Operation Unified Assistance –
A Singapore Liaison
Officer’s Perspective

On 7 Jan 05, I reported to the headquarters (HQ) of the Combined Support Force (CSF) 536 based in U-Tapao, Thailand to participate in Operation Unified Assistance (OUA) – a humanitarian operation organized in the aftermath of the South-Asia tsunami which happened on 26 Dec 04. Never before had I needed to react with such haste in getting myself prepared for the duties ahead, yet I did not know exactly how I could contribute when I arrived for the mission. Nonetheless, I took comfort that my recent experience heading the UN Peacekeeping Force Civil-Military Set-up in East Timor would be beneficial. After all, here was an underlying humanitarian cause which trumped all other reasons why my years of military training and education should be put to good use again.

Singapore also assigned another Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Officer to support Combined Support Group (CSG) - Indonesia (Forward) located in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. We were chosen not at random, but because we are graduates of the Indonesian Command & Staff College. We could converse proficiently in Bahasa Indonesian; are familiar with the TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces); and have an in-depth knowledge of Indonesian culture, psyche, and sensitivities to the presence of foreign military forces.

The request to the Singapore Armed Forces from U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) to support OUA with Liaison Officers (LNOs) was a clear manifestation that the preparations of the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team (MPAT) have come to fruition. MPAT was a PACOM initiative that came about in the aftermath of the 1999 East Timor crisis. The MPAT ideal is one of “increasing multinational cooperation / coordination for military operations other than war.” Its missions comprise Humanitarian Assistance, Disaster Relief, Peace Operations, and Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations. The creation of MPAT showed great foresight, given that it is not every day that the world experiences a tsunami disaster of this scale – many thousands of innocent people perished perished and many more thousands are still struggling to rebuild their homes and livelihood.

The LNOs functioned as coordinators and planners within the Combined Coordination Centre (CCC) – a component that was set up within HQ CSF 536. The CCC was already conceptualised in Chapter 7 of the MPAT Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). LNOs or observers were present from ten countries. The LNOs provided invaluable situational updates during the daily shift-change brief, and held constant bilateral, multi-national, and inter-agency consultations to resolve relief requests, execute responses, and develop action plans. This effort ensured that the mountains of material were strategically airlifted and tactically transported into the three humanitarian theatres, namely, Phuket, Thailand; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Aceh, Indonesia before bulk breaking1 and retailed distribution could be undertaken. The CCC was akin to a civil-military “shopfront.” It pooled needs-assessment information, interfaced countries’ efforts, and facilitated exchanges of national perspectives on host countries’ sentiments towards the various relief responses and plans that were “brokered” under OUA.

The success of OUA was a testimony to 3rd Marines Expeditionary Force’s leadership that correctly and consciously emphasized a “Team of Teams” approach. It also amplified MPAT as a useful strategic framework for PACOM to remain actively engaged with other nations, UN Agencies, and NGOs within the Asia-Pacific region. Its vision of having “a cadre of military planners with interests in the Asia-Pacific region capable of rapidly augmenting a multinational force HQ established to plan and execute combined operations in response to small scale contingencies” has never been closer to the reality of today’s military forces. The military must remain on alert to fulfill their conventional duties and also be equally capable as unconventional warriors.
Moving on, the motivation for MPAT remains one of continuously improving interoperability and multilateral cooperation to reduce crisis response time; increase planning effectiveness; strengthen command, control, and communications; and fine tune common operating procedures. MPAT-sponsored seminars, workshops, military games, and exercises will continue to provide good opportunities for countries in the region to share national perspectives, harness interoperability, and further integrate operating procedures to face times of crises and emergencies.

I departed CSF 536 on 2 Feb 05 full of good memories, just as I had done from East Timor in 2000. I am convinced that all of our sacrifices and efforts contributed to a great humanitarian cause. Most of us met each other for the first time, but the sudden call of duty bonded us all as one big Samaritan family – Marines, MPATers, liaison officers, United Nations / non-governmental organizations / international organizations’ staffers, and our ever-gracious Thai hosts in U-Tapao

Endnotes
1 Editor’s note: to break bulk is to begin unloading
cargo (Oxford English Reference Dictionary, Revised Second Edition).