Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 9, and embarked Carrier Air Wing 2 hosted several Chilean officers, October 13-24, as part of UNITAS Pacific (PAC).
Working alongside U.S. Sailors while aboard Washington, guest officers participated in several exercises, such as Blue Sky V, an exercise designed to improve relations through cooperative airborne tactical engagements.
The experience of UNITAS PAC brings forth knowledge that can be applied to each nation’s respective militaries.
Lt. j.g. Cristian Figari, another Chilean naval officer, site:
Something we are taking away from this experience is how to run a large force.
There are so many people aboard, and it is impressive how smoothly it all works. We’ve compared their leadership to our own and realized that we have many similarities and that we face the same challenges they do.
Sailors from both nations realized the many correlations and opportunities to learn from each other.
UNITAS 2015, the U.S. Navy’s longest running annual multinational maritime exercise, is part of the Southern Seas deployment planned by U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/ U.S. 4th Fleet. This 56th iteration of UNITAS is conducted in two phases: UNITAS Pacific, hosted by Chile, Oct. 13-24, and UNITAS Atlantic, hosted by Brazil and scheduled for November.
Image: US Navy