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Government and Military Officials Visit USNS Spearhead during UNITAS 2016

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS160927-04
Release Date: 9/27/2016 8:56:00 AM

By Army Capt. Peter Nguyen, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs

GULF OF PANAMA (NNS) -- High ranking civilian and military officials paid visit to the USNS Spearhead today during UNITAS 2016, an annual maritime military exercise involving 11 countries from the Americas focusing on strengthening valuable partnerships and security cooperation.

Among those who toured the Spearhead were Kevin O'Reilly, the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to the Republic of Panama, Alexis Bethencourt Yau, the Panama Minister of Security, and Jonattan Del Rosario, the Panama Vice-Minister of Security.

"The U.S. and the countries in this region have had a long and productive relationship," O'Reilly said. "We work together every single day. If it weren't for the great cooperation and friendship we've received from the many participants of this exercise, like Columbia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Honduras, we wouldn't be nearly as effective at interdicting drug trafficking and transnational criminal organizations."

This year's exercise, hosted by Panama, is designed to train each navy and public security force to conduct joint naval operations, through the execution of littoral warfare, anti-piracy, maritime interdiction operations, countering transnational crime, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare, communications exercises and air operations in order to increase interoperability and capability between participating naval forces.