QUANG TRI, Vietnam – People’s Army of Vietnam soldiers and Oregon National Guardsmen increased their ability to jointly respond to manmade and natural disasters during Pacific Friendship 2025 in Quang Tri, Vietnam, last week.
The Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief military-to-military exchange was facilitated by members of the Oregon National Guard, the U.S. based partner state to the nation of more than 101 million citizens.
“We’re teaching the concepts and the basics of those concepts for lifesaving abilities,” said 1st Sgt. Angel Payne, a senior enlisted advisor with Medical Command, Oregon Army National Guard.
Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Day, a readiness noncommissioned officer with MEDCOM, Oregon Army National Guard said U.S. Soldiers were “ensuring that when the Vietnamese soldiers walk in, they understand the scene must be safe before they treat the patient.”
Members of the PAV with advanced knowledge of lifesaving medical procedures helped the U.S. Soldiers and Airmen train the PAV soldiers attending the class.
“Mil-to-mil training is important because we can cross level our knowledge base to help save lives in the event there’s ever an emergency that (it) needs to be used,” said Payne. “We want to share lessons learned and good practices for survivability.”
Whilst the training directly benefits both partner nations, it has potential to make an impact outside Vietnam’s borders.
“In a response to natural disasters and humanitarian services that happen in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Day, “this training will help the Vietnamese military act as first responders and assist other countries that are suffering from the same situation.”
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