The biennial Exercise Coordinated Response (Ex COORES) 2025 brought together 250 participants from 39 militaries and 37 civilian organisations to enhance disaster relief coordination and resilience.
The Republic of Singapore hosted the biennial Exercise Coordinated Response (Ex COORES) from 28 to 30 October 2025 at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. Co-organised by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) Changi Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Coordination Centre (Changi RHCC), the Vietnam National Steering Committee for Civil Defense (VINASARCOM), and the United States Indo-Pacific Command’s (INDOPACOM) Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, the exercise marked its largest edition to date. It involved 250 participants from 39 militaries and 37 civil organisations, all working together to strengthen cooperation in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations.
In his opening remarks, Chief of Army Major-General Cai Dexian highlighted the exercise’s significance in enhancing regional preparedness and building trust among participating nations. He noted that the diversity of participants enriched the exchange of perspectives and strengthened multilateral collaboration. Chief of Defence Force Vice Admiral Aaron Beng also underscored the importance of joint disaster response capabilities, emphasising that “natural disasters do not recognise borders” and stressing the need for “swift, coordinated international assistance.”
Image by: Singapore Ministry of Defence
The exercise scenario simulated a severe weather event in Vietnam, where heavy monsoon rains combined with a Category 3 typhoon triggered widespread flooding and landslides. Participants practised Vietnam-led multinational coordination, focusing on both military-to-military and civil-military coordination (CMCoord) with international partners, including United Nations (UN) agencies.
Humanitarian organisations such as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Centre), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Food Programme (WFP) participated actively. Their involvement strengthened discussions on CMCoord, ensuring that diverse operational, logistical, and humanitarian perspectives were integrated into the simulated response.
Ex COORES 2025 was part of a series of regional HADR events hosted by the Changi RHCC during the same week, alongside the Humanitarian Futures Forums and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus Experts’ Working Group on HADR. Together, these engagements underscored Singapore’s ongoing commitment to fostering regional resilience, enhancing interoperability, and advancing shared capabilities in disaster response.
Source: Singapore Ministry of Defence
