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PORT LOUIS, Mauritius - Mauritius, an island off the east coast of Africa has been plagued by piracy in the past and Exercise Cutlass Express is helping Mauritius send a strong message that they will partner to keep their waters safe. Senior Airman Levi Rowse takes us to the USS Simpson where these partnerships are being strengthened at a personal level.
Partner nations involved in Cutlass Express have come together aboard the USS Simpson for a reception. Growing a global force of navies to increase maritime security is at the core of Cutlass Express, and that comes through partnerships. Rear Adm.Thomas Reck, Vice Commander of U.S. 6th Fleet tells us more of what it means to bring nations together.
“It’s all about relationships, bringing 12 partner nations together and over 250 personnel together. These are the people in the future they’ll be fighting next to and fighting with. So it’s important that we establish these relationships early in ones’ career and then we revisit it often.”
The president of Mauritius was one of the partners aboard the Simpson and he reinforced the importance of having a global force of navies. This type of force is being demonstrated by those participating in Cutlass Express.
“We always believe in regional cooperation and what is more important is that, one or two years ago we had a huge threat of piracy in this part of the world and that was impacting on the life of people because, the cost of living was going up. With the help of the United States and other friendly countries we have been able to bring down the frequency of piracy in this part of the world and today we feel safe and that is very important for us.”
History has shown the value of working together towards a common goal and that’s what Cutlass Express intends as it moves from the tactical level to the operational and strategic levels. Rear Admiral Reck says it was an honor to make partnerships in Mauritius this year.
“I mean it couldn’t have been a greater honor to have the exercise culminate in this way, having the president of Mauritius see a US navy ship and get a tour of a US navy ship so it was really wonderful having him.”
Cutlass is one of four Express series exercises in Africa, facilitated by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa – U.S. 6th Fleet.
From Port Louis Mauritius, I’m Senior Airman Levi Rowse.
| Date Taken: | 02.03.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2015 03:25 |
| Story ID: | 153581 |
| Location: | PORT LOUIS, MU |
| Web Views: | 75 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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