Posted by Thomas E. Weinz on Sep 24, 2009 - 11:03 AM
![USNS Mercy off the coast of the Philippines, June 8, 2006. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0924_pacific_partnership_m.jpg)
Pacific Partnership has officially come to an end. The final projects were carried out in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), a group of 29 coral atolls and five single islands with a land area of just 70 square miles spread across 750,000 square miles of ocean. The Marshall Islands have been closely associated with the United States since World War II. A complex Compact of Free Association between RMI and the United States went into effect in 1986, and a renegotiated compact went into force on May 1, 2004. The U.S. Army operates a large…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Sep 14, 2009 - 10:51 PM
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Posted by Thomas E. Weinz on Sep 10, 2009 - 04:48 PM
![Construction of bridge connecting north Tarawa with main atoll, Kiribati, Aug. 2009. [State Dept.]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0910_bridge_kiribati_m.jpg)
From May 4 to 8 of this year the United States and the Republic of the Philippines co-sponsored an ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) disaster response exercise. Twenty-six ARF countries joined in a civilian-led, military supported activity involving the demonstration and execution of medical, engineering, land, air, and maritime capabilities of ARF’s participants. This exercise, as the Pacific Partnership missions, eventuated from the terrible tragedy of the December 2004 tsunami, which horrified the world. And it demonstrates the strong collective commitment…
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Posted by Thomas E. Weinz on Aug 31, 2009 - 03:40 PM
![Workers build a fence on Tarawa atoll in Kiribati, Mar. 30, 2004. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0831_kiribati_pp09_m.jpg)
Pacific Partnership (PP09) is in Kiribati (pronounced “keer-ah-bhas”), whose principal atoll, Tarawa, is another infamous name from World War II. The Battle of Tarawa in late 1943 was among the bloodiest fighting of the Pacific campaign and a turning point for the war in the Central Pacific.
When I visited Tarawa as part of the site-survey team in March of this year, it was apparent that this location would challenge our mission more…
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Posted by Thomas E. Weinz on Aug 21, 2009 - 10:15 AM
![People living in a ramshackle camp bathe in Solomon Islands' capital, Honiara, July 27, 2003. [AP]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0821_solomon_islands_m.jpg)
Early in this series, I reflected on how our best-laid plans often take a detour. My personal detour came in French New Caledonia, when some medical tests prevented my sailing with the USNS Byrd, and I subsequently returned to the Washington, DC area. Although I know both Solomon Islands, and PP09's specific mission, very…
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