teams paid visits to two religious sites and four local schools, where they played sports and games with the students, and exchanged language, culture, and music with performances by the Pacific Partnership Band. At the Gio Linh Center for Rehabilitation of Children with Disabilities, the volunteers did arts and crafts with children and their families and played music, while medical team members conducted dental and optometry screenings.

During the Gio Linh visit, Commander Geneviève Chatelois, the Task Force Commander for Canada's contributions to PP26, said she played tic-tac-toe, hand games, and drew with the children while they waited for screenings. “It was both moving and inspiring to see how we can connect with a community through the arts, even without sharing the same language,” said Chatelois. “As Canadians, it was truly meaningful to share such a moment with them.”

Canada assigned 11 CAF personnel to the PP26 Vietnam stop under Operation HORIZON, CAF’s contribution to Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy which seeks to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, incorporating maritime, air, land, cyber, and space domains. They provided diverse specialties including medical, administration, music, and teaching.

“We had the opportunity to build paper airplanes, but our first attempts were unsuccessful. In later versions of the construction, I helped a child draw a partner nation flag on one side and a host nation flag on the other,” said Canadian Armed Forces Lt(N) Jay Maynard, of the Gio Linh visit. “The child was ecstatic and made it fly. I gifted the child a small Canadian flag for a job well done. It was a symbolic reminder that things in the world work better when we work together.”

The Quang Tri stop was the first of five for this year’s Pacific Partnership, with more stops planned in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste. 2026 is the 20th anniversary of Pacific Partnership, which was first conducted as an initiative to build on the goodwill and lessons learned from the United States’ relief efforts following the December 2004 “Boxing Day” tsunami.

This is the second year for Pacific Friendship, building on the inaugural 2025 engagement in Quang Tri. The mission strengthens the 31-year diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam through realistic, side-by-side training that builds trust between military and civilian personnel. This training ensures both nations can coordinate quickly and effectively during real-world crises and underscore the U.S. commitment to regional stability.