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About the Center for Excellence
The Center's Vision:
Reduced human suffering and loss of life through excellence in humanitarian assistance, disaster management, and peace support operations enabled by effective partnerships, with emphasis in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Center's Mission:
To promote effective civil-military management in international humanitarian assistance, disaster response, and peacekeeping through education, training, research, and information programs.
The Center for Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance (COE) works to improve international civil-military relations, through education, training, consultations, and information sharing in an unclassified environment. COE partners with a wide variety of local, national, and international governmental and non-governmental organizations including academic institutions and United Nations (UN) organizations.
Training Courses. COE currently offers two flagship training courses designed to familiarize participants with issues and challenges to coordination and effective performance in complex emergencies. COE offers Combined Humanitarian Assistance Response Training (CHART) up to four times a year and annually co-sponsors the Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) course with the International Committee of the Red Cross. COE co-sponsors UN Civil-Military Coordination (CMCoord) courses with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs up to twice a year, and also offers tailored Training Assistance Program (TAP) courses.
Peacekeeping Workshops. COE co-sponsors multilateral peacekeeping events in the Asia-Pacific region with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Each event brings together military and civilian representatives from approximately 20 nations to examine various planning and operational challenges to increasing national and regional capabilities to support international peace operations.
Medical and Public Health Activities. COE supports U.S. Pacific Command’s work to improve military readiness and promote public health through a comprehensive military-to-military education and training program for HIV/AIDS prevention, mitigation, and treatment in the Asia-Pacific region. COE executes the HIV/AIDS program in the Asia-Pacific region as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief on behalf of U.S. Pacific Command and the U.S. Department of Defense. COE works alongside U.S. Pacific Command to promote and strengthen regional contingency planning for bioterrorism, pandemic influenza, and other public health threats.
Exercise Support. COE provides technical assistance in planning, scenario development, and role-playing to integrate the complex issues and emerging trends in multi-dimensional operations into international military exercises. COE facilitates the participation of a diverse array of civilian actors to help create a more realistic military training experience. COE also facilitates military support to humanitarian training programs.
Operational Support. While COE’s role is primarily education, training, and technical assistance, staff occasionally deploy to support crisis response. COE staff were seconded to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to serve as military liaison officers in response to the December 2004 tsunami disaster, and to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Pakistan in response to the October 2005 South Asia earthquake. They have also been deployed in advisory roles to support civil-military planning for INTERFET in East Timor in 1999 and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2001.
Situation Reports and Publications. COE assists civilian and military decision-makers through the publication of an Asia-Pacific Daily Report as well as situational reports on current complex emergencies, all available on the COE website. COE produces Liaison, an annual journal of civil-military coordination; a quarterly newsletter; and instructional videos that address civil-military issues. COE conducts after-action reviews of disaster responses.
Established in 1994 by the U.S. Congress as part of the Department of Defense, COE reports directly to the U.S. Pacific Command and receives policy guidance from the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Security Affairs. Subject Matter Experts from around the world supplement a full-time staff of thirty that include civilian aid practitioners and retired U.S. and foreign military personnel.
For further information, contact the Public Relations Office at (808) 433-1433 or email: pr@coe-dmha.org
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