U.S. Navy ship USS Peleliu arrived in Solomon Islands waters today to provide humanitarian and civic assistance in a planned, coordinated effort with the government of the Solomon Islands.
USS Peleliu will visit select locations in Ghizo, Voza and Sasamungga. This mission reflects the long standing ties between the United States and the Solomon Islands, as well as our continued commitment to work together to assist the people of the Solomon Islands with this humanitarian outreach."The Pacific Partnership team is a unique team formed from organizations with very different skills and capabilities, but unified in purpose to conduct a very important mission," said Adm. Robert Willard, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. "They carry with them a spirit of caring, commitment and compassion on this deployment for our Pacific neighbors."
The deployment is expected to last four months, approximately seven days of which will be spent in the Solomon Islands. The effort is being carried out in conjunction with non-governmental organizations and in close coordination and partnership with local medical care professionals. Volunteers from Project Hope, Aloha Medical Mission, and the University of California at San Diego pre-dental society are with Peleliu in the Solomon Islands, as are a contingent of medical specialists from Vietnam's Ministry of Health and the militaries of the U.S., Papua New Guinea, India, Canada, Republic of Korea, and New Zealand.
Medical personnel of the Solomon Islands government will work with the ship for the Solomon Islands portions of the deployment, providing focused medical care in partnership with their U.S. counterparts. A number of U.S. and Solomon Island government, military, and civilian agencies have been involved in planning the myriad of details that go into this mission of medical, dental and civic-action programs to provide focused humanitarian assistance to the people of the Solomon Islands.