SUBJECT: DEFENCE COOPERATION
The Australian Vice Chief of Defence force, Lieutenant General David Hurley visit to Vietnam 2-6 August 2009
The Australian Vice Chief of Defence Force (VCDF), Lieutenant General David Hurley, will visit Vietnam from 2 to 6 August 2009.
Lieutenant General Hurley will discuss the Australia–Vietnam Defence relationship with his counterparts in the Vietnamese Peoples’ Army (VPA) and will meet VPA officers who are undergoing English Language Training under the Australia-Vietnam Defence Cooperation Program.
VCDF will meet with the VPA Deputy Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Tran Quang Khue, and the VPA Chief of General Staff, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Khac Nghien.
Lieutenant General Hurley said that “This visit plays an important part in our Defence relations. It is evidence of the maturing relationship between our two militaries, and of the success of defence cooperation over the last ten years”.
The VPA have also provided the ADF with invaluable support in the search and recovery of ADF Missing in Action (MIA) personnel from the Vietnam War over many years, and during his visit, Lieutenant General Hurley will express the ADF’s gratitude for this long-standing cooperation and assistance.
On 30 July, the Australian Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, the Hon Greg Combet AM MP, announced that the remains of the final two remaining MIAs, Flying officer Michael Herbert and Pilot Officer Robert Carver, had been located near the crash site of the Royal Australian Air Force Canberra bomber in Quang Nam province in Vietnam.