Her name is Mercy, and that’s what her humanitarian mission was delivering.
While the white hull of the giant US hospital ship, USNS Mercy, might have rested quietly in the waters of the Coral Sea off Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, aboard and ashore her crew of military and civilian volunteers were incredibly busy.
Part of Pacific Partnership 08, a US Pacific Fleet deployment to South East Asia and the Pacific, they were providing medical, dental and engineering support – with Port Moresby the last leg in a four month journey that had already taken in the Philippines, Vietnam, Micronesia and Timor-Leste.
“The challenge for our Defence Force is to maintain mobile, responsive forces that can respond to calls for help from the region.”
The USNS Mercy, a hospital afloat, had a medical staff of around 900, four operating theatres, a CT scanner, and an Intensive Care Unit. A multi-national, multi-disciplinary team included internal medicine specialists, paediatricians, dermatologists and all manner of surgical specialists drawn from the US and partner nations Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.
Also lending a helping hand was a team from New Zealand that comprised a Navy doctor, three nursing officers, medics from the Navy, Army and Air Force, and an environmental health officer. The New Zealand team would spend a good deal of time ashore providing primary health care, diagnosing and treating local village people.
New Zealand’s Surgeon Commander John Duncan, director of naval medicine at the Devonport Naval Base, says it was great to be involved: “We were responsible for surgical screening and identifying patients that would benefit from surgery, referring them on to the Mercy surgical team – patients with cataracts, hernias and many other surgical conditions.”
This is just the latest example of New Zealand’s pragmatic commitment in the Pacific. Peace support operations are some of New Zealand’s most tangible and high-profile commitments to collective security in this region.
In Timor-Leste, New Zealand has about 180 Defence Force personnel and 25 police as part of a UN security and capacity-building mission, as well as providing troops as part of the Australian-led International Security Force. Following riots, gunfights, looting and burning in Dili in mid 2006, Timor-Leste Foreign Minister José Ramos Horta asked for more help.
Using Boeing 757 and C-130 Hercules aircraft from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, a deployment of New Zealand Defence Force personnel was sent to help bring security, peace and confidence back to Timor-Leste.
Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, on a recent visit to this country thanked New Zealand for the assistance: “When we asked for it, you sent your men and women,” he said. “They have gained the respect of our people. We know New Zealanders are our good friends.”
As a partner in the Regional Assistance Mission in the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), New Zealand supports development and security work, including capacity building for local police, and the maintenance of law and order on the streets and at key sites such as Rove Prison.
A 44-strong platoon provides New Zealand’s current contribution to the Regional Assistance Mission, working alongside other supporting nations, which include Australia, Tonga and Papua New Guinea. RAMSI has made a real difference to the stability and security in the Solomons. However, the situation there remains volatile and minor incidents can still escalate rapidly.
Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Mateparae says RAMSI is a Pacific response to a neighbour’s request for help.
“The impact of globalisation has transformed the security environment in the Pacific,” he says. “The South Pacific will therefore continue to be a key focus for the New Zealand Defence Force as the negative aspects of globalisation bring trans-national threats to the region’s doorstep.
“The challenge for our Defence Force is to maintain mobile, responsive forces that can respond to calls for help from the region.”
Recent examples of the New Zealand Defence Force’s agility in the Pacific include the Royal New Zealand Air Force taking part in a multi-agency exercise involving New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, the Cook Islands, the Forum Fisheries Agency and the US Coast Guard, which aimed to catch and deter people from illegal fishing in Pacific countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
Earlier this year, the New Zealand Defence Force also participated in a six-nations exercise in Noumea, Exercise Croix Du Sud, which brought together military forces from France, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea to practise joint and combined training for disaster relief-type activities. Our involvement included the multi-role vessel HMNZS Canterbury, a detached hydrographic support unit, an infantry platoon, two Iroquois helicopters and support personnel.
In addition, a 40-strong contingent of medics deployed to the Cook Islands by C-130 Hercules aircraft under Exercise Tropic Twilight, to provide health and dental support. The Defence Force also conducted a number of secondary tasks in the region including delivering emergency supplies by C-130 Hercules for victims of severe flooding in the eastern province of Oro in Papua New Guinea.
The Pacific
- 22 island countries and territories
- 8 million people
- 30 million sq km of ocean
- broad ethnic groups: Melanesian, Polynesian and Micronesian
- NZ has strong connections due to migration, travel, trade and history
All-Of-Government Approach
“The whole of government context of our work in the Pacific has increased significantly and is likely to grow further as political unrest and violence are growing features of the Pacific landscape. This has been demonstrated by recent events in Fiji, Tonga and the Solomon Islands as well as historical examples such as Bougainville. Internal instability poses significant risks to our foreign policy objectives of a peaceful and prosperous Pacific. The stability and security that the work of the Defence Force brings to the Pacific are cornerstones of being able to achieve economic growth and investment, sustainable development, and effective government in the region. Without the commitment and professionalism of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside other New Zealand agencies in the region many of these goals could not be achieved,”
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Chief Executive Simon Murdoch