Koa Moana 25 Brings First-aid Kits to Palau in Support of Pacific Mini Games

U.S. Marines and sailors with Combat Logistics Battalion 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, arrived in Palau June 23 for the annual Koa Moana 25.

The group delivered 100 first aid kits to the Belau National Hospital, which will be delivered to Pacific Mini Games venues.

Additionally, after the games which are being held from June 29 to July 9, the Koa Moana 25 medical team plan to donate medical supplies to the Belau National Hospital and will “continue to support the Palauan healthcare community with additional staffing for the local centers and hospital, as well as provide medical training and assistance through Palau’s established public health initiatives,” according to the U.S. Navy.

U.S. Marines and sailors with Koa Moana 25 with members of the Palau National Olympic Committee after assembling a basketball court in preparation for the Pacific Mini Games. Photo by Cpl. Ray Ramsammy, 1st Marine Logistics Group

The games are expected to draw more than 2,200 athletes, 300 coaches and potentially hundreds of family members, friends and event followers expected to attend this year’s games and boost arrival numbers for June and July. See Palau invests more than $5 million ahead of summer 2025 Pacific Mini Games.

Koa Moana 25 supported the Palau National Olympic Committee and the 30th Naval Construction Regiment's Civic Action Team in preparing for the arrival of athletes for the Pacific Mini Games by moving heavy furniture out of classrooms at Mindszenty High School, one of many schools being used to house more than 2,200 athletes.

Marines joined the 30th Naval Construction Regiment's Civic Action Team and many other volunteers helping the PNOC and Palau’s Pacific Mini Games Organizing Committee prepare classrooms to serve as temporary homes for the thousands of athletes. With just days to go before the games, they moved desks and other furniture out of classrooms and brought in bunk beds.

In May, Palau welcomed a total of 4,752 visitors, according to the Palau Visitors Authority, compared to 6,988 in May 2019.

While in the region, Koa Moana teams will also visit Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, and Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia. Activities will include engineering projects, and community outreach to include visits to schools, as well as participating in Kosrae’s Liberation Day. mbj

US Federal Motor Carrier ruling on Commercial Driver’s Licenses could affect COFA citizens

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has announced that “Only those in lawful immigration status (who provide “evidence of lawful immigration status” as defined in 49 CFR § 383.5) in the United States in one of the following employment-based nonimmigrant statuses will be permitted to obtain a non-domiciled Commercial Learner's Permit or a Commercial Driver’s License.

Shared Prosperity: Government officials, businesses talk investment in the Pacific

HONOLULU, Hawaii — More than 170 representatives from Pacific Island nations, the U.S. government, and the private sector convened at the inaugural Pacific Agenda: Investment, Security, and Shared Prosperity Summit held at the Imin International Conference Center at Jefferson Hall in the University of Hawaii Manoa campus from Feb. 23 to Feb. 24.

Koa Moana 25 Brings First-aid Kits to Palau in Support of Pacific Mini Games