Pacific Disaster Centers

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, (OUSD(P)), is the Operational Sponsor and functional Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD) Principal Staff Assistant (PSA) for the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) program. USD(P) will continue to provide acquisition oversight authority for the program. The PDC has been in operation since February 1996, as a public/private partnership managed by the University of Hawaii (UH) under a cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense. PDC functions, manpower, and budget resources transferred to the OUSD (A&S) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to serve as program manager effective 30 Sep 2011. The DLA J35 Plans Executive Directorate oversees program management responsibilities, primarily management and stewardship of governmental funds provided in Defense Department appropriations for DoD missions associated with DoD Crisis Management, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR), Theater Security Cooperation, and Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA). The PDC Program Office also serves as a support element of the Hawaii-based organization, especially in gaining DOD and Federal agency support and resources, as well as business opportunities. The PDC is a world-recognized authority and leader in science and information technology applications relating to HA/DR. PDC applications and information products enhance preparedness, situational awareness, and civil-military communications for humanitarian missions worldwide, including national-level socio-economic Risk and Vulnerability Assessments that help inform strategies by measuring indicators for national resiliency using scientific methods. PDC capabilities have evolved to provide real-time trend analysis on natural or man-made (e.g., accidents, civil disorder, attacks) disasters to direct DoD response efforts and advanced analytics leveraged by the CCMDs, Services, and other DoD Components for strategic planning, risk intelligence, impact modeling, strategic competition, critical asset protection, and risk projections out to 25 years. In 2022, the Pacific Disaster Center was recognized as the winner of the United Nations Sasakawa Award for its global efforts related to disaster risk reduction. In 2024, the Pacific Disaster Center’s steady and strong growth over the last decade has been largely fueled by increased visibility and credibility resulting from meaningful engagements with the DoD Combatant Commands (CCMD) in almost all geographies, as well as by strengthening existing and forging new partnerships at home and abroad. PDC’s maturing programs are fast reshaping its value proposition for all stakeholders. While PDC’s DisasterAWARE flagship product continues to attract many, its risk assessment and analytical capabilities are playing an ever-increasing role in data-driven decision-making for CCMDs and all stakeholders. PDC’s partnership with CCMDs to develop analytical products addressing “Green-White” networks to help identify and develop strategies against malign actors, and “National Fragility” index to help quantify changing landscapes of national security and stability are all but a few examples of PDC’s maturing Global Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) program, aided by CCMD partnerships in supporting and (externally) funding National Disaster Preparedness Baseline Assessment (NDPBA) projects around the globe. FY 2024 Accomplishments: Enhanced the DisasterAWARE platform and related applications and tools that directly support operational readiness for multi-hazard early warning, monitoring and evidence-based decision support functions. - Streamlined DisasterAWARE user interface to support accessibility of early warning information. - Advanced the transition from legacy architecture to service-based architecture. - Enhanced situational awareness briefs to focus on Early Warning for All and Analytics. Developed and deployed advanced applications to enhance multi-hazard monitoring, situational awareness, notification/warning, exposure estimation, and impact modeling and assessments. - Enhanced capability to expand knowledge and understanding of the hazard-exposure-impact continuum to provide advanced insight. - Expanded hazard coverage and analysis through automation of data gathering to support manual and automatic hazard generation. PDC Stakeholder Engagement and Support: - Met with AFRICOM J56 and the U.S. Embassy Kigali Security Cooperation Office to discuss options for support to DOD missions in Rwanda. - Participated in two virtual meetings with U.S. Embassy Security Cooperation Office (SCO) representatives in the AFRICOM region in conjunction with the NDPBA program. - Supported SOUTHCOM, regional partners, and the Costa Rican National Center for Emergencies (CNE) as part of Exercise CENTAM Guardian 24 (CG24) Phase II in San Jose, Costa Rica. - Participated in the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) Understanding Risk Global Forum in Japan. The Center led a panel discussion focusing on using data for evidence-based decision making and advanced analytics within the context of the Pacific islands. - Participated in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise at Pearl Harbor, Oahu. - Met with NASA Disaster Response Coordination System (DRCS) to continue discussions on organizational overviews with an emphasis on roles, methodologies, DisasterAWARE, and the ongoing partnership. - Met with Madagascar stakeholders to advance the AFRICOM-funded NDPBA for the country. - Concluded the yearlong SOUTHCOM-funded NDPBA for Suriname. - Participated in SOUTHCOM and U.S. Navy 4th Fleet sponsored Continuing Promise 2024 (CP24) to support increased Disaster Risk Reduction capacity for our partners and operationalize DisasterAWARE not only for response, but preparation and early warning.