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U.S. Embassy Representative Visits PANAMAX 2005

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050817-04
Release Date: 8/17/2005 10:11:00 AM

By Journalist 2nd Class Jennifer Franco, Commander, U.S Naval Forces Southern Command Public Affairs

PANAMA CITY, Panama (NNS) -- Chargé d’Affairs Luis Arrega of the U.S. Embassy in Panama visited the Civil Military Operations Center and was briefed on the status FUERZAS ALIADAS PANAMAX 2005, a training exercise in defense of the Panama Canal involving 15 countries Aug. 4-17.

During Arreaga’s visit, he was flown by helicopter to USS Bataan (LHD 5), flagship for PANAMAX 2005. While visiting Bataan, Arreaga attended a series of briefings concerning the exercise operations, in relation to the cooperative multinational strategies to protect the canal against potential threats.

The Panama Canal is perhaps the most crucial piece of infrastructure for the flow of goods and commerce in the Western Hemisphere. Thousands of ships transit the canal every year, carrying more than 235 million tons of exports and imports which sustain the economies of all the nations in the region.

"PANAMAX is an important exercise because it was designed to protect a valuable piece of Panamanian real estate that moves a tremendous volume of cargo between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans,” said Arreaga. “We want to help keep the canal open and accessible, as requested by the Panamanian government.”

PANAMAX builds on a concept of layered defense. The goal of layered defense is to establish concentric rings of security, making it difficult to attack while enabling defending forces to respond at the earliest possible time.

“The exercise fosters inter-connectivity and improved coordination to address threats more effectively,” said Arreaga.

PANAMAX is a scenario-based exercise conducted in the Caribbean and Pacific approaches to the Panama Canal and includes naval forces from host nation Panama, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Peru and the United States, as well as observers from Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Mexico and Uruguay.