Multilateral Deployment of ASEAN Militaries during Disaster (Indo-Asia-Pacific)

Over the next three years, the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Experts Working Group (EWG) will work toward operationalizing the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Military Ready Group (AMRG) concept, which calls for multilateral deployment of ASEAN militaries in response to natural disasters in Southeast Asia. The Capstone team was asked by the Department of Defense’s Center for Disaster Excellence and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE,) to identify best practices for effective multilateral military deployment for the ASEAN Military Readiness Group (AMRG).  The team focused their research on the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU), which is overseen by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA.)

During the spring break, the Capstone team of four students traveled to Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad to conduct key informant interviews with CDRU and CDEMA staff, and other relevant stakeholders.   The team presented their findings to the key Capstone contacts at CFE-DMHA and were then invited to present their findings at the Emergency Working Group (EWG) meeting in Malaysia in early June, which was held to formulate the successful development and implementation of the AMRG. 

The presentation highlighted CDRU’s challenges and strengths and provided recommendations for how this model could be used by the ASEAN Military Readiness Group.  The key findings of the team include securing long term, sustainable funding and genuine political support for AMRG operations, implementing a comprehensive annual training and exercise schedule for AMRG members, investing in personnel readiness procedures, and ensuring a dedicated and reliable means for the speedy transport of personnel and resources during operations. 

Read more about the Capstone team's keynote presentation at the tenth meeting of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) Expert Working Group (EWG) for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief.

A summary of the project, published in Liaison, Journal of Civil-Military Disaster Management & Humanitarian Relief Collaborations is available here.