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SINGAPORE – USS Peleliu (LHA 5) and
its embarked Pacific Partnership team arrived in the port of Singapore
July 28 for a regularly scheduled visit.
The port call comes on the heels of a successful, ten-day visit to Da
Nang, Vietnam, in which the Navy’s Pacific Partnership
humanitarian-aid team of medical, dental and engineering professionals
treated more than 3,000 patients and made structural improvements to
various medical clinics and schools.
“It’s great to pull into Singapore,” said Capt. Bruce Stewart, Pacific
Partnership’s mission commander. “It has many venues for Sailors to
enjoy, and we always have a great time interacting with our friends,
the Singaporeans.”
Stewart added that Singapore represents not only a place to rest and
recreate, but the port is also logistically beneficial for the
multi-mission amphibious ship Peleliu, which has been transporting the
Pacific Partnership team throughout the Pacific since the mission
began in late May.
“Singapore’s centrally located,” he said. “Logistically, it’s a great
stop to re-supply and re-posture.”
For many of Peleliu’s embarked military and civilian professionals
participating in this summer’s mission- especially those who aren’t in
the sea service- the visit to Singapore represents the chance to see
someplace new.
“I’ve been talking to [the embarked] Singaporean military members, and
it sounds like a fun city,” said Air Force Maj. Bernard Vanpelt, an
embarked pharmacist. He also added that the timing of the visit will
prove beneficial to everybody who has been working hard since the
mission began. “Everyone needs a little down time,” he said.
Once the Singapore port call concludes, the Pacific Partnership team
is scheduled to resume the mission and provide aid in Papua New
Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands before returning
to Peleliu’s homeport of San Diego in late September.
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