During U.S. Tour A group of senior Vietnamese military officers who manage their country's humanitarian demining program concluded a two-week visit, hosted by the State Department, to U.S. civilian and military demining facilities on October 27. The Vietnamese deminers traveled across the United States and Hawaii to learn more about mine clearance, mine awareness, and technical mapping assistance, according to a State Department news release. They also observed demining training that included the use of dogs to detect mines. The visit was arranged after Vietnam was added to the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program this summer.
Participation allows Vietnam to receive modern demining equipment and related assistance.
The latest estimate indicates that there are about 3.5 million mines in Vietnam. Led by Senior Colonel Truong Quang Khanh, Deputy Commander, Chief of Staff, Engineering Command, Ministry of National Defense of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the five Vietnamese humanitarian demining experts learned about the full range of the U.S. Government's civilian and military humanitarian demining activities. Their visit follows the formal inclusion of Vietnam this summer in the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program. Hosted by the U.S. Department of State, the delegation met with top State Department and U.S. Department of Defense officials who help formulate U.S. policy on landmines and manage U.S. humanitarian demining programs. The five Vietnamese officers also were briefed by representatives of leading U.S. non-governmental organizations engaged in mine action such as the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, James Madison University's Mine Action Information Center, Wheelchairs for the World, Peace Trees Vietnam, CARE, and the Marshall Legacy Institute.