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Fleet Survey Team Supports Global Fleet Station

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080226-11
Release Date: 2/26/2008 11:41:00 AM

From Naval Oceanographic Office Public Affairs

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. (NNS) -- Fleet Survey Team (FST) conducted cooperative military hydrographic surveys in both the Dominican Republic and Jamaica for two months beginning in August 2007 as part of Global Fleet Station (GFS) 2007.

GFS 2007 is a U.S. Southern Command-directed pilot operation implemented by U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and carried out by Task Group (TG) 40.9 on board High Speed Vessel 2 Swift.

Consisting of a command element, the crew of Swift, training teams from Navy Expeditionary Training Command, U.S. Coast Guard International Training Division and Department of State representatives, TG 40.9 is deployed to the Caribbean basin in Central America.

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 through information exchanges and training with the partnership countries.

As part of the training component of GFS, five FST members conducted a harbor survey of the industrial port of Haina, Dominican Republic, in conjunction with the Insituto Cartografico Militar (ICM).

"It was great to be a part of the GFS initiative," said Lt. Matthew Henigin, an FST hydrographer. "Through hydrography, I believe that all nations involved in these surveys have gained greater knowledge and control of their maritime domains."

Surveying the Haina served as a training exercise for Dominican Republic military personnel. The survey conducted Haina resulted in much needed updates to nautical charts, thus improving navigational safety, fostering local hydrographic capabilities and enhancing opportunities for future initiatives and cooperative surveys.

The survey was completed in 20 days using FST's 7-m RHIB, single beam echosounder, and side-scan sonar.

Following their survey in Port Antonio, Jamaica, FST personnel traveled to Ocho Rios, Jamaica for the second stop in the FST component of the GFS campaign. The FST survey party conducted a harbor survey of the Port of Ocho Rios in conjunction with the National Land Agency (NLA) of Jamaica.

FST worked with NLA hydrographers and geodesists to survey the harbor and approaches, which also served as hands-on training for the NLA personnel. A similar survey was conducted in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in cooperation with the NLA.

For more news from the Naval Oceanographic Office, visit www.navy.mil/local/navo/.