Services TAP into Center's Enterprise
COE staff and retained Subject Matter Experts presented a "Training Assistance Program" (TAP) course to staff of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF), in Okinawa, Japan from December 12-15, 2006. TAP is a customized education and training program designed by COE to meet specific training objectives of the requesting organization.
This TAP course addressed key international and national humanitarian actors in a disaster/complex emergency response and their operating principles and their operations. Participants examined coordination of response activities between military and civilian responders; identification of the various types of persons affected by disasters and complex emergencies, and their rights; and provisions of Human Rights Law; International Humanitarian Law, and International Disaster Response Law. Other topics addressed were public health, and health care concerns and issues in a disaster or complex emergency response; humanitarian response logistics, including medical logistics; and lessons learned from the responses to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake, and the 2006 Java Earthquake.
Further, at the request of III MEF, COE staff and retained Subject Matter Experts presented a two-hour Professional Military Education session to the principal planners of III MEF on December 11, 2006. The presentation began with an introduction/review of principal humanitarian actors in a humanitarian crisis response, their operating mandates, and their operating principles. This was followed by a case study 'lessons learned' review of the response to the 2004 South Asia Tsunami response conducted by LtCol John Curatola (USMC) and Dr. Neil Joyce from the International Medical Corps. III MEF principals were fortunate in being provided with a 'lessons learned' evaluation to the same disaster response from two different responders: one a uniformed, military actor; and the other a civilian non-governmental organization (NGO) actor.