ARAWA, Autonomous Region Of Bougainville, Papua New
Summary
ARAWA, Autonomous Region Of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea (July 3, 2015) Command Master Chief Dedrick Walker from the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) dances while the Pacific Fleet Band plays a concert for the people of Bougainville during a ceremony at Independence Park. Mercy staff provided medical, dental and veterinary care to the community while in the port. Additionally, two civil engineering projects are ongoing to renovate two area schools. Mercy is at its second mission port for Pacific Partnership 2015. Pacific Partnership is in its tenth iteration and is the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. While training for crisis conditions, Pacific Partnership missions to date have provided real world medical care to approximately 270,000 patients and veterinary services to more than 38,000 animals. Additionally, the mission has provided critical infrastructure development to host nations through more than 180 engineering projects. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Valerie Eppler/RELEASED)