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Senior Civilian Leader Praises Value of UNITAS

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090507-07
Release Date: 5/7/2009 4:25:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brandon Shelander

USS MESA VERDE, At Sea (NNS) -- UNITAS Gold participants learned the value of the exercise and their interoperability from the United States Navy's senior civilian leader May 4.

Acting Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), B.J. Penn praised the outstanding job Sailors performed during UNITAS Gold exercises when he toured amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19).

"This exercise makes each country a stronger country and a stronger nation," said Penn. "No matter what the issue, together, we can overcome it. I think it's a fantastic opportunity.

"We have a lot of participants this year, Mexico for the first time. It's been going on for a long time, and it's fantastic. And this is a great ship to be in it."

Penn and Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan began the tour with an inspection of the various UNITAS participants via helicopter during the parade of ships.

Once aboard Mesa Verde, Penn and Kernan visited the bridge where they spoke with Cmdr. Larry LeGree, commanding officer of Mesa Verde, and congratulated him on a job well done. From the bridge, they met with the multinational officer staff in the wardroom then continued on to various parts of the ship including the well deck, medical facilities and chief's mess.

"This has been great," said Penn to the assembled wardroom. "We had a chance to fly down the line of ships during the parade of ships; it was really looking sharp. All the ships were in position. The ships looked good. I guess we were 200 feet up and about half a mile or so away. This is a major event for us. Thank you all for participating; this is great."

Penn and Kernan spoke with crew members and congratulated all on a job well done during UNITAS.

"I think it's fantastic. I think we should be doing more exercises like this. UNITAS means united, and that's what it's about. Like they said in the wardroom, we can do more together than we can individually.

"There's so many things going on in the world today, but together we can go out there and make a difference," Penn said.

This year marks the 50th iteration of UNITAS, a multinational exercise that provides opportunities for participating nations to increase their collective ability to counter maritime activities that threaten stability. Participating countries are Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Mexico, Peru, the United States and Uruguay.

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