Sailors and civilian maritime professionals from Europe, Africa and the United States discussed objectives and activities for Exercise Cutlass Express 2013 (CE13) during the first of three planning conferences, April 16-19.

Cutlass Express, one of the four major U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet exercises in Africa, is designed to advance East African maritime relationships, while addressing mutual security issues.

This will be the fourth iteration of the exercise and is scheduled to commence in November.

Participating countries in CE13's initial planning conference included Comoros, Djibouti, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Netherlands, Denmark, United States and an Eastern Africa Standby Force delegation.

"This conference has been an effective collaboration of ideas and it is a good first step as we continue the planning process," said Lt. Anthony Blaine, exercise planner with U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet. "The ultimate goal of both Africa Partnership Station (APS) and this exercise is improved operations to enhance maritime security in East Africa."

During the conference, participants expressed individual country goals and worked together to lay a framework that would collectively meet country-specific benchmarks.

The conference also provided partner nations an opportunity to meet with African Partnership Station planners to develop training plans that will build maritime capacity for the long term.

"This partnership is very good and it brings out a team sprit," said Inspector Anilkumar Rajapundit, a member of the maritime component Mauritius police force. "For this conference we are talking about our objectives for this year, what we expect, and what training we want. The partnership helps our teams by combating the illegal trafficking and piracy."

Specifics of Cutless Express are still being developed and will be fine-tuned as planning continues. The foundational elements of the exercise will be a variety of scenarios tailored to test participants' abilities to conduct operations to deter piracy, narcotics trafficking, and illegal fishing. Ships at sea will also work closely with shore-based maritime operations centers in selected participating countries to respond to the specific scenarios.

"I was here last year and the African nations are more involved now," said the Royal Netherlands Marine Crops Warrant Officer Rudy Zahravnaik. "They brought more suggestions and they say what they think. Our primary achievement is more cooperation with the African nations."

Safe and secure maritime partnership takes careful coordination and commitment to improvement. The detailed work is rewarding when the Sailors see the nations unite and grow in their ability to handle maritime security concerns.

"It has been a pleasure working with our East African partners and watching the capacity of the region grow," said Crytologic Technician (Collection) 1st Class Jose Manuel Cunha, Portuguese linguist for APS. Cunha cited the example of maritime forces in Mozambique, "It has been rewarding to see them go from an ad-hoc boarding team with little training to a dedicated maritime interdiction operation platoon in only a few years."

Cutlass Express 2013 is a U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) sponsored exercise focusing on addressing common maritime issues through information sharing and coordinated operations among East African navies.

For more news from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/naveur/.