Asian and Pacific countries continue to suffer from disasters caused by natural hazards. These disasters cause death, economic and environmental problems, and severe setbacks for social development. Recent big-scale disasters, which consist of the damaging earthquake and tsunami in Japan of March 2011, highlight the value of national preparedness for disaster.

Recently, Viking Satcom announced that multinational disaster preparedness for Pacific-area disasters has been enhanced with the help of joint efforts of stakeholders in the military and satellite-communications sectors along with delivery of a successful training program last week at Changi Naval Base.

In a joint effort with the Global VSAT Forum (GVF (News - Alert)), the international not-for-profit association of the satellite industry, training was offered as the central feature of Satcom Endeavor, an international disaster-preparedness workshop conducted by more than twenty Pacific-Area militaries as part of the annual Pacific Endeavor workshop. In this program, personnel from more than 12 nations were certified as installers of VSAT-based satellite communications systems, the company stated in a press release.

“This joint effort will enable, through closer public and private sector co-ordination, lives to be saved with improved disaster preparedness,” said David Hartshorn, Secretary General, GVF. “Military leadership in the Pacific, combined with the satellite industry’s latest communications capabilities, are poised to more effectively respond in a region where most of the world’s major natural disaster occur each year.”

Recently, TMC’s (News - Alert) Copy Editor Rich Steeves wrote an article where he stated that Viking SATCOM is staffed by a crew of industry veterans, most of whom were part of Patriot (News - Alert) Antenna back in the day. The braintrust of Patriot decided to form Viking when that company ceased to be. This means that as many customers do not immediately recognize the experience behind the new company, the company faces an uphill battle trying to get name recognition.

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