Natural Fire
Military forces from the United States, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania conducted a joint-combined field training exercise knows as Natural Fire 98 in East Africa. The exercise, which was held 6 - 26 June, 1998, was intended to improve regional security, military-to-military relations and interoperability between the participating nations.
The exercise included military training, but focused on humanitarian assistance to include Medical Civic Action Projects (MEDCAP), disaster relief training, peace operations training, and civil affairs orientation and planning. The exercise represented an opportunity for U.S. forces to provide humanitarian assistance and to improve the ability of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to respond to and minimize the devastating effects of a disaster. About 500 U.S. Military personel were involved.
During 2000, Natural Fire/Native Fury was a joint and combined-ground fleet training exercise designed to test deployment of MSC's Maritime Prepositioning Squadrons, or MPSRON, to Kenya. The exercise focused on off-load, throughput, force stand up and subsequent regeneration of a MPSRON. A secondary mission was multilateral peace support operations with a civil affairs focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. MSC assets involved included MPSRON Two vessel MV Cpl. Louis J. Hauge and commercial sealift charters MV BBC Canada, MV Maersk Alaska and MV Arktis Pacific.
