Frontiersmen appointed on Palau on Independence Day

What a significant milestone to appoint our first Frontiersmen at Palau on 1 October 2018. Palau also celebrates Independence Day on 1 October. Commander Far East Command, Colonel Matthew Yap, LF visited Palau Visitor's Authority, several hotel developments including Palasia and Palau Pacific Resort and dive service providers like NECO Marine. "The annual population of 250,000 tourists to Palau participates actively in recreational dives, deep dives and sky dives. Palau is an excellent destination for the frontiersmen event calendar".

Palau (historically Belau, Palaos, or Pelew), officially the Republic of Palau (Palauan: Beluu er a Belau), is an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean.

Palau was also the destination chosen for the 10th season for the Survivor reality series in 2004. The country contains approximately 340 islands, forming the western chain of the Caroline Islands in Micronesia, and has an area of 466 square kilometers (180 sq mi).The most populous island is Koror. The capital Ngerulmud is located on the nearby island of Babeldaob, in Melekeok State. Palau shares maritime boundaries with the Philippines, Indonesia, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Training Commandant, Lieutenant Colonel Kerr Sun, LF added, "Palau has a regular police force at Koror, but has no auxiliary nor volunteer police/military. Frontiersmen can serves to fill the gap with both adventure activities for youth development and mobilised for emergency crowd control or traffic control should Palau host an international event or conference".

The country was originally settled approximately 3,000 years ago by migrants from the Philippines and sustained a Negrito population until around 900 years ago.

The islands were first explored by Europeans in the 16th century, and were made part of the Spanish East Indies in 1574. Following Spain's defeat in the Spanish–American War in 1898, the islands were sold to Imperial Germany in 1899 under the terms of the German–Spanish Treaty, where they were administered as part of German New Guinea, although the islands were already represented in the Malolos Congress of the revolutionary First Philippine Republic. The Imperial Japanese Navy conquered Palau during World War I, and the islands were later made a part of the Japanese-ruled South Pacific Mandate by the League of Nations. During World War II, skirmishes, including the major Battle of Peleliu, were fought between American and Japanese troops as part of the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. Along with other Pacific Islands, Palau was made a part of the United States-governed Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947. Having voted against joining the Federated States of Micronesia in 1979, the islands gained full sovereignty in 1994 under a Compact of Free Association with the United States.

The National Police, a force of approximately 160 officers within the Bureau of Public Safety, maintains internal security and performs both police and emergency response functions.

Politically, Palau is a presidential republic in free association with the United States, which provides defense, funding, and access to social services. Legislative power is concentrated in the bicameral Palau National Congress. Palau's economy is based mainly on tourism, subsistence agriculture and fishing, with a significant portion of gross national product (GNP) derived from foreign aid. The country uses the United States dollar as its currency. The islands' culture mixes Micronesian, Melanesian, Asian, and Western elements. Ethnic Palauans, the majority of the population, are of mixed Micronesian, Melanesian, and Austronesian descent. A smaller proportion of the population is descended from Japanese and Filipino settlers. The country's two official languages are Palauan (a member of the wider Sunda–Sulawesi language group) and English, with Japanese, Sonsorolese, and Tobian recognized as regional languages.