Twenty-five ‘Tercio de Armada’ Marines left Rota Naval Base on board the Royal Netherlands Navy ship ‘Rotterdam’ to take part in the Africa Partnership Station 2013 program, along with other Marine Corps instructors from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Africa Partnership Station (APS) is an international strategic program designed to build skills and expertise, and provide military assistance to West African nations. The initiative intends to improve maritime security and stability in the area, enhancing the capabilities of those nations.
Training activities include joint/combined exercises, help planning amphibious and interdiction operations, basic combat techniques, personal defense, treatment of prisoners, basic topography, combat hygiene, firing drills, patrol techniques and urban warfare.
From September to November, the APS will visit ports in Morocco, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon and Benin.
Spanish Marine Corps detachments have participated in previous APS deployments, namely in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. On those occasions, the following nations were visited: Gabon, Sao Tomé, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Liberia, Nigeria and Senegal.
[mappress] Press Release, September 3, 2013; Image: Spanish Navy