The Pacific Air Rally 2017 continued for the second day at Jetwing Blue, Negombo with the opening of the Medical and Civil Engineering Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) programs. The Director of Health Services of the SLAF Air Commodore Lalith Jayaweera accompanied by SLAF Doctors and Medical staff participated for the event with valuable insights in to medical relief operations. Further, the Civil Engineering SMEE was profused with discussions and knowledge sharing on the value of regional cooperation in addressing complex engineering matters in HADR situations. 

Simultaneously the Command Post Exercise also continued at the same venue with the Coalition Commander Group Captain Lasitha Sumanaweera presenting the HADR situation update on Sri Lanka. As a continuation of the exercise, the coalition commander simulated a cyclone situation in Sri Lanka where the government has called for UN and foreign humanitarian assistance. This scenario based exercise incorporated all the participating countries and their capabilities for relief and recovery operations in such a natural disaster. In addition, lectures were conducted infield operational planning on flight planning, logistics operations, cargo loading and unloading in an eventually that urgently requires HADR to mitigate the loss of lives and destruction of infrastructure. Adding to the topic of discussion, Wing Commander Sanoj Jayarathne conducted a presentation on the role, execution of air operations and the greater contribution of the SLAF during the flood and landslides disaster that Sri Lanka faced in May 2017. The PAC 2017 is expected to continue with more fruitful lectures, discussions and knowledge sharing sessions on regional forces interoperability tomorrow as well.