Speeches
Remarks by Major Chris Mills, Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation, July 4, 2007 TV Special
July 04, 2007
Question 1: There has been a lot of press recently about the U.S. resuming assistance to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces this year. Can you tell us what this means?
Major Mills: This means that we are expanding our military-to-military ties and deepening our defense cooperation relationship. We are providing training and materials in order to assist the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces in achieving their goal of creating a professional military that respects human rights, democracy and civilian control of the military.
Question 2: What kind of training and materials do you provide?
Major Mills: We're currently providing more than $1 million in materials to the RCAF such as protective gear, trucks, and medical equipment through several different programs. In the training arena, we have taught RCAF personnel how to treat wounded soldiers during battle, and we've also put a lot of effort into helping Cambodian soldiers develop their English language skills.
We've also provided peace keeping operations training which will assist Cambodian military in operations such as in Sudan, which is going on now, and future participation in a training exercise called Khann Quest which will take place in August.
Question 3: What other kinds of activities does the US military undertake in Cambodia?
Major Mills: We've had medical civic action programs, otherwise know as MEDCAPS come through which have worked along side Cambodian military doctors, such as the MEDCAP which I mentioned before in conjunction with the visit of the USS Gary, where they provided medical and dental treatment alongside Cambodian military doctors. We also had an additional one which was provided by the Pacific Air Force which worked in conjunction with non-governmental organizations in the areas on Snuol, Mondolkiri, and Kampong Chhnang at the Marine built U.S. Friendship Clinic. That treated in excess of 8,000 people to provide them with medical screening and literally provided them with sight back to people following eye surgery for removal of cataracts.
