TABLEAU DE BORD – ASSESSMENT MAI 2022
LAND
33 days in field
ALPACI assumes control of French Forces operating in Asia-Pacific, with FANC in Oceania, defending and promoting
French interests for a free and secure ASPAC
Rear Admiral (RADM) Jean-Mathieu « J-Mat » REY
French joint commander of the Asia-Pacific zone (ALPACI) and the armed forces
in French Polynesia (COMSUP POLYNESIA)
In May, my joint force in French Polynesia
focused on the MARARA international
exercise, without neglecting its mission
to protect the Polynesian population and
resources. Although MARARA has already
existed for more than a decade in Polynesia,
the 2022 edition has changed the scope of
the exercise by opening it up internationally
and bringing many foreign partners to Tahiti.
Gathering a dozen Pacific armies around the
AFFP - from the Far East to the Americas -
and seeing the deployment on our territory
of over a thousand soldiers from the three
components, MARARA has demonstrated
the interest of regional actors for this type of
exercise of aid and assistance to a population
struck by a natural disaster, as it responds to a
prevalent threat in the Asia-Pacific.
Sea Power Conference
From 10 to 12 May, Rear Admiral Rey
represented Admiral Vandier, Chief of
Staff of the French Navy, at the Sea Power
Conference in Sydney, Australia. This major
naval event, on the theme of "the Indo-
Pacific maritime domain in the 21st century
- a common objective", was attended by no
less than twenty naval chiefs of staff and
some sixty delegations representing around
forty Indo-Pacific nations. More than 700
Australian and international companies from
the maritime armament and engineering
sectors (including THALES, ECA and
UNSEENLABS) also exhibited their know-how.
On this occasion, ALPACI represented
France by delivering two speeches, including
one during the opening session, focusing
on France's permanent military presence
in the Indo-Pacific, the need to improve
FAPF Forces armées en Polynésie française
FLIGHT SEA
189 flight hours 40 days at sea
The two objectives I had set were achieved by
the MARARA 22 international force formed in
Tahiti: to demonstrate our ability to conduct,
in coalition, humanitarian assistance in a
disaster-stricken Pacific archipelago after a
cyclone, and to improve regional security
through our military cooperation, by
operating with common procedures and by
increasing our mutual understanding. The
results of MARARA 2022 are particularly
positive in this sense. Rendez-vous in spring
2024 for the next MARARA, and before that,
in 2023, in New Caledonia, for the "Southern
Cross" exercise, which should benefit from the
presence of the "Jeanne d'Arc" amphibious
group and school.
our interoperability, and the promotion 6th multilateral KLE
of multilateralism and respect for the rule
of law, to an audience of more than 1,000
people, including political, military and
business leaders.
Rear Admiral Rey also conducted bilateral
discussions with all major Pacific nations in
order to strengthen existing partnerships.
On Tuesday, May 17, Rear Admiral Rey
represented Admiral Vandier at the 6th
multilateral KLE. Chaired by Admiral
Paparo, Commander of the US PACFLEET,
this seminar, with the theme of mutual
naval support in peacetime, was attended
by 17 Indo-Pacific chiefs of naval staffs (or
representatives).
International agenda Rear Admiral Rey presented the French
commitments in this vast zone and
Shangri-La Dialogue recalled France's domains of expertise
in the region, the State's action at sea
Regional meeting of French
ambassadors from South East Asia (coast guard function) as well as it's
aid and assistance to disaster-stricken
RIMPAC
populations, just as the international
MARARA exercise devoted to this subject
was coming to an end.
ALPACI - France PACIFIC Command FAPF Forces Armées en Polynésie française
Exercise MARARA 2022
From May 7 to 20, 2022, the international joint
forces exercise MARARA took place, allowing
the reinforcement of international military
cooperation between nations from all over
the Pacific, within the framework of a relief
operation to a disaster-stricken population.
