PDC supports humanitarian aid and disaster relief during RIMPAC 2024 exercise

Oahu, Hawai’i—Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), in partnership with the United States government and twenty-nine other nations, international organizations, and interagency partners, provided technical assistance and expertise during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024—the world’s largest international maritime exercise. The theme of this year’s exercise was Partners: Integrated and Prepared.

“The Rim of the Pacific exercise has grown over the years to be the world’s largest and premier joint combined maritime training opportunity,” said Vice Adm. John Wade, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet and RIMPAC 2024 Combined Task Force (CTF) commander.

“The exercise’s purpose is to build relationships, to enhance interoperability and proficiency and, ultimately, contribute to the peace and stability in the vitally important Indo-Pacific region.”

Held at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, from July 1-15, 2024, RIMPAC 2024 included a large-scale humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) exercise involving eight countries, five ships, five landing craft, five aircraft, multiple land forces, and over 2,500 total participants. The event also featured a statewide exercise with Hawai’i Healthcare Emergency Management. The Center supported both the academic and execution phases of the HADR exercise.

“In this year’s iteration of RIMPAC, I had the privilege of partnering with PDC once again in an effort to create as life-like a training scenario as possible,” said USAID’s Shawn Sippin, Humanitarian Assistance Advisor to the Military.

“That goal was bolstered by the Center’s expertise and resources in RIMPAC 2024. In addition to the pleasure of working with PDC staff during RIMPAC, the DisasterAWARE platform the Center manages continues to demonstrate value in all stages of the simulated disaster management cycle for RIMPAC participants.”

“PDC staff also provided valuable information during daily update briefs for military leadership that had contributed forces to conduct HADR activities in the simulated exercise. The Center’s DisasterAWARE system also played a central role in the newly released task manager application for foreign militaries to use for the 2024 RIMPAC exercise. It has been great to see how PDC’s contributions to supporting military involvement in HADR activities have continued to expand and integrate into international systems in use by many foreign militaries looking to exercise their own disaster response readiness. I look forward to seeing where else the Center’s skills and resources can be plugged in to create a more effective and efficient humanitarian response for populations affected by disasters.”

PDC’s DisasterAware system is used by a coalition of military and humanitarian agencies to assess disaster impacts in real time.

The first week of the exercise included an academic portion to enhance participants understanding of international guidelines and norms of foreign military support to disaster relief operations. Over 150 attendees from participating countries were in attendance.

Subject matter experts from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), United Nations OCHA, World Food Programme, USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE-DM), and Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre (RHCC) shared presentations on their respected roles during a disaster relief operation. Led by Robert Kalei Miller, PDC Senior Disaster Services Analyst and Liaison to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the Center shared its role in HADR, DisasterAWARE as an information-sharing platform. It highlighted the Center’s real-time advanced analytics about potential disaster impacts and humanitarian needs. The academics course laid the foundation for the scenario and execution phase the following week.

PDC’s Robert Kalei Miller briefs the room on DisasterAWARE’s informational and analytical capabilities.

“We have the immensely valuable opportunity to train in the Hawaiian Islands and surrounding ranges—nowhere else in the world provides a more realistic and relevant training opportunity,” said Wade.

Vice Adm. Wade also emphasized, “Environmental stewardship is a top priority during RIMPAC, and all participants will observe protective measures for cultural and natural resources throughout the exercise.”

The scenario for the exercise was a Category Two hurricane striking fictitious islands in the Pacific, modeled after the Hawaiian Islands, requiring foreign military aid. PDC supported and executed the scenario injects by providing estimated impacts using the All-Hazards Impact Model (AIM) and realistic situational awareness products of damage assessments, needs assessments, and critical lifeline infrastructure status. At the RIMPAC HADR Camp on Ford Island, the DisasterAWARE Exercise platform was used to provide real-time scenario information as the common operating picture. The Center played a role in the Disaster Coordination Center and White Cell, developing daily disaster coordination center briefs, and situational awareness products, and updating data to feed into the DisasterAWARE Exercise platform, which also fed RHCC’s OPERA system. PDC received high praise in the after-action follow-up for information-sharing availability and the Center’s role in the exercise.

Through the exercise, PDC strengthened relationships with humanitarian and military counterparts in the Indo-Pacific. The Center anticipates continued participation in future RIMPAC exercises and plans to integrate lessons learned from this year’s activity into its long-term training and development program.

About PDC Winner of the 2022 UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction, the University of Hawai’i’s Pacific Disaster Center is a global leader in the innovation and application of life-saving disaster management science, early warning technology, and advanced analytics. Our risk intelligence products provide decision-makers with the essential insights and information needed to act early to protect communities from hazards and build more sustainable, resilient communities for a safer world. The Center’s DisasterAWARE platform is used by tens of thousands of disaster management and humanitarian assistance practitioners around the globe. DisasterAWARE is the most comprehensive, ready-made “Early Warning for All” solution that provides global, multi-hazard early warning for natural and manmade hazards. DisasterAWARE offers advanced situational awareness tools including the highest resolution all-hazards impact model, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented information. The Center’s public Disaster Alert app, powered by DisasterAWARE, has been downloaded over 3.2 million times worldwide.