Representatives from 11 Countries Arrive for EPC 09

Photo By Chief Petty Officer Gary Keen | Senior Chief Petty Officer Matthew Skaggs (right), reviews a training plan on non-commissioned officer development with Master Chief Petty OfficerGediminas Zabitis, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy of Lithuania, (middle) and Senor Chief Petty Officer Andreas Baroutsos, Greek navy, (left) at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Center at Marathi Pier as part of Eurasia Partnership Capstone 2009. Military forces from 11 countries will participate in a conference for maritime forces in Souda Bay, Greece, Sept. 19-26. Annually hosted by the U.S. Navy, EPC 09 aims to increase maritime safety and security through open and transparent sharing of information in a non-formal environment such as workshops and seminars.Nations participating in EPC '09 will include Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Ukraine and the United States.  

SOUDA BAY, GREECE

09.19.2009

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Gary Keen 

U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet

SOUDA BAY, Greece — The Eurasia Partnership Capstone 2009 kicked off on Naval Support Activity, Sept. 19, with the arrival of 70 military forces from 11 countries.

Over the next eight days Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Ukraine and the United States will be training together in non-formal environments such as workshops and seminars aimed at increasing maritime safety and security in the Eurasian littorals.

This is the third EPC event sponsored by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe—Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Africa/Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, formerly known as Black Sea Partnership Cruise.

"With ECP 09 we are broadening our efforts to increase the cooperation, capability and capacities in the Eurasian littoral regions," said Cmdr. Lawrence Ollice, lead planning officer for EPC 09. "We have two new countries participating this year, Kazakhstan and Norway. Norway, with Latvia and Lithuania, are taking on instructor roles making this the most robust conference to date."

The majority of workshops and seminars will be held at the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Center, located at Marathi Pier.

"We were forced to find a new location for the EPC 09 since the Mount Whitney [USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20)] was not available," said Ollice. "Last year we had Greek instructors from the NMIOTC participate in BSPC and they indicated that NMIOTC would be interested in hosting next year's event. NMIOTC was very excited about the idea, and many of the topics they teach are inline with regional interests."

Workshops and seminars will include non-commissioned officer development, maritime operational language, oil spill and environmental preparedness scenarios, and maritime interdiction operations to include ship boarding.

• Date Taken: 09.19.2009
• Date Posted: 09.21.2009 10:17
• Story ID: 39085
• Location: SOUDA BAY, GR