This mission was planned and conducted
by a joint and international force formed
around the armed forces in French Polynesia,
reinforced by military personnel from 12
other Asia-Pacific nations, including a large
contingent from the four U.S. components
(Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army). For its
first international edition, MARARA involved
the deployment of a thousand Franco-
American soldiers, under the command of a
multinational staff armed by a dozen Pacific
nations under the command of French
Admiral ALPACI (Australia, Canada, Colombia,
Cook Islands, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines,
Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and
the United States). After a first phase of
integration of reinforcements at the tactical
and operational levels in Tahiti, allowing for
Focus on :
Deployment : on May 12, the international
force was fully deployed on the islands of
Huahine and Raiatea to assist the population.
Relying on its naval and air assets, nearly
1,000 troops reached the disaster zone. The
deployment of such a force, several hundred
kilometers from Tahiti, allowed the entire
logistics chain to be put to work, which is one
of the major elements of this type of mission.
SAREX : On May 14, French and American
military personnel trained during a search and
rescue operation at sea, mobilizing all naval
resources and several aircraft. Coordinated
by the JRCC (Joint Rescue Coordination
Center), this search and rescue exercise was
a great opportunity to multiply synergies.
Following the discovery of a sailboat with a
broken mast and the probable fall overboard
of its four crew members, the JRCC engaged
and coordinated an air-sea search team
FAPF Forces armées en Polynésie française
the development of synergies and common
procedures, the forces were deployed to the
islands of Huahine, Raiatea and Bora-Bora in
the Society Islands archipelago, by sea and
air. From that point on, the forces practiced
a large number of skills specific to aid and
assistance operations for the population:
reconnaissance in the three environments,
first aid missions for the affected population
(care, distribution of basic necessities), large-
scale search and rescue operations and mass
evacuation of residents, in anincreasingly
degraded security context due the actions
of gangs of looters.While necessary to
the development of military know-how
in coalition, whatever the framework of
engagement, these activities also significantly
composed of the BSAOM Bougainville, the
USS Pearl Harbor, the patrol boat Arago, a
GARDIAN from Flotilla 25F and a HERCULES
C130J from the US Air Force. Located in
the early afternoon by the aircraft, the
shipwrecked crew was rescued by the Pearl
Harbor before being evacuated to Huahine
by the Alouette III of the 34F.
RESEVAC : on May 16, due to the deterioration
of the situation, the inhabitants requested
an evacuation by the international military
force. The patrol boat Arago and the BSAOM
Bougainville took charge of about fifty local
residents, role played by the soldiers of the
adapted military service regiment, in order
to repatriate them to Huahine, where the
Pacific Marine Infantry Regiment and the
US Army took over to bring them to the
Center for the Regrouping and Evacuation
of Local Residents (CRER). The CRER was
ALPACI - France PACIFIC Command
improve mutual understanding between
French and foreign military personnel. As a
sovereign nation bordering the Pacific, France
shares the same risks of natural disasters
with the other countries of the region (e.g.:
cyclone, tsunami). The strong participation of
Pacific countries in MARARA 2022 confirms
the interest of regional actors for this military
exercise led by France from Tahitiin the
spring of even-numbered years, alternating
with the Southern Cross, organized by the
AFNC in Noumea in odd-numbered years. In
addition to actively contributing to regional
stability and the development of multilateral
solutions to environmental challenges, it also
attests to France's military credibility with its
partners.
used to identify and prepare the residents
for evacuation to Tahiti. The evacuees
were reassured and searched, their identity
was verified and their health was checked,
before their evacuation by US Air Force C-130
Hercules.
Commemorative closing ceremony :
On May 18, the Marara exercise closing
ceremony took place in Bora Bora. Bringing
together nearly 300 soldiers from the 13
participating countries, it was an opportunity
to commemorate the 80thanniversary of
the American Operation Bobcat, in the
presence of the children of GIs born in Bora
Bora during this period. A memorial stone
was inaugurated a few minutes before the
ceremony.
FAPF Forces Armées en Polynésie française