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    I MEF Deputy Commanding General tours SK13

    I MEF Deputy CG visits New Zealand during exercise Southern Katipo

    Photo By Sgt. Scott Reel | Brig. Gen. David Bellon, deputy commanding general of I Marine Expeditionary Force,...... read more read more

    TIMARU, AUK, NEW ZEALAND

    11.17.2013

    Story by Cpl. Scott Reel 

    U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific

    TIMARU, New Zealand - Brig. Gen. David Bellon, deputy commanding general for I Marine Expeditionary Force, and Lt. Col. Mike Estes, operations officer with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, visited the Combined Joint Inter-Agency Task Force headquarters during exercise Southern Katipo 2013 aboard Timaru Airfield, New Zealand, Nov. 17.

    Bellon and Estes were escorted throughout the forward operating base to see how the New Zealand Defence Force organized the exercise and to meet the approximately 80 Marines participating in SK13.

    “It boils down to a better security environment within the Pacific region,” Estes said. “Now, we can better work together on joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief projects.”

    Both leaders highlighted that the United States’ relationship with New Zealand was at its closest and was becoming closer.

    “Our other big focus is to recharge the relationship our countries developed in World War II,” Bellon said. “We’re very connected to our history and we talk about it all the time. We remember the hospitality of the Kiwis.”

    Both officers shook the hands of many different Marines, asking them what support they were providing and how the exercise had been going thus far.

    “Most of the Marines here have been to Afghanistan and/or Iraq, so with a pretty critical eye we can say that this is a very professionally run exercise,” Bellon said.

    The New Zealand Defence Force integrated the local population and state government into scenarios of the exercise.

    “The setup for the exercise itself is really impressive,” Estes said. “The way they’ve integrated all the local agencies between the local and national government is difficult to replicate with the United States, so that alone has been good to see.”

    With ten countries including New Zealand participating in SK13, the New Zealand Defence Force planned a large, complex scenario to really test the capabilities of the joint environment.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.17.2013
    Date Posted: 11.19.2013 23:01
    Story ID: 117044
    Location: TIMARU, AUK, NZ

    Web Views: 249
    Downloads: 0

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