Photo By Michael Williams | 210924-N-ZM469-196 STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Philippine Defense Attaché Capt....... read more read more
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – The Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School recently recognized graduates from Semester 21-5 in a formal ceremony at command headquarters located on the John C. Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi.
NAVSCIATTS Cmdr. Don Speights and Republic of the Philippines Defense Attaché Capt. Salvador Henry Quinto, Philippines Embassy, Washington, D.C.; served as host and keynote speaker as they awarded diplomas to the 49 partner nation security force professionals from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Guyana, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
In opening remarks, Speights, who assumed command of NAVSCIATTS in June of this year, expressed his appreciation for being involved with U.S. Special Operations Command’s only security cooperation command.
“I am confident, outside of this command, there are few within the U.S. Department of Defense who have the opportunity, every day, to spend quality time with America’s finest partners and allies,” he explained. “All of us have heard the saying, ‘Find a job that you love, and you will never work a day in your life.’ How can you not love this job which provides us with the opportunity to build our global family?”
With a primary objective of this international training command being to build and continuing to strengthen relations between partners and allies, Speights, who has served as a U.S. Navy SEAL for more than 28 years, reiterated that strengthening global relations and building partner capacity will continue to be a priority for him and his staff.
“While the forefront of our shared global struggle over the past year has focused on COVID-19, we realize global challenges that threaten the security of all our nations and existed prior to the pandemic such as terrorism, illicit drug networks, human trafficking, organized crime, and great power competition…that those challenges did not disappear,” he explained. “We must not forget, regardless of our situations and where we are from, we can only counter these challenges by working together. Your service and continued dedication to your countries and international partnerships will no doubt ensure our success against these shared global challenges.”
As the Republic of the Philippines and the United States commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Quinto opened his remarks to the audience, which consisted mostly of students representing the U.S. Indo-Pacific area of operations, by highlighting shared global issues such as natural disasters, specifically the recent devastating impact of Hurricane Ida along the Louisiana Gulf Coast.
“While we are happy celebrating this joyous event, I must admit that it still pains me seeing the trail of damage and devastation caused by Hurricane Ida when it made landfall along this area just a few weeks ago,” expressed the Philippine navy veteran. “My heart bleeds for the people, for I for one, as a resident of a region in the Philippines that lies along the typhoon belt, have had personal experiences of such similar grim magnitude. For what it is worth, experiences of such intensity only make us stronger. Just like your four seasons, the flora and fauna of this place shall recover, and its people will rise again: stronger, more resilient and absolutely better.”
NAVSCIATTS, which was originally formed as a U.S. Coast Guard mobile training team in 1961 in Rodman, Panama, trains and educates foreign special operations, combat support, and combat service support forces across the tactical, operational, and strategic spectrums through in-residence and mobile training team iterations.
This semester, students received training in six of the command’s 10 formal courses of instruction, including diesel and outboard motor maintenance, tactical communications, welding and applied repairs, coastal patrol, and UAS planning and operations. Quinto stressed to the graduates the importance of education, training, and dedication while pursuing their military careers and how commands such as NAVSCIATTS directly impact those objectives.
“In the profession of arms, especially in these modern times, there are some realities that we need to face,” stressed Quinto, a lawyer and graduate of the Philippine Military Academy. “Gone are the days that men and women turned into soldiers and sailors by the mere display of sheer strength and their willingness to fight,” he continued. “While most of us joined the service driven by a spectrum of reasons - like patriotism, bloodlines, career, rewards, dreams or even adventure; nonetheless, the security of our stay in our beloved organizations, may no longer be secured by that same motivation. Today’s military now needs dedicated professionals, responsible experts, and men and women with various skill sets and competencies.”
With NAVSCIATTS’ ability to assist in U.S. Department of Defense’s efforts to build capacity of strategic partners and allies, Quinto highlighted the importance of continuing to expand technical knowledge and expertise.
“Warfare of this new century requires membership in a profession that shares organic unity and consciousness in various disciplines that make us special and distinct apart from the ordinary men,” he explained. “This is where training institutions like NAVSCIATTS are even more essential and indispensable. For they hammer out soldiers and sailors and turn them into a special breed of professionals and experts in various disciplines.”
NAVSCIATTS' five regionally focused in-resident training semesters assist in developing, shaping, and maintaining strategic relationships with diverse partner forces. Offering the ability to form professional and personal bonds that reach across oceans and continents, NAVSCIATTS has allowed for the establishment of networks that have aided in counterterrorism, counternarcotic, and counter human trafficking operations in a global environment. Since 1963, more than 13,000 international security force professionals from 123 countries have trained with NAVSCIATTS.
| Date Taken: | 09.24.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 09.24.2021 15:02 |
| Story ID: | 406003 |
| Location: | STENNIS SPACE CENTER, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 1,117 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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