Partnership in Action

DIÁLOGO

2010 V20-3

The Swift is deployed as part of Southern Partnership Station 2010, an annual deployment of U.S. military training teams to the Caribbean and Latin America.[PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS REBECCA J. MOAT/U.S. NAVY]

High Speed Vessel Swift, or HSV 2, along with various Navy and Marine Corps units, departed Naval Station Mayport in Florida on May, 2010 to conduct a five-month mission to participate in Southern Partnership Station 2010, an annual deployment to boost information sharing in the Caribbean and Latin America. SPS focuses on information sharing with navies, coast guards and civilian services throughout the region.

El Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes speaks during a ceremony to commemorate the grand opening of a new pier at a port in La Union, El Salvador, in June 2010.[PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS RACHAEL L. LESLIE/U.S. NAVY]

While in port, personnel aboard the Swift participated in Project Handclasp, a U.S. Navy program that transports educational, humanitarian and goodwill material aboard U.S. Navy ships for distribution to foreign nations. Pallets and two fire engines were donated to Nicaragua by the Wisconsin National Guard State Partnership Program for transportation, and Sailors aboard the Swift delivered medical supplies and equipment to the local hospital in Port Antonio, Jamaica.

Members of the Muirton Boys’ Home in Port Antonio, Jamaica, tour the bridge of the Swift in May 2010. [PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS KIM WILLIAMS/U.S. NAVY]

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the U.S. Navy, along with the U.S. Embassy, for this donation,” Wendy Allen-Davis, senior medical officer at the Port Antonio Hospital said. “We hope that we will continue this partnership and that we can also look forward for these gifts we are so very grateful for in the future.”

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Etan Anthony helps tape a basketball court to be painted during a community relations project in Corinto, Nicaragua, in June 2010.[PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS RACHAEL L. LESLIE/U.S. NAVY]

U.S. Navy Sailors and Marines on the Swift also conducted exchanges with subject matter experts from the region. During the SPS deployment, the Swift visited Barbados, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama and Suriname.

U.S. Sailors deployed aboard High Speed Vessel Swift and members of Nicaragua’s Navy conduct search-and-seizure training operations off the coast of Corinto, Nicaragua. [PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS RACHAEL L. LESLIE/U.S. NAVY]

Some of the topics discussed during the visits included port security, professional development for noncommissioned officers, operational risk management, medical readiness, outboard motor maintenance and patrol craft operation.

“The U.S. Navy and USSOUTHCOM are committed to these multi-nation partnerships,” Capt. Kurt Hedberg, mission commander of SPS 2010 said. “It gives all of us a chance to exchange ideas, mission-focused knowledge and expertise to improve capabilities in key mission areas. This sort of multi-national cooperation is vital to successful maritime operations today and in the future.”