|
About
the Center of Excellence DMHA
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's Vision:
- To promote improved humanitarian assistance performance
among all relief practitioners, particularly in the Asia-Pacific
Region
The Center of Excellence (COE) was established in 1994 through
congressional legislation sponsored by Senator Daniel K. Inouye.
It is a direct reporting unit to US Pacific Command and takes
its policy guidance from the Office of the Secretary of defense
for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. COE is
headquartered at Tripler Army Medical Center and co-located
with the Pacific Regional Medical Command. Subject matter
experts from around the world supplement the staff of thirty-three
civil service, military active duty and contract personnel.
Through the Civil-Military Relations Unit, COE provides
education, training, and consultation on all aspects of civil-military
relations. It advises the US military on the development and
execution of traditional exercises by improving realism through
the use of civilian role players. It organizes multinational
peace operations training, games and exercises with US Pacific
Command, participating host nations in the Asia Pacific region,
the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Center
for Civil Military Relations (US Naval Postgraduate School).
COE facilitates the International Committee of the Red Cross's
Health Emergencies in Large Populations (HELP) course in Honolulu,
HI and provides graduate level education and training through
its own Combined Humanitarian Assistance Response Training
(CHART) course.
Within the Information Management Unit, COE's Pacific
Disaster Management Information Network (PDMIN) assists its
clients, including the U.S. Pacific Command's Virtual Information
Center (VIC), and civilian and military decision-makers through
publication of a daily report (available on COE's website)
of relevant events in the Asia-Pacific Region. It also prepares
situational reports on current crises focusing on the humanitarian
aspects of operations from the field and non-governmental
organization (NGO) perspectives. PDMIN works with the VIC
and the Pacific Disaster Center to develop country primers
and smart books. PDMIN's reports and information products
are developed independently from public information sources
and through personal relationships built with key organizations.
The Humanitarian Affairs and Practice Unit focuses
primarily on NGOs active in disaster response and the points
where they may interface with military components and vice-versa.
Staff within this unit provided direct consultation on developing
a humanitarian plan for Afghanistan in 2001 by USARCENT and
on establishing a Civil-Military Operations Center by the
Australian Defence Force for East Timor in 1999. The unit
supports the development and execution of conferences and
seminars that enhance NGO ability to improve their understanding
of the role of the military and to improve interface and cooperation
in the field.
The Medical/Public Health Unit's mission is to increase
public health expertise and operational capacity through innovative
and creative solutions addressing technology development and
transfer; research and policy development and civil/military
coordination. The unit draws on the knowledge of on-site staff,
as well as expertise from Tripler Army Medical Center, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US Uniformed
Services University of Health Sciences, the MacFarland-Burnett
Center in Australia and other key academic and research institutions
worldwide.
[Up
to top]
|
