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Africa Partnership Station Nashville arrives in Ghana

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090223-01
Release Date: 2/23/2009 6:10:00 AM

By Lt. j.g. Ellen Bock, Africa Partnership Station Nashville Public Affairs

SEKONDI, Ghana (NNS) -- USS Nashville (LPD 13) arrived in Sekondi, Ghana, Feb. 20, the second African port of its five-month deployment in support of Africa Partnership Station (APS).

APS is an international initiative under the auspices of Naval Forces Africa which aims to work cooperatively with U.S., European and African partners to enhance maritime safety and security on the African continent. APS provides a unique venue to align maritime engagements by utilizing an international team of expert trainers in a variety of military capacities and a handful of civilian fields such as fisheries management, port security and meteorology.

With APS, training is conducted as requested by the partner countries. In Ghana, that means traditional military training, such as engineering and small boat handling, plus a handful of specialty areas.

"This initiative has been built at the request of African partners, and we execute it side-by-side with an embarked team of officers and civilian specialists from 20 different countries," said Capt. Cindy Thebaud, Africa Partnership Station Nashville commander. "This fact should send a clear message. The responsibility of maritime security truly is a global effort."

Thebaud, the commodore of Destroyer Squadron 60, leads an international staff consisting of naval officers from 18 countries on four different continents, including two officers from the Ghanaian navy. The international staff is in addition to the Nashville's crew, commanded by Capt. Tushar Tembe. For Tembe's crew, APS represents the ship's final deployment, with decommissioning slated for September.

The APS mission will see seminars, workshops and hands-on training conducted with Ghanaian sailors, including sessions on port security planning, small boat maintenance, medical training, search and rescue training and oceanographic methods. But APS is more than training. APS will conduct large community relations projects in each of the countries visited. All of the activities are based on specific requests from Ghanaian officials.

"We see APS as a promising U.S. Navy-led initiative that, along with our international partners, will create the foundation for future regional cooperation in meeting our common maritime concerns," said Lt. Cdr. James Agambire, Ghana Navy.