Maritime professionals from South and East Africa, Europe, Indian Ocean nations and the U.S. met to begin finalizing plans for the fourth iteration of Cutlass Express 2015, Nov. 18.
The three-day planning event seeks to finalize exercise scenarios, participant force offerings, schedule of events, and participant manning in advance of the exercise, to be held in early 2015.
Capt. Patrick Carey, Executive Director of Exercise Cutlass Express, stated:
Cutlass Express promotes and exercises interoperability and information sharing, and it fosters strong working relationships amongst East African countries’ maritime services. By working together, the participating countries greatly enhance their maritime domain awareness and ability to patrol their vast territorial waters. They gain an exponential increase in the efficient deployment of their forces, greatly increasing maritime safety and the protection of their vital natural resources.
Cutlass Express, one of four regional Express Series exercises facilitated by U.S. Naval Forces Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet, is scheduled to take place in operational areas along East Africa and it will focus on increasing capabilities in deterring counter-piracy, counter illicit trafficking, and other maritime threats.
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Press release, Image: US Navy