(VNF) - Recently, Pacific Partnership 2017 Da Nang team members joined with partner nation representatives and local residents to celebrate the completed construction of the Hoa Lien Nursery School with a ribbon cutting ceremony near Da Nang.

U.S. Navy Seabees from Navy Mobile Construction Battalion THREE (NMCB 3) and Amphibious Construction Battalion ONE (ACB-1) partnered with counterparts from the Japanese military to construct the school over a 51 day period.

Pacific Partnership 2017 Da Nang team members, Ms. Thu Hanh, Deputy Director of Da Nang Department of Foreign Affairs Deputy (center right), and Ms. Susan Sutton, Deputy Chief of Mission U.S. Embassy Hanoi (far right) at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Hoa Lien Nursery School on May 12^th. (Photo credit: U.S. Navy)

The humanitarian assistance project afforded the Pacific Partnership construction crew the opportunity to interact with Vietnamese community members during the building process. Local residents and their children came to the construction site daily, excited to learn more about the building of the school and the construction team. This constant interaction helped develop a friendly bond between the Seabees and the Vietnamese people.

The Nursery School’s construction aims to provide the local residents with a quality education center while also creating an unforgettable camaraderie between the Pacific Partnership team members and local nationals.

The positive results of the schools construction builds upon the success of previous Pacific Partnership missions, enhancing partnerships and relations in the region through humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness engagements.

“We slowly eased our way in here with past Pacific Partnership missions and built trust over time, and I think more and more projects are going to happen here as a result of everything that was accomplished,” said Ensign Emily Wolff, Officer in Charge of the project.

“The school itself is top of the line, but it is only a small portion of what the Seabees accomplished here in Vietnam,” she added.

On May 13^th, Pacific Partnership 2017 and Vietnamese border guard, government, and non-government agencies linked up for the first ever combined search and rescue (SAR) and oil spill response field training exercise (FTX) in Da Nang.

U.S. and Vietnamese emergency participate in a search and rescue and oil spill response field training exercise during Pacific Partnership 2017 Da Nang. (Photo credit: U.S. Navy)

Now in its 12^th year, Pacific Partnership continues to enhance regional partnerships and host nation relationships through civil-military cooperation, medical exchanges, and inter-government agency coordination./.

Compiled by VNF