Tom Weinz, Pacific Partnership 2011 Foreign Service Liaison Officer
Pacific Partnership received a powerful vote of confidence just as we were about to undertake the most significant logistical challenge of PP11—to work in all four states of the country of Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), which stretch across one million square miles of the western Pacific Ocean. American political and military leaders have been emphasizing a whole-of-government approach in the Pacific Ocean, and a high-level USG team visited eight Pacific Island States from June 24 through July 1.
The group was christened the 3-D team, because each leader focused on diplomacy, defense or development. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Island Affairs Kurt Campbell led diplomatic efforts, Admiral Patrick Walsh, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, spearheaded defense discussions, and U. S. Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator Nisha Biswal covered development issues and programs. The team visited two countries in which PP11 worked earlier this year, Tonga and Papua New Guinea, and arrived in Kolonia, FSM, just prior to our arrival on USS Cleveland. This unprecedented multi-agency visit certainly confirmed the message Pacific Partnership has been delivering since 2004, and expanded that message significantly.
Prior to the announcement of Team 3-D’s trip, PP11 Commodore Jesse Wilson had been calling attention to the “whole-of-several-governments’ approach” to preparing for natural and man-made disasters or crises in the Pacific, which accurately reflects the cooperative spirit which continues to grow in the region. Commodore Wilson includes not only the nations that partner with us as part of Pacific Partnership, which have included Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Spain, France and Papua New Guinea, but also the governments and peoples of the host nations, who have been proactive participants in our efforts and have thus served as essential force-multipliers.
Pacific Partnership 2011 will end this week, and USS Cleveland will depart for the long journey back to San Diego. At the end of September we will hold an Initial Planning Conference (IPC) for PP12. Lessons learned and information gathered during PP11, the 3-D visits, and from partner nations who will join us for the IPC will all be factored into the planning for next year’s mission. Pacific Partnership is very much in tune with the expanded “whole-of-several-governments’” concept, which is the primary reason everyone involved in the missions looks forward with hope and expectation to the next phase of this continuing adventure. 
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. The next blog post should be up in a few days.
Best,
Tom Weinz
Tom Weinz serves as the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Liaison Officer (FSLO) to PP11. He contributes regular blogs to the official DOS blog site, DipNote.
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