Stefan Templeton - Humanitarian Missions

Humanitarian Missions

Templeton has acted as coordinator and civil-military forward field liaison in numerous airborne missions that he has organized in Honduras, Cambodia, Bosnia, Kashmir, Morocco, Indonesia and Colombia, specializing in rapid response deployment and assessment with the aim of paving the way for the relief efforts of military and civil humanitarian groups.

Ten days after the devastating tsunami that ensued due to the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake, Templeton helped insert 27 medical personnel in Aceh Jaya (Indonesia) to conduct emergency assessment in the most inaccessible regions and coordinate delivery of supplies in collaboration with ELISA (Equipe Légere d'Intervention de Secours Aéroportée) and PFC (Paramedics for Children), with the support of Newmont Mining Corporation CEO Richard Ness. Templeton flew 24 surveillance and GPS mapping missions in order to provide geo-referenced intelligence to the UNJLC, thereby convincing them to use the Calang Camp as the relief distribution hub where the team then coordinated landing zones for USMC LCAT vessels delivering 30,000+ tons of supplies. Between January 5 and February 14, 2005, the team completed a pediatric vaccination campaign of 3,150 children.

In March 2007 and November 2007, in collaboration with the Kush Organization and the U.S. Institute of Peace, Templeton conducted missions in Abyei province in Southern Kordofan (Southern Sudan) to assess the situation in Agok, with special emphasis on analyzing water supply. He was accompanied by Charles O'Connell on both missions with Adrian Rösiö backending via Stockholm. An evacuation plan based on access to drinking water was set up in preparation for what seemed to be an imminent attack by Janjaweed forces. The mission was documented by freelance writer and photographer David Matthews who was writing a feature article for The Washington Post.

When Abyei Town was attacked and destroyed by SAF forces on May 14, 2008, the evacuation plan was implemented and in June 2008 Templeton helped lead 60,000+ refugees from Abyei to Agok.