CFE-DMHA conducts field training exercise in Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea

LAE, Papua New Guinea — U.S. and international disaster response specialists trained alongside Papua New Guinea government agencies, military personnel, nongovernmental organizations and industry partners Aug. 10-14 during a multi-day field training exercise in Lae focused on real-world emergency coordination at the Port of Lae and Igam Barracks.

The program featured hands-on instruction in search and extraction, medical response, site security, camp management and oil spill response. Participants included members of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, National Disaster Centre, National Maritime Safety Authority, Port of Lae, provincial disaster offices, Papua New Guinea Red Cross and other government and international organizations.

At the Port of Lae, U.S. Coast Guard personnel led oil spill response training on deploying, recovering and maintaining containment boom to control spilled petroleum and protect shorelines and waterways. “This is what it’s like in reality,” said U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Jesse Harms, chief of Marine Environmental Response for the Coast Guard’s Hawaii office. “You have to get all hands on deck to tackle problems like this.” Participants practiced moving and deploying equipment while working across military, government, port and private industry teams, and used the scenarios to identify equipment, personnel and knowledge gaps.

“You practice for a disaster with the people that would coordinate and engage in that disaster,” Harms said. “So when they show up, they know who each other are. They know that they’re capable and that they’ve got basic training.” The training also covered safety procedures for handling oil spill equipment and hazardous materials, proper protective equipment and decontamination after a response. Harms added that continued training can help Papua New Guinea’s organizations build the capacity to run similar exercises on their own. “My goal when we walk away from this is that they feel accomplished and that they can use what they learned during our training to continue to work together and develop this type of exercise on their own,” he said. “Ideally, six months from now, they can perform this training without us here, protecting their port and building their resiliency even more.”

For Papua New Guinea participants, the hands-on sessions offered a direct link between classroom lessons and field equipment. “The classroom theory part of it is like seeing the board, but being able to go out and conduct hands-on training with the equipment itself was a great course of action,” said Johnson Marem of the National Maritime Safety Authority. “I’d like to see more of our friends from the Wisconsin National Guard and U.S. Coast Guard,” he added, noting the authority’s plans to further develop oil spill response capabilities and expand the number of trained responders.

At Igam Barracks, Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers and Airmen instructed participants in domestic emergency response operations. Lt. Col. Jared Siverling of the 64th Troop Command said the training covered three primary areas: search and extraction, medical response and site security. The search and extraction lane focused on techniques for removing injured and uninjured people from disaster-affected areas, including collapsed structures and landslides. Medical personnel trained to assess and treat casualties after extraction, while security forces practiced establishing and maintaining a secure area for responders. “This is a subject matter expert engagement, so we involved experts from various organizations,” Siverling said. “Everyone here will go home better prepared to deal with this type of domestic operation in their city, province, or in their country.”

The Wisconsin National Guard and Papua New Guinea Defence Force established their formal State Partnership Program relationship in 2020, with the partnership formally confirmed in 2022, and have since conducted subject matter expert exchanges and larger-scale exercises. “As I look out here and I look at the Defence Force and the civilians and the Wisconsin National Guard Soldiers and Airmen supporting this engagement, I’m proud,” Siverling said.

Bringing diverse organizations together was a central aim of the week. “It’s letting people that don’t normally work together feel better about working together and know that they can do this type of work,” Harms said.

The exercise concluded Aug. 14 after participants completed practical training lanes and response scenarios at both locations. It was led by the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance with support from the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby, Wisconsin National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, Papua New Guinea Defence Force, International Organization for Migration, Morobe Public Health Authority and National Maritime Safety Authority.