Team Palau: Building Partner Nation Capacity Through WPS

(Members of Team Palau at the Palau Supreme Court)

By LTC Ed Riffle

Civil Affairs, more than most branches, and the 38G program in particular, presents opportunities to partner with other nations to build that partner nation's (PNs) capacity to defend itself and thrive in the international community.  With its myriad of "subject matter experts" (SMEs), the 38G program offers an ability to mentor government officials from those PNs with skill sets that are often more 'civilian' than military. 

A perfect example of this can be found in the 351st Civil Affairs Command's (351 CACOM) Government Function Specialty Team (FxSP), and its capacity building with PNs throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's (INDOPACOM) area of responsibility (AoR).  This is particularly the case with the "COFA" nations (Compacts of Free Association) in Micronesia: the Republic of Palau, the Republic of Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.  These three independent nations were 'trust territories' of the United States from just after WW2 to the mid-1990s when they became independent nations.  Though independent, the COFA nations maintain strong bonds with the U.S. and share our military services (their military is our military, their citizens can and do serve in our military services – at a higher enlistment rate than any state in the Union, and from WW2 to the modern day, many COFA service members have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nations). 

The 351 FxSP's "Team Palau" includes LTC Ed Riffle, MAJ Shawn Sant, CPT Ben Lion and SSG Anthoney Roe, who recently completed another mission to Palau, part of their ongoing and enduring support of Palau's efforts to combat human trafficking (CTIP), a problem endemic throughout the world, that threatens both personal freedom and national security, and often is used by adversaries to destabilize other nations.  These CTIP missions are nested within and funded by INDOPACOM's Women, Peace & Security (WPS) program.

(Team with many who attended the CTIP Victim Advocate Training provided in Koror, Palau)

The April/May 2024 mission involved training various agencies within Palau's Ministries of Justice and Education, including the Bureau of Public Safety (the police), the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, and the Divisions of Labor and Human Services, which took place primarily in Palau's largest city, Koror.  While previous training sessions by Team Palau provided detailed prosecutor training, this time around they focused on giving law enforcement and school officials tools with which to identify and assist victims of human trafficking and the means of securing evidence to assist prosecutors in obtaining convictions of those who exploit the victims. 

Team Palau also traveled to the national capitol in Melekeok to meet with the Chief Justice of the Palau Supreme Court and others to better understand what challenges human trafficking poses to the Palau legal system. 

Team Palau returned to the U.S. however the support efforts do not end there.  As in the past, they continue to provide support state-side, research, feedback, guidance, and help to identify non-military individuals in the U.S. who are interested in providing specific mentorship and guidance to Palau, both remotely and in-country. 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect any official policy or position of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, of any other U.S. government agency. This article was reviewed by the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command Public Affairs Officer prior to publication to ensure that information damaging to national security is not inadvertently disclosed.

About the Author:

LTC Ed Riffle lives in the Pasadena-area of southern California, where he lives with his wife and four children.  He enlisted in the Army in 2002 as a 54B (Chemical Operations Specialist) and then received a direct commission as a Judge Advocate in 2004.  From 2007-08, he deployed to Iraq as part of the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I), where he was the Deputy Chief of Contract & Fiscal Law and also worked as an advisor to the Iraqi Army military courts.  In 2019, he deployed as part of a team from the 79th Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) to take part in Operation Shared Accord in Rwanda.  In 2023 and 2024, he deployed to the Republic of Palau as part of a team from the 351 CACOM.  After joining the 351 Civil Affairs Command in 2022, he branch transferred to Civil Affairs and now is designated as a 38G.4D (law, regulations & policies) and is deputy chief of the 351’s FxSP-A3.