Military

Exercise Island Response Kicks Off in Seychelles

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS061113-07
Release Date: 11/13/2006 7:12:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kathryn Whittenberger, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet Public Affairs

MAHE ISLAND, Seychelles (NNS) -- U.S. Navy divers and explosive ordnance disposal technicians kicked off Exercise Island Response 2006 on Mahe Island, Seychelles, Nov. 2.

The 14-day exercise with Seychelles Coast Guard divers includes both classroom and hands on training.

So far, instructors from EOD Mobile Unit (EODMU) 4, Detachment (Det.) 12, out of Manama, Bahrain, and Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 1, Det. 5, out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, have given mostly classroom training. Subjects covered include dive medicine, neurological exams, decompressions sickness, tag out training, patching, plugging and salvaging, limpet removal and usage of the hyperbaric chamber.

“It’s good for us to learn about this type of mission,” said Seychelles Coast Guard Diver, Chief Warrant Officer Eric Lestrange, the officer in charge of the diving unit. “I like the type of training we’re doing; it will help us in the future.”

The training also helped the U.S. divers.

“It gives us a different perspective,” said Chief EOD Technician Tom O’Brien, from EODMU 4 Det. 12. “We get to see the way other countries train and examine the differences.”