Officials from the Royal Thai Navy hosted a reception to kick off exercise Cobra Gold 2013 (CG 13), in Sattahip, Thailand, Feb. 12.
“The reception was a great opportunity to interact with our partners in a less formal setting, especially after the long hours of planning with our partners to make Cobra Gold a successful exercise,” said Commander, Task Force 76 Rear Adm. Jeffrey Harley . “It was an honor to be able to attend such an event hosted by the Royal Thai Navy and Marine Corps military leaders who are working with us to promote peace and stability in the region.”
Cobra Gold, in its 32nd iteration, is designed to demonstrate the ability of the involved militaries to rapidly deploy a joint task force to conduct combined operations at sea and ashore and showcases the Navy and Marine Corps team with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked aboard the Bonhomme Richard ARG.
Throughout the evening, senior military leaders from both countries spoke about the importance of building stronger ties between the two nations.
“The reception was a wonderful chance for us to get to know one another,” said Royal Thai Navy Lt. Cmdr. Rakpan Weerapat. “The relationships that we are building during Cobra Gold will strengthen our militaries’ future endeavors together.”
Cobra Gold 2013 is a Thai-U.S. co-sponsored multinational joint exercise that includes forces from the U.S., Kingdom of Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Republic of Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, February 15, 2013; Image: Cobra Gold