BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Thursday 17 September 2015 – The largest gathering of military logisticians in the Pacific Area, the 44th Pacific Area Senior Officers Logistics Seminar (PASOLS) which was held for three days in Bandar Seri Begawan from 15 September has come to an end with a closing ceremony officiated by the Commander of Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), Yang Dimuliakan Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Major General Dato Paduka Seri Mohd Tawih bin Abdullah.
The closing ceremony was held today at the Indera Samudera Hall Empire Hotel and Country Club in Jerudong.
“Logistics has always taken a huge part of any operation, before, during and after. Many a time, it becomes a primary consideration in driving major decision”, said the RBAF Commander in his closing speech.
The outcome of PASOLS today is in line with the topics discussed during the Chief of Defence Annual Conference or ‘CHOD’ which Brunei hosted in November last year. Among the topics discussed included cooperation in peace support activities. The RBAF Commander stated that
“In keeping up with CHOD, it is very re-assuring for me to learn that Senior Logisticians in the Pacific Region have embarked on their own initiatives to conduct Table Top Exercises focusing on Peacekeeping Operations.”
RBAF Commander re-assured that most countries represented at the 44th PASOLS have been involved in peacekeeping operations, including those under the UN umbrella. These include a broad range of assistance varying from security, socio-economic recovery and civilian protection.
“This is where I strongly feel about the value of PASOLS as a unique gathering of Senior Military Logisticians. Having the delegations coming with different perspectives, it is no surprise that there were differences in opinions on many issues during the break-out sessions. This is part of the process because the essence of Joint Logistics is to clearly understand and appreciate these differences and work towards developing meaningful logistics cooperation in the future,” Yang , RBAF Commander emphasized.
Over the last three days of 44th PASOLS, personal friendship were develop, new acquaintances were forged, networks established and strengthen through Table Top Exercises, lunches, bilateral meetings and even cultural visits held on the sideline activities. RBAF Commander stressed on saying that “once networking is established we are hopeful that the Senior Logistic Officials can come together in their common desire to promote logistics cooperation in defence, in a more conducive mode.”
PASOLS has been in existence for at least 44 years since its inauguration. The RBAF Commander made it clear in his speech that the fact that it has always been well supported by Asia Pacific nations, speaks volume of how relevant and significant this gathering was. Their presence and support are very crucial in building wider friendships amongst themselves.
The closing ceremony also saw preview presentations from the upcoming PASOLS Planning Group and Co-Chair countries, which will be held next year in Philippines and Singapore respectively. Then the US Co-Chair, Brigadier General John O’Neil summarized the highlights of the 44th PASOLS followed by presentation of certificates and souvenirs to all PASOLS’ participants by Yang Dimuliakan Pehin Datu Pekerma Jaya Major General Dato Paduka Seri Mohd Tawih and Brigadier General John O’Neil. The ceremony was finally closed with the handing over of the official PASOLS flag to the next host.
