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HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka (May 1, 2019) – U.S. and Sri Lanka maritime forces were three days into the long-planned Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training(CARAT) exercise when the deadly Easter Sunday bombings occurred in Colombo and surrounding areas April 21, 2019.
There were approximately 100 U.S. Sailors and Marines in Sri Lanka when the attacks occurred in the capital city and surrounding areas. Although the attacks were centered in Colombo, approximately 150 miles away from where the exercise was taking place in the southern part of the island nation in Hamabantota, there was high uncertainty about continued attacks targeting particular hotel chains with predominately western guests.
U.S. Embassy staff members working at the makeshift command center in Hambantota began receiving calls just minutes after the attacks and alerted exercise participants. Meanwhile Sri Lanka Navy officials and other participants were bombarded with updates about the attacks and possible impacts on the overall exercise.
By the end of the day on Sunday, Commander of Navy Expeditionary Forces Command Pacific, U.S. Navy Capt. Eric Correll, along with his counterpart, Sri Lanka Navy Capt. HNS Perera, jointly decided to pause the remaining events of the exercise in order to free up Sri Lanka Sailors and Marines to focus on emergency response and security operations. “They were disappointed to halt the exercise, but we both agreed it was necessary to fully focus on the security situation,” Correll said.
U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B. Teplitz said in a statement immediately following the attacks that security and cooperation are a part of the growing partnership between the U. S. and Sri Lanka. “As a close friend to Sri Lanka, we are heartbroken by these attacks. We’re committed to helping Sri Lanka emerge from this crisis stronger and more unified.”
The participating ships, USS Spruance and USNS Millinocket, were completing the sea phase of the exercise on Sunday morning and were directed not return to port as a precautionary measure. Once the mutual decision was made to pause the exercise, U.S. personnel quickly prepared to return to their home stations, albeit, disappointed to not fully execute the entire exercise.
However, “there was still great value in the preparations and planning portion,” said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Greg Woods, exercise coordinator. “This was absolutely a positive engagement, not just due to the completed sea phase, but all the planning and partnering for the ashore phase that had been several months in the making.”
Personnel from Guam, Singapore, Japan and Hawaii had come together for the CARAT exercise in Sri Lanka which was kicking off its 25th anniversary when the bombings occurred. Sri Lanka was host to its first CARAT exercise in 2017 after nearly 25 years of civil war that ended in 2009.
Though the remainder of the exercise was temporary halted, “it was great to meet lots of good people and exchange ideas. We are looking forward to continuing the process, when possible,” Perera said.
Sri Lanka Navy and Marines are key partners in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility and this was the second CARAT exercise with the first occurring in 2017. “We’ll work diligently with them to find the best date to resume what we’ve planned. I can’t reiterate how quickly and professionally our Sri Lanka Navy partners responded to the crisis. They are very capable and true maritime partners,” Correll added.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2019 13:57 |
| Story ID: | 322938 |
| Location: | LK |
| Web Views: | 167 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S., Sri Lanka Navy Partnership Strong During CARAT 2019, by LCDR Amy Forsythe, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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