Philippines, Pacific militaries train in post-disaster communication

MANILA, Philippines — Military representatives from 21 Asia-Pacific nations including the Philippines met in Manila to discuss how to restore communication channels destroyed in disaster situations.

The meeting, part of the United States-led Exercise Pacific Endeavor 2015, hosted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines provided an opportunity for the partner-nations to enhance communication interoperability and learn about the latest trends in satellite technology, broadband global access networks (BGAN) and mobile Internet capabilities.

Disasters usually destroy basic communication infrastructure, including cell towers and Internet providers' facilities.

"Communications people are generally some of the first people on the ground," said Corporal Rochelle Rowe, a Royal New Zealand Air Force communications specialist, and a SatCom Endeavor participant.

"If you can get communications up, even with a small 300k link, that's still something, and getting Internet access is really important to access the rest of the world, to call for help," Rowe added in a statement.

The participants had hands-on training with mobile broadband equipment to quickly set up communication, which is vital to saving lives in post-disaster scenarios.

Experts, like Rowe, urged the use of the BGAN system, a lightweight movile Internet device, as it can be set up in five minutes and friendly to first-time users.

"The BGAN gives five or six people that first-in capability to tell their higher headquarters what the ground truth is, so that that higher headquarters can plan and ensure that the right help is going to the right people, at the right time, and the right place," said Major Erika Teichert, a US Marine Corps officer from the Naval Postgraduate School in California.