PACC V - Army Chiefs meet in Sydney

The NZDF's Chief of Army talks with Deputy Chief of General Staff, Vietnamese Defence Force, at PACC V in Sydney

14 August 2007

Chief of Army Major General Lou Gardiner enjoyed a rare opportunity to meet 20 other Army Chiefs (or their representatives) from around the globe in Sydney last week.

Although the Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference (also known as PACC V) was aimed at Pacific Chiefs, attendees over recent years have stretched to include Army Chiefs from Asian countries such as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Over four days in Sydney, MAJ GEN Gardiner was able to speak personally with Chiefs, or representatives, of 13 different armies, including the United States, Australia, India and Vietnam. 

MAJ GEN Gardiner was particularly pleased to be reunited with India’s Vice Chief of Defence LT GEN Deepak Kapoor, with whom he worked closely during a UN Mission in Somalia 13 years ago.

The PACC V Conference allowed for both group and one-on-one meetings between Chiefs. General topics for discussion included the challenges facing modern armies, peacekeeping, disaster relief and counter-terrorism. Leadership challenges within a Coalition involved in irregular warfare (e.g. warfare with insurgents) were also discussed.

LT GEN (Ret) E. P Smith, of the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, congratulated the New Zealand Defence Force, telling Conference attendees that New Zealand’s Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZ PRT) in Afghanistan is now hailed as “the model” PRT.

Meeting ahead of September’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, the Fifth Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference was also partly a “dummy run” in testing security in Sydney.  The Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference is held every two years.

Ends