MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. - A California-based U.S. Army Reserve unit hosted a delegation of Korean government and military representatives in a five-day workshop, here this past week.
The 351st Civil Affairs Command, which hosted the delegation, is the theater-enabling command for civil-military activities in the Pacific Command area of responsibility and has a core competency of coordinating humanitarian assistance. The workshop, sponsored by U.S. Army Pacific offered the Korean delegates and leaders of the CACOM and other organizations the opportunity to exchange ideas and information about civil-military operations and humanitarian assistance, according to Lt. Col. John Busterud, Korea team plans officer, 351st CACOM.
"This began a new level of a professional working relationship between the Republic of Korea and U.S. Forces together with the ROK government. This is a great initiative as we go together to plan on bringing military and civilian capabilities, together with international and nongovernmental resources to ameliorate suffering from potential catastrophic occurrences," said Brig. Gen. Gary Medvigy, commander, 351st CACOM.
The workshop fostered cooperation between U.S. military forces and their Korean civil affairs and planning counterparts. As part of the process, U.S. Army civil affairs officers shared their experiences and lessons-learned on civil-military operations and humanitarian assistance from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Both Korean and U.S. representatives had valuable insights as to how to plan for and conduct humanitarian assistance operations in a complex operational environment. I look forward to working with our Korean counterparts as we move forward," said Busterud.
During the workshop, which ran from April 7 - 12, military and civilian representatives from Korea and the U.S. Army worked on developing plans for civil-military and humanitarian assistance in Korea.
"Our objective is to generate a better and well planned working relationship between the Republic of Korea Government and U.S. Forces Korea in a well supported Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Cell led by ROK government ministries," said Medvigy.
The 351st CACOM, based in Mountain View, Calif., is the command headquarters for two brigades and seven battalions in four western states of the U.S. The 351st coordinates and participates in various training activities, exercises and deployments in response to a range of civil-military operations and capabilities that support U.S. military missions around the world.
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