Pehin Datu Padukaraja Maj. Gen. Dató Seri Pahlawan Haji Shari bin Ahmad, Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, presents Adm. Dennis C. Blair with a memento for hosting the successful high level meeting.

In the summer of 1999, a group of paramilitary militia forces ravaged the newly-emerging independent nation of East Timor. It took a combined force of international peacekeepers to stem the bloodshed and bring some measure of stability to the region. International Force East Timor (INTERFET), which came together in the capital at Dili and elsewhere in the ravaged nation, was composed of more than 10,000 troops from 21 different countries.

As with most operations of this magnitude, combining the various military forces involved in INTERFET into a cohesive unit was almost as much of a challenge as the peacekeeping mission itself. Central to making such an operation a success is developing an understanding between the forces. To foster that understanding, regional forces need to come together during peacetime to prepare for these operations by participating in multinational exercises and conferences.