United States, Bangladesh to begin Pacific Angel efforts

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JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (AFNS) --  U.S. officials are scheduled to provide humanitarian and civic assistance in cooperation with local authorities to residents in western Bangladesh as part of Operation Pacific Angel 2010 in mid-June.

Operation Pacific Angel is a joint and combined humanitarian assistance operation conducted in the Pacific area of responsibility to support U.S. Pacific Command official's capacity-building efforts. This humanitarian and civic assistance program is aimed at improving military civic cooperation between the U.S. and countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

The operation is a Pacific Air Forces program led by 13th Air Force officials here.

More than 40 total-force Air Force, Army and Navy members will fly via an Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotanker into Bangladesh to join non-governmental organizations, host-nation military members, and civil health and engineering personnel in medical and engineering efforts.

The medical team will provide general medical care to local residents, to include primary, women's health, dental and optometry clinics. Additionally, medical subject matter expert exchanges focusing on neonatology and hospital administration are scheduled. Engineering efforts will include plumbing, electrical and structural work on two local schools.

This is the third iteration of Operation Pacific Angel 2010. Operations were previously conducted in the Philippines in February and Vietnam in May. The final iteration will take place in Sri Lanka in August.

The U.S. and Bangladesh militaries have a long history of working in partnership for humanitarian assistance and medical training, and have also conducted air, land and sea exercises.