CARAT 2009 best ever says US rear admiral

BRUNEI Darussalam and United States have realised the importance of the defence and humanitarian assistance roles both nations navies are responsible for in the international community.

The ability to respond to a wide spectrum of humanitarian and disaster relief contingencies as well as to evolving maritime threats including transnational criminal activity such as human trafficking, drug smuggling, piracy and terrorism are clearly outlined in the Chief of Naval Operations Cooperative Strategy for 21″ Century Seapower, and in the Bruneian Ministry of Defences White Paper of 2007. That the two documents mention nearly identical threats is no coincidence, and the words cooperation and cooperative strategy appear several times throughout both documents.

This was stated by Rear Admiral Nora W Tyson, Commander, Logistics Group, Western Pacific (COMLOGWESPAC), in her remarks made at the closing ceremony for the 15th annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2009 exercise between the US Navy and the Royal Brunei Navy, yesterday morning, aboard the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) at Muara Naval Base.

I think this years CARAT exercise was one of our best ever, because the tailored training addressed realistic scenarios that our militaries have faced in recent years, and are quite likely to face again in the future, said Rear Admiral Tyson.

But equally important, over the last week weve gotten to know one another on a personal level. Ive spent much of the week with Col Hj Abdul Halim, Commander of the Royal Brunei Navy, and as always it has been a genuine pleasure working with him, and discussing shared areas of concern and challenges.

Ensuring peace and security while preparing for any contingency is vital to our nations economies, and is what we do, said Rear Admiral Tyson in her concluding remarks.

Our citizens expect nothing less of us. And through exercises like CARAT, where we sharpen our skill sets, our proficiency and our ability to operate as a team, we demonstrate that we are indeed fulfilling the cooperative strategies that our most senior leaders have challenged us with.

Meanwhile, the Joint Force Commander of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), Col Pg Dato Paduka Hj Rosli bin Pg Hj Chuchu in another address expressed his hope that the positive relationships between the armed forces of both nations that were developed in the exercise will continue to flourish.

Both the Brunei and US exercise directors, Commander Task Group Commodore William Kearns III from the US Navy and Deputy Commander Task Group Lt Col (L) Spry bin Hj Seruji of the Royal Brunei Navy, as well as senior commanding officers of the combined task force ships, were also present at yesterdays ceremony.

(Borneo Bulletin)

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