Pacific Friendship 2026 wraps up in Vietnam, deepening the US–Vietnam humanitarian partnership

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 combined medical, disaster management, engineering, and community outreach conducted alongside the U.S. Navy-led Pacific Partnership 2026.

From June 20 to July 6, about 270 U.S. service members from the Army, Navy, and Air Force trained with partners from the Canadian and German armed forces and more than 300 Vietnamese military and civilian professionals. The engagements focused on strengthening the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and improving joint readiness for future 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 others with Pacific Partnership across medical, disaster management, engineering, and community outreach. Medical exchanges covered stroke care, trauma medicine, dental health, disease surveillance, and biomedical equipment maintenance.

At Dong Hoi City General Hospital, Northern Quang Tri Hospital, and Bac Quang Tri Hospital, soldiers from the 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade teamed with U.S. Navy and Vietnamese physicians for stroke recognition, treatment, and rehabilitation exchanges via 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 ran multi-day trauma exchanges that moved from classroom instruction and hands-on scenarios to hospital integration, where U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Canadian, German, and Vietnamese medical professionals worked together on surgical procedures and trauma care.

Community-based outreach extended the medical work beyond hospitals. Personnel from the 18th TMC and Medical Readiness Command, Pacific partnered with U.S. Navy and Vietnamese dental teams to provide preventive dental 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, delivering screenings and instruction to more than 500 children and community members while sharing clinical techniques. Working with the Quang Tri Provincial Center for Disease Control, soldiers from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research–Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences and U.S. Navy preventive medicine technicians conducted disease surveillance exchanges, including vector collection, laboratory identification, and field surveillance. Soldiers from the 62nd Medical Brigade also supported a Navy-led biomedical equipment maintenance exchange with Vietnamese technicians to bolster the readiness of critical medical devices.

Disaster management training addressed explosive ordnance disposal, flood response, small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), disaster response medicine, veterinary support, and littoral medical operations. Army explosive ordnance disposal technicians from the 716th EOD Company worked with Vietnamese personnel on procedures and best practices. Operating in support of their State Partnership Program with Vietnam, soldiers and airmen from the Oregon National Guard demonstrated sUAS use during flood response and shared rescue techniques with Vietnamese emergency managers. The 62nd Medical Brigade led disaster response medical and veterinary exchanges to strengthen emergency response and public health preparedness.

Training culminated in two multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster response events with military and civilian participants from the United States, Vietnam, Canada, and Germany. At Le Ky Bridge in Dong Hoi, PF26 personnel joined Vietnamese emergency responders in a simulated Category 5 typhoon response that used sUAS to locate stranded personnel, leading to swift-water rescues and casualty recoveries. Teams triaged and treated more than 20 mock casualties while coordinating evacuation and trauma care across multiple organizations. At Hon La Port, a maritime mass casualty event aboard the U.S. Army landing craft utility USAV Paulus Hook brought together soldiers from the 8th Forward Resuscitative and Surgical Detachment with U.S. Navy, Canadian, and German personnel and Vietnamese military and civilian organizations. The multinational team recovered casualties from a Quang Tri Maritime Administration vessel, then conducted casualty reception, triage, trauma care, and evacuation planning.

Beyond medical and disaster training, U.S. Army soldiers from the 411th Engineer Battalion, 9th Mission Support Command worked with U.S. Navy Seabees and Vietnamese counterparts 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 took part in school visits, volunteer efforts, and community outreach across Quang Tri Province.

During the joint PF26–PP26 closing ceremony, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Joel B. Vowell, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Pacific, highlighted the long-term trajectory of the effort. “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,” Vowell said. “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 TMC and a select Vietnam province. Building on 31 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam, it strengthens humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities through recurring medical, engineering, and disaster management exchanges.