Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu, is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is 1,750 km (1,090 mi) east of northern Australia, 540 km (340 mi) northeast of New Caledonia, east of New Guinea, southeast of Solomon Islands, and west of Fiji.
The Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF) is a small, mobile corps of 300 volunteers that makes up Vanuatu's military. Its primary task is to assist the Vanuatu Police Force. However, should Vanuatu be attacked, then the VMF will act as the first line of defence. In 1994, VMF deployed 50 people to Papua New Guinea, as their first peacekeeping mission.
Commander is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title or "billet" in many armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), also known as Operation Helpem Fren, Operation Anode and Operation Rata, was created in 2003 in response to a request for international aid by the Governor-General of Solomon Islands. Helpem Fren means "help a friend" in Solomon Islands Pidgin. The mission officially ended on 30 June 2017.
Police commissioner is a senior rank in many police forces of the world. In other jurisdictions, it is the title of a member of an oversight board.
The Federated States of Micronesia's National Police is the small national police force of the Federated States of Micronesia and is a division of the FSM Department of Justice.
The defense of Palau is the responsibility of the United States, but local police matters are handled by the Palau Police, the national police force. Some of the sixteen states also had separate police departments during the 1980s and 1990s.
The Samoa Police Service is the unitary national police force of Samoa.
The Tuvalu Police Force is the national Police force of Tuvalu, it is headquartered in Funafuti and includes a Maritime Surveillance Unit, Customs, Prisons and Immigration. Police officers wear British style uniforms.
The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) is the national police force of Solomon Islands and in January 2015 had an establishment of approximately 1,153 officers and 43 police stations across the country.
Security in the South Pacific has proved to be one of the most enduring of Australia's security concerns. It was the subject of Australia's first substantial strategic policy initiative, when in 1888 Alfred Deakin took his concerns about French intrusion into Vanuatu to London. Since then, the South Pacific has played an important role in Australian security thinking. Notably during the Second World War in the Pacific and through Australia's responsibilities as a colonial power in Papua New Guinea until that country's independence in 1975. Australia was regarded as having been quite detached from the Pacific Islands during the post colonial period. However this period, until the beginning of the 21st century, was marked by numerous small scale Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations in the region. The notable cases were in Vanuatu in 1980 and 1988 as well Fiji in 1987. The ADF also played an important role in peacekeeping missions in Bougainville during this period.
The 1980 New Year Honours were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 31 December 1979 to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1980.
The Queen's Birthday Honours 1975 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 6 June 1975 for the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Fiji, the Bahamas, and Grenada. These were the last Birthday Honours on the advice of Australian Ministers for Papua New Guinea, as the nation gained independence from Australia on 16 September 1975.
Colonel Ian Arthur Naunton Cook (1934–1994) was Commander of the British Police Mobile Unit in the New Hebrides between 1978 and 1979 and Commander of the Vanuatu Mobile Police Force from Vanuatu’s independence in 1980 until 1984. Cook was involved in quelling the Santo Rebellion, and under his command the Vanuatu Mobile Force became ‘a disciplined and efficient paramilitary unit, displaying fine bearing on military occasions’. He was later an Overseas Security Adviser on diplomatic missions at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
RVS Tukoro is a Pacific Forum patrol boat that performs fishery protection, search and rescue and sovereignty patrols for Vanuatu. Tukoro is one of twenty-two small patrol vessels Australia designed and built for smaller fellow members of the Pacific Forum, after the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea extended control of a 200-kilometre (110 nmi) exclusive economic zone for all maritime nations.
RSIPV Lata is one of the Pacific Forum patrol boats Australia gave to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.
RSIPV Auki is one of the Pacific Forum patrol boats Australia gave to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force.
RSIPV Gizo (05) is a Guardian-class patrol boat in service with the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force Maritime Department. She was the fifth boat of her class to be completed. Australian officials officially handed her over to representatives of the Solomon Islands on 8 November 2019, at the Austal shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia.
RKS Teanoai II (301) is a Guardian-class patrol boat in service with the Kiribati Maritime Police. She was given to the Republic of Kiribati by Australia as part of the Pacific Maritime Security Program, in which Australia donates patrol boats to neighbouring Pacific Island nations in order to improve regional maritime security. She was the eighth boat of her class when launched in April 2020, but became the eleventh to be delivered due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She was officially handed over to the Kiribati police crew at the Austal shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia on 18 June 2021, replacing the 27-year-old Pacific-class patrol boat RKS Teanoai as the small island nation's sole maritime security craft.
RVS Takuare is a Guardian class patrol boat in service with the Vanuatu Police Maritime Wing. She was given to Vanuatu by Australia as part of the Australian government's Pacific Maritime Security Program on 30 July 2021. Her predecessor, the RVS Tukoro, was the second vessel of the first iteration of the Pacific Patrol Boat Program, and served in the same role from 1987 to 2021. The Takuare is currently the only naval or law enforcement vessel operated by the Pacific Island nation.
