About the Center

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.

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