Global Fleet Station Completes First Honduras Visit
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS070612-01
Release Date: 6/12/2007 9:31:00 AM
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW) Cynthia Clark, Task Group 40.9 Public Affairs
PUERTO CASTILLA, Honduras (NNS) -- The pilot Global Fleet Station (GFS) completed its event-filled first visit to Honduras aboard High Speed Vessel 2 (HSV 2) Swift on June 2.
In addition to their regular training schedule, Task Group 40.9 hosted the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, built a latrine for a local indigenous village, visited local school children, hosted several tours, participated in sporting events, hosted a barbecue and even held a ground-breaking promotion ceremony.
Ambassador Charles Ford and Capt. Jose Espinal, commander Naval Forces Honduras, visited Swift on May 26, to get a firsthand glimpse of the interaction between the U.S. and Honduran personnel and attended a barbecue, where task group members and Honduran Sailors had the chance to get to know each other better around the picnic tables and in various sporting events.
During an all hands call on Swift’s mess decks, Ford expressed his gratitude for the military as well as the importance of working with each other and exchanging ideas, as GFS is doing here in Honduras.
Following the barbecue, Ford, Espinal, and Commander Task Group 40.9 Capt. Douglas Wied visited the local indigenous village where TG 40.9 members were building a latrine for the villagers.
Wied also attended a dedication ceremony June 1 at the Pech village school involving the chief of the village, the Pech community tourism director and students from the school who sang the Honduran national anthem. The ceremony was in honor of the completed community relations project that had brought together members of TG 40.9 and the villagers who had worked together over the previous week.
During the ceremony, the chief passed on that the community is creating initiatives to attract tourism to the village by constructing trails through the jungle and that working with the military members over the week had been a great experience for the village.
“It’s opportunities like this that allow us to learn from the Honduran people and learn about their culture,” said Wied. “This was also a great opportunity for the Pech village and we hope this brings them prosperity for years to come.”
Chief of the village Aparicio Montes added, “We are a small community with few resources. It’s wonderful to see friends reach out their hand to help us. We’re very happy you came and got to know us.”
In addition to the community relations project and the ambassador’s visit, Task Group 40.9 personnel also made three visits to local schools, sharing their military experiences with various students in and around the local city of Trujillo.
“It was a feel-good moment to interact with the students,” said Storekeeper 3rd Class (SW) Lorella Person, task group supply clerk. “They seemed very enthused to learn about what we do and a few were interested in pursuing a military career. I feel that I did my job if I influenced just one child’s point of view to better his or her life.”
Just as they did in the their previous stop in Nicaragua, U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard training teams from Navy Expeditionary Training Command in Little Creek, Va., along with U.S. Coast Guard training teams from International Training Division, based in Yorktown, Va., facilitated two, one-week training sessions in areas requested by the nation of Honduras. These courses included a coxswain course, a port security and vulnerability course, as well as a leadership seminar.
Over the course of visit, more than 100 Honduran Navy, Unidad Proteción Portuaria and Commissión Nacional Proteción Portuaria service members trained side by side with their American counterparts. Various subjects covered in the above courses included techniques for assessing internal security, assessing vulnerabilities and how to put plans in place to mitigate them, navigation and small-boat handling, as well as sharing ideas on effective leadership.
Also while in port in Puerto Castilla, Wied had the opportunity to put senior chief anchors on Senior Chief Master-at-Arms (AW) Bob Hewitt, Expeditionary Training Command’s (ETC) first promotion since its commissioning in April. The ceremony was attended by members from the Honduran Navy, Marines and Port Authority.
“We’ve had a lot of firsts since ETC started, but this is the best” said CWO 3 Tom Peal, ETC training team leader. “This is the most rewarding and most memorable first. He’s one of the hardest working and smartest trainers I’ve ever worked with and it was an honor to witness such an event.”
Honduras was also an important port for Mineman 1st Class Phillip Phillips, Operations Specialist Demetreous Hill and Mineman 3rd Class (SW) Michael Vallejos as all three crew members from HSV 2 Swift were frocked to first and third class petty officer.
TG 40.9, consisting of a command element, the crew of HSV 2 Swift, training teams from Navy Expeditionary Training Command and U.S. Coast Guard International Training Division, and Department of State representatives, is deployed as part of the pilot GFS to the Caribbean basin in Central America. While deployed, members of TG 40.9 will participate in information exchanges and training with partnership countries. They are scheduled to return to Honduras for another round of cooperative exchanges later in the summer.
The mission is designed to validate the GFS concept for the Navy and support U.S. Southern Command objectives for its area of responsibility by enhancing cooperative partnerships with regional maritime services and improving operational readiness for the participating partner nations.
TG 40.9 is scheduled to bring their teams to Belize, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Panama.
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