HIS Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, Minister of Defence and Supreme Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) consented to visit the Multi National Coordination Centre (MNCC) yesterday.

His Majesty’s visit to the MNCC took place as part of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Military Medicine (ADMM-Plus HADR & MM) Exercise, and was the first stop on a series of visits yesterday.

The monarch was greeted upon arrival by the Chairman and Exercise Director of the ADMM-Plus HADR & MM Exercise, First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Hj Mohd Tamit, the RBAF Joint Force Commander and other senior officers from the Ministry of Defence and RBAF.

His Majesty was first introduced to the head of delegation of the exercise participants from the ADMM-Plus countries before consenting to sign a plaque as part of the MNCC’s officiation.

The participating officers from the various countries involved were visibly eager for the opportunity to meet the monarch.

The MNCC itself is the main planning headquarters used for facilitating military-to-military cooperation and coordination in support of the National Disaster Management Centre and regional and local disaster management agencies, as well as the Assisting State foreign disaster response agency to help achieve a cooperative response.

As described by the Ministry of Defence (MinDef), “The MNCC’s role is to plan, monitor, coordinate and execute joint operations under National Command.”

After the introduction and signing the plaque, His Majesty was presented with welcoming remarks by the RBAF Commander, Major General Dato Paduka Seri Hj Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Hj Abidin at the conference room.

The RBAF Supreme Commander then listened to the exercise briefing delivered by the Exercise Director, First Admiral Dato Seri Pahlawan Abdul Aziz bin Hj Mohd Tamit, Joint Force Commander RBAF which comprised the role of the MNCC, an overview of the exercise which focussed on the structure, sites and scenarios for the exercises.

It also detailed the practical sessions such as field communications, prioritising casualties (Triage) and Medical Simulation. While touring the MNCC, His Majesty had a closer look at the OPERA system – a computer application that is specifically designed for Human Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) operations.

“It serves as a Command and Control Information System (CCIS) which functions as a platform for data communication and sharing of information between the operation centre and the unit deployed to the incident area,” said MinDef.

“It is useful for military operations, civil-military collaboration, multiagency and multinational deployment.”

“By using this system, the MNCC is able to create better situational awareness when conducting exercises.”

The monarch then consented to take group photos with the ADMM-Plus Heads of exercise delegation and senior officers from the Ministry of Defence and RBAF. - Borneo Bulletin (21 June 2013)