Pacific Friendship 2026 wraps up in Vietnam, bolstering U.S.-Vietnam humanitarian ties

QUANG TRI, Vietnam — U.S. Army Pacific and Quang Tri Province wrapped up Pacific Friendship 2026 (PF26) on July 6 after more than two weeks of joint medical, disaster management, engineering, and community outreach events conducted alongside the U.S. Navy-led Pacific Partnership 2026.

From June 20 to July 6, about 270 U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen joined partners from the Canadian Armed Forces and German Armed Forces to train with more than 300 Vietnamese military and civilian professionals. The combined effort focused on expert exchanges, hands-on training, and community engagements aimed at strengthening the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and improving joint readiness for humanitarian assistance and disaster response.

“Our return to Quang Tri for the second Pacific Friendship reflects the enduring partnership between the United States and Vietnam and how it continues to grow,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. E. Darrin Cox, commanding general of the 18th Theater Medical Command (TMC) and Army Forces commander for PF26. “Each year we train side by side, we strengthen not only our capabilities, but also the trust and professional relationships that enable us to respond together when our communities need us most.”

PF26 led 10 activities and joined more than a dozen additional engagements with Pacific Partnership across medical care, disaster management, engineering, and outreach. Medical teams conducted exchanges on stroke care, trauma medicine, dental health, disease surveillance, and biomedical equipment maintenance. U.S. Army Soldiers from the 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade worked with U.S. Navy and Vietnamese physicians at Dong Hoi City General Hospital, Northern Quang Tri Hospital, and Bac Quang Tri Hospital on stroke recognition, treatment, and rehabilitation through classroom sessions, case reviews, and hospital rounds.

At Dong Hoi Regional Hospital and Northern Quang Tri Hospital, Soldiers from the 1984th U.S. Army Hospital led multi-day trauma exchanges that progressed from instruction and hands-on scenarios to hospital integration, where U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Canadian, German, and Vietnamese teams performed surgical procedures and delivered trauma care. Community-based outreach paired Soldiers from the 18th TMC and Medical Readiness Command, Pacific with U.S. Navy and Vietnamese dental professionals to provide preventive care and oral health education at the Gio Linh Center for Rehabilitation of Children with Disabilities, Le Ninh Primary School, and Son Thuy Primary School, reaching more than 500 children and community members.

Working with the Quang Tri Provincial Center for Disease Control, personnel from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research–Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences and U.S. Navy preventive medicine technicians held disease surveillance exchanges that covered vector collection, laboratory identification, and field surveillance. Soldiers from the 62nd Medical Brigade supported a Navy-led biomedical equipment maintenance exchange to bolster the long-term readiness of critical medical devices.

Disaster management training included explosive ordnance disposal, flood response, small unmanned aircraft systems operations, disaster response medicine, veterinary support, and littoral medical operations. Army technicians from the 716th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company exchanged procedures and best practices with Vietnamese counterparts. Soldiers and Airmen from the Oregon National Guard, operating under the State Partnership Program with Vietnam, demonstrated sUAS use during flood response and shared rescue techniques. The 62nd Medical Brigade led disaster response medical and veterinary exchanges to strengthen emergency capabilities and public health preparedness.

Training culminated in two multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster response events. At Le Ky Bridge in Dong Hoi, PF26 personnel joined Vietnamese emergency responders for a simulated Category 5 typhoon response that integrated sUAS to locate stranded personnel, supported swift-water rescues and casualty recoveries, and triaged and treated more than 20 mock casualties. At Hon La Port, the Army-led Pacific Friendship conducted a maritime mass casualty event aboard the U.S. Army landing craft utility USAV Paulus Hook, where Soldiers from the 8th Forward Resuscitative and Surgical Detachment teamed with U.S. Navy, Canadian, and German personnel and Vietnamese organizations to recover casualties from a Quang Tri Maritime Administration vessel, then conduct reception, triage, trauma care, and evacuation planning.

Engineering units from the U.S. Army’s 411th Engineer Battalion, 9th Mission Support Command worked with U.S. Navy Seabees and Vietnamese partners to renovate sanitation facilities at Le Ninh Regional Clinic and build a new restroom facility at Quang Xuan Primary School, improving hygiene for thousands of patients and more than 700 students. Participants also joined school visits, volunteer efforts, and community outreach across Quang Tri Province.

During the joint closing ceremony, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Joel B. Vowell, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Pacific, said, “As we conclude today, we do not view this as the end of an exercise or program, but as the foundation for our future together. We look forward to building on this year’s success, expanding our operational complexity, and continuing to practice and innovate together.”

Pacific Friendship is an annual bilateral engagement co-led by U.S. Army Pacific and Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and executed by the 18th Theater Medical Command and a select Vietnam province. The recurring medical, engineering, and disaster management exchanges build on 31 years of diplomatic relations and are designed to strengthen both nations’ ability to respond together when challenges arise.