In response to a request for assistance from Papua New Guinea after the eruption of Rabaul caldera in September 1994, the USGS deployed scientists and equipment needed to re-establish a volcano-monitoring network at Rabaul caldera. A "mobile volcano observatory" (on pallets) was transported on both commercial and military (US and Australia) aircraft to the town of Rabaul. Depending on the type of request and nature of volcanic activity, the USGS can send a variety of monitoring instruments to complement existing volcano-monitoring networks or to establish an entirely new network.