On March 24, the US Embassy said that Major General Lance Okamura, Deputy Commander in charge of internal affairs of the US Army in the Pacific (USARPAC), will have a working trip to Vietnam from March 22-25 and meet Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army.
The two sides discussed continuing defense cooperation to overcome the consequences of war as proposed in the framework of the US-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the Vietnam-US Joint Vision Statement on defense relations in 2024.
On March 24, together with US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper, Major General Okamura gave a speech and co-chaired the official handover ceremony of the explosives treatment training course in Ba Vi (Ba Vi School, Hanoi) to improve Vietnam's capacity in the work of destroying unpected mines (UXO).
This event marks an important milestone in the US commitment to overcoming the consequences of war and the humanitarian bomb and mine action program between the US Army in the Pacific Ocean and Vietnam in the context of the two countries celebrating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2025.
Major General Okamura said that since 2016, the US Army in the Pacific, through the humanitarian bomb and mine program, has supported the bomb and mine clearance efforts of the Vietnam B order and Mines Action Center (VNMAC).
For his part, Ambassador Knapper shared that Vietnam's contribution to the handling of challenges related to unexploded bombs and mines around the world will increase, strengthening Vietnam's role as a responsible and active member of the international community and demonstrating the common goal of making the US, Vietnam and the world safer.
The Ambassador also acknowledged the important work of NGO partners including the Norwegian People's Assistance Organization, PeaceTrees Vietnam, the Bomb and mine Advisory Group as well as the Quang Tri Province Bomb and Binh Dak Action Center when carrying out this important work.
The US military in the Pacific is looking forward to participating in cooperation activities with Vietnam in the coming time, including training on humanitarian assistance/disaster relief, military medical assistance, construction projects and civil-military relationship building programs.
Ba Vi School has a total area of 2 hectares with an investment of 700,000 USD. Construction work began in 2024.
This training course complies with International bomb and mine action standards (IMAS) and is designed to train bomb and mine action personnel for bomb and mine clearance activities to support Vietnam's National Program 504.
There is a specialized training area that meets IMAS standards to handle explosives, conduct investigations and surveys, conduct bomb and mine clearance activities, test equipment and train on the demolition process.
The US is the largest sponsor of the survey and clearance of unexploded bombs and mines in Vietnam, contributing more than 250 million USD since 1993. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on continuing cooperation in handling non- exploding materials in December 2013 and an in-depth cooperation plan in 2023.
