PASOC 98 was hosted by Special Operations Command, Pacific (SOCPAC). SOCPAC Commander, Brig. Gen.Norty Schwartz, USAF, welcomes conference attendees.

In February 1998 over 200 military and civilian representatives from 25 Western Pacific countries met in Honolulu, Hawaii for the fourth annual Pacific Area Special Operations Conference (PASOC 98). Hosted by Special Operations Command Pacific (SOCPAC), the conference provided a forum for flag and senior special operations officers and dignitaries from the Asia-Pacific region to meet and discuss issues common to special operations forces.

The conference opened with remarks from Brig. Gen. Norty Schwartz, Commander SOCPAC (COMSOCPAC), followed by welcoming remarks by Adm. Joseph W. Prueher, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command (USCINCPAC). The subject of this year’s conference was "Special Operations’ Emerging Missions."

"This conference cultivates military to military contacts with all our counterparts," said Brig. Gen. Schwartz. "We host our Special Operations colleagues with the purpose to re-establish personal contacts and relationships, share ideas and experiences, and most importantly, to build a sense of trust and confidence with each other."

PASOC offers a vehicle for Special Operations forces from the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries, such as first time participant People’s Republic of China, to come together in a friendly environment to exchange ideas. The conference also provides an opportunity for SOCPAC to have one-on-one dialogue with countries with which they already interact extensively. It is during this time that the successes, problems and solutions of previous exercises or combined training can be discussed and improvements addressed.

The conference also allows countries to build a one-on-one relationship with their counterparts in the Pacific so that if there is a crisis, and they have to come together as a coalition, it won't be the first time that the senior leaders meet.

"In a larger sense, I think it's a place where Asian nations themselves have the opportunity to get together and interact, whereas they might not otherwise have the opportunity to do so," Brig. Gen. Schwartz added.

"The chance to be here and meet other special operations friends from Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and Mongolia...to exchange ideas with each other is excellent," said Maj. Gen. Janrut Chatchawarn, Commanding General, 2nd Special Forces Division, Thailand.

Special operations representatives from each U.S service branch gave a short briefing of their mission, training and capabilities. Dr. Frederick M. Burkle, Jr., Director, Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, also discussed previous humanitarian efforts, what can be expected in the future, and how these issues might affect the special operations forces mission.

Attending countries also shared the challenges, training agendas and capabilities of their special forces components during the "Country Briefs" segment. Speakers were: Lt. Col. Rowan J. Tink, Australia; Col. Saken A. Zhasuzakov, Kazakhstan; Col. Don Sang Lee, Republic of Korea; Lt. Gen. Marcel R. Ranjeva, Madagascar; Col. Surengiin Baasankhuu, Mongolia; Col. Tom O'Reilly and Capt. Troy M. Fisher, New Zealand; Col. Nikolai Kostechko, Russia; Brig. Tissa S. Jayatunge and Commodore Lesturuge D. Dharmapriya, Sri Lanka; and Maj. Gen. Janrut Chatchawarn, Thailand.

"I would say the briefings that were given by both the United States military people and the attending countries were very useful. This interaction is extremely useful to us," said Col. Sarabjit S. Randhawa, Director, General Staff, Army Headquarters, India.

The interactive portion of the conference came during the discussion groups. Divided into groups, delegates attended three seminars in which they listened to a panel of U.S. special operations experts share their experiences and lessons learned in reference to force protection, humanitarian de-mining and Non-combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO). Attendees shared their opinions and experiences and asked questions of each other concerning these issues.

Although some subjects were not presently applicable to all the attending countries, SOCPAC hoped that the exchange of information could provide possible solutions to future problems, or could be applied to related challenges, such as disaster relief efforts.

"You might wonder how non-combatant evacuation operations apply to 25 nations, many of which don't have large expatriate populations. The military planning process is not very different than the planning process for the evacuation for an earthquake or some other calamity," said Brig. Gen. Schwartz. "The smaller nations that have come that don't have large populations outside their borders can still make use of this thought process in a civil context. We try to have subjects that certainly are relevant on the military side, but that can, perhaps, be applied differently or as necessary in counterpart countries," he added.

Lt. Col. Mdanisur Rahman "Anis" Sarder, a former Chief Instructor of Army Special Warfare Wing, School of Infantry and Tactics, Bangladesh added, "Our country is new, our special forces are new, but developing. We welcome the sharing of experiences so that we can train ourselves better and prepare for the future. I cannot put to work right at this moment back in my country, all the things that we discussed in the groups. But that does not mean that I leave those points altogether. I can use them in the future," he added.

Col. Sarabjit Randhawa concluded about PASOC 98, "This kind of conference definitely contributes not only to the interaction between military people, but also towards making a little more and a little better peace in the world. I like to think of it that way. It helps to break down barriers. Who knows, maybe in years to come, PASOC might be the forum for promoting world peace."