SAVAI'I, Samoa (July 8, 2009) A woman hugs Capt. John Shaub, deputy mission commander of Pacific Partnership 2009, during a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the renovation of the assembly hall at the Sasina Primary School by engineers from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. The Sasina Primary School provides 1st through 8th grade education for children and acts as a community meeting hall when school is not in session. Pacific Partnership is a humanitarian and civil assistance mission in the Pacific Fleet area of responsibility. This year Pacific Partnership will travel to Oceania, including Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga. The Military Sealift Command dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) serves as the enabling platform for Pacific Partnership.

APIA, Samoa‚ (July 07, 2009) Lt. Jackie Anderson, optometrist, conducts an eye exam with a local man at a Pacific Partnership 2009 Medical Civic Action Project (MEDCAP) site held at the Apia Community Center. Pacific Partnership is the dedicated humanitarian and civil assistance mission conducted by, with and through partner nations, non-governmental organizations and other U.S. and international government agencies to execute a variety of humanitarian civic action missions in the Pacific Fleet area of responsibility. This year Pacific Partnership will travel to Oceania, including Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga. Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) serves as the enabling platform for U.S. and partner nation military and non-governmental organizations to coordinate humanitarian civic assistance efforts.

APIA, Samoa‚ (July 07, 2009) Pacific Partnership 2009 team members from New Zealand and the United Stated Public Health Service teach children about the importance of washing their hands at a Medical Civic Action Project (MEDCAP) site held at the Apia Community Center. Pacific Partnership is the dedicated humanitarian and civil assistance mission conducted by, with and through partner nations, non-governmental organizations and other U.S. and international government agencies to execute a variety of humanitarian civic action missions in the Pacific Fleet area of responsibility. This year Pacific Partnership will travel to Oceania, including Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga. Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) serves as the enabling platform for U.S. and partner nation military and non-governmental organizations to coordinate humanitarian civic assistance efforts..

APIA, Samoa‚ (July 7, 2009) Lt. Jackie Anderson, optometrist, conducts an eye exam with a local man at a Pacific Partnership 2009 Medical Civic Action Project (MEDCAP) site held at the Apia Community Center. Pacific Partnership is the dedicated humanitarian and civil assistance mission conducted by, with and through partner nations, non-governmental organizations and other U.S. and international government agencies to execute a variety of humanitarian civic action missions in the Pacific Fleet area of responsibility. This year Pacific Partnership will travel to Oceania, including Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga. Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) serves as the enabling platform for U.S. and partner nation military and non-governmental organizations to coordinate humanitarian civic assistance efforts.

APIA, Samoa‚ (July 07, 2009) Mark Coussens, volunteer dentist of University of California, San Diegos Pre-dental Society, provides dental treatment to locals at a Pacific Partnership 2009 Medical Civic Action Project (MEDCAP) site held at the Apia Community Center. Pacific Partnership is the dedicated humanitarian and civil assistance mission conducted by, with and through partner nations, non-governmental organizations and other U.S. and international government agencies to execute a variety of humanitarian civic action missions in the Pacific Fleet area of responsibility. This year Pacific Partnership will travel to Oceania, including Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga. Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) serves as the enabling platform for U.S. and partner nation military and non-governmental organizations to coordinate humanitarian civic assistance efforts.

APIA, Samoa‚ (July 07, 2009) Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Lt. Kei Mikita consults locals suffering from joint pain or skin conditions at a Pacific Partnership 2009 Medical Civic Action Project (MEDCAP) site held at the Apia Community Center. Pacific Partnership is the dedicated humanitarian and civil assistance mission conducted by, with and through partner nations, non-governmental organizations and other U.S. and international government agencies to execute a variety of humanitarian civic action missions in the Pacific Fleet area of responsibility. This year Pacific Partnership will travel to Oceania, including Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga. Military Sealift Command dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) serves as the enabling platform for U.S. and partner nation military and non-governmental organizations to coordinate humanitarian civic assistance efforts.

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 29, 2009) Civil service mariner Jeremy Glazier, from San Diego, attaches cargo to an SA330J Puma helicopter. The cargo will be flown to Sasina Village on Savai'i Island for Seabees renovating a community hall as part of a Pacific Partnership 2009 engineering civic action project. Pacific Partnership is a humanitarian and civil assistance mission conducted by partner nations, non-governmental organizations and other U.S. and international government agencies to execute a variety of humanitarian civic action missions in the Pacific Fleet area of responsibility.

Capt. John Shaub speaks to Seabees assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion. 090629-N-9689V-001 PACIFIC OCEAN (June 29, 2009) Capt. John Shaub speaks to Seabees assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 aboard the Military Sealift Command dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) before their departure on a Pacific Partnership 2009 mission in Samoa. The Seabees will be flown to Sasina Village on Savai'i Island, for an engineering civic action project to renovate the village community hall.

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 27, 2009) Cmdr. Joseph Yang, contingency dental officer-in-charge, of San Diego, Calif., teaches Pacific Partnership 2009 dental team members from Canada, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force how to operate a portable digital x-ray machine aboard USNS Richard E. Byrd on the way to the mission's first stop is Samoa. The U.S. Navy's Pacific Partnership is the dedicated humanitarian and civic assistance mission conducted with and through partner nations, non-governmental organizations and other U.S. and international government agencies to execute a variety of humanitarian civic assistance missions in the Pacific Fleet area of responsibility.

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 24, 2009) Civil Service Mariners receive cargo aboard the the Military Sealift Command dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) from the Military Sealift Command dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6) during a dual underway replenishment. Richard E. Byrd will receive medical and engineering supplies as well as personnel for the Pacific Partnership 2009 deployment and Amelia Earhart will receive supplies for Talisman Saber, an annual exercise involving the U.S. military and Australia Defense Forces.

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 24, 2009) Ship's Boatswain Dave Floyd fires a guide line from the Military Sealift Command dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) to the Military Sealift Command dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6) for a dual underway replenishment. Richard E. Byrd will receive medical and engineering supplies as well as personnel for the Pacific Partnership 2009 deployment and Amelia Earhart will receive supplies for Talisman Saber, an annual exercise involving the U.S. military and Australia Defense Forces.

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 18, 2009) Embarked Presidential Airways Puma Vertical Takeoff and Replenishment Team practice maneuvers aboard the Military Sealift Command dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) in preparation for the Pacific Partnership 2009. The USNS Richard E. Byrd is en route to Samoa. Pacific Partnership 2009 will be the fourth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance missions for Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Richard E. Byrd will embark humanitarian civic assistance equipment and a robust multi-specialized team of preventive medicine personnel, veterinarians, medical and dental teams, a construction battalion and engineering personnel.

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 18, 2009) The Military Sealift Command dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE 4) transits the Pacific Ocean en route to Samoa, the first site for Pacific Partnership 2009. Pacific Partnership 2009 will be the fourth in a series of annual U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance missions for Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Richard E. Byrd will embark humanitarian civic assistance equipment and a robust multi-specialized team of preventive medicine personnel, veterinarians, medical and dental teams, a construction battalion and engineering personnel.