• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Southern Partnership Station Arrives in Panama

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS081216-02
Release Date: 12/16/2008 6:03:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel Ball, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs

PANAMA CITY, Panama (NNS) -- High speed vessel Swift (HSV 2) arrived in Panama Dec. 15 to begin the first of two instructional evolutions here as part of Southern Partnership Station (SPS).

Following an arrival ceremony on Swift which included opening remarks from Cmdr. Chris Barnes, SPS mission commander and Panamanian Subcomisionado Jose de Jesus Rodriquez, Chief of Training of the National Air and Maritime Service, the ship hosted an official visit.

U.S. Ambassador to Panama Barbara J. Stephenson and Panamanian Minister of Health Rosario Turner to officially turn over items brought to Panama on Swift as part of Project Handclasp.

"How great is this day that we can see the United States and Panama continue to improve the quality of life in our countries?" said Ambassador Stephenson. "Today we are witnesses of the great collaboration between the public and private sector."

"The relationship between the United States and Panama has allowed many economic, educational, and particularly, health projects to develop," said Turner.

Project Handclasp, a U.S. Navy program dedicated to utilizing cargo space on Navy ships to transport privately donated humanitarian goods to foreign ports, was also underway. In this case, the delivery contained more than $182,000 worth of medical supplies, surgery kits, clothing and equipment.

Southern Partnership Station is an annual deployment of various specialty platforms to the U.S. Southern Command area of focus in the Caribbean and Latin America. The mission goal is primarily information sharing with navies, coast guards, and civilian services throughout the region.

As part of this visit, training teams from Navy Expeditionary Training Command, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Marine Corps Training and Advisory Group began their engagement courses with Panamanian National Air and Maritime Service sailors and Panamanian National Police members. The courses provide instruction in a variety of fields such as port security, small boat operations, leadership and medical lifesaving techniques.

After Panama SPS is scheduled to visit Jamaica, Barbados, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.

The mission is coordinated through U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet (NAVSO/ 4th Fleet) with partner nations to meet their specific training requests. As the Naval Component Command of SOUTHCOM, NAVSO's mission is to direct U.S. Naval Forces operating in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions and interact with partner nation navies within the maritime environment. Various operations include counter-illicit trafficking, Theater Security Cooperation, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, military-to-military interaction and bilateral and multinational training.

Fourth Fleet is the numbered fleet assigned to NAVSO, exercising operational control of assigned forces in the SOUTHCOM area of focus.

For more information on U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command / U.S. 4th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil./local/cusns.