Africa Partnership Station (APS) East, an international cooperative initiative aimed at strengthening maritime safety and security, concluded its 2010 deployment with a close-out review by high-level naval leadership from Kenya, Namibia, Tanzania and the United States on March 12, 2010 in Mombasa, Kenya.

Admiral Mark Fitzgerald, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, hosted the event to provide APS East partner countries an opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of the training and collaborative activities from the multinational staff that executed the mission.

"Trust and confidence between partners and allies has enhanced interoperability and operational coordination," noted Fitzgerald during his opening remarks. "This is a core element to improving maritime safety and security in Africa. When we collaborate with our partners, a wide array of mariners benefit from our actions."

Fitzgerald went on to say that APS East is a great illustration of collaboration and highlighted that this year's two training platforms, high speed vessel Swift (HSV 2) and frigate USS Nicholas (FFG-47), and most importantly, the international staff that has driven and planned this mission "have proven the value of collaboration and partnership."

Among the partners in attendance were Major General Samson Mwathethe, commander of the Kenya navy and Major General Said Shaaban Omar, commander of the Tanzania People's Defence Force Navy. Additionally, Captain Paulus Amungulu, chief of naval support for the Namibian navy, was invited as an observer in hopes that Namibia will consider including staff on future deployments. Major General Mwathethe was invited to give a keynote address.

"The Kenyan government appreciates everyone involved on the APS staff for all of their hard work during this mission," stated Mwathethe. "Swift and Nicholas started this mission with eight Kenya navy sailors. The Kenya navy has greatly benefited from this program, because Kenya lacks the platforms to complete this type of training."

Mwathethe also discussed the issues that make an initiative like APS necessary, including illegal trafficking of drugs and people, energy and resources security, and piracy. "For us the number one issue is piracy," said Mwathethe. "Before, the people of Africa knew little about the sea. Our country experienced what I call 'sea blindness.' Now due to these maritime issues, everyone knows about the sea."

APS got its start back in 2006, when 11 Gulf of Guinea leaders met in Benin and agreed to an action plan to build maritime safety and security in four areas: maritime professionals, maritime domain awareness, maritime infrastructure, and maritime response capabilities. The initiative first began with deployments in West Africa, later expanding to include East Africa in 2008.

"While APS has been active in East Africa for a few years," explained APS East Commander Captain James E. Tranoris, "this year marks the inaugural deployment of an international staff to execute the mission."

Staff officers from Brazil, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Tanzania, and the United States worked directly with the commander to plan and execute the APS East mission, offering a deeper level of experience and exchange of ideas about maritime safety and security in the region.

In their review brief, the international staff discussed the lengthy planning process that began with an initial planning conference in May 2009. Two more planning conferences, which included a familiarization visit on Swift, and a staff training conference in Naples, Italy, all took place before the deployment kicked off in late December 2009.

The ships and staff sailed for over a two and a half month period, planning as an international staff, teaming on in port and at sea training, conducting meetings with maritime leaders, and engaging the public with community relations projects.

"From Naples, the ships steamed to Souda Bay, Greece, and then through the Suez Canal to our first Africa Partnership Station engagement in Djibouti," said Major Eliud Keter of the Kenya navy and operations officer for APS East. "During this deployment, Swift and Nicholas covered a total of 12,500 nautical miles and conducted 11 ports of calls; namely, Mombasa, Kenya; Dar es salaam, Tanzania; Durban and Cape Town, South Africa; Maputo, Mozambique; Port East, Reunion; Port Louis, Mauritius; and Port Victoria, Seychelles."

When it came time to discuss partner-country training, the training officer, Major Jumaa Kassi of the Tanzania People's Defence Force, revealed that a total of 562 maritime professionals participated in the classroom and practical training courses offered in port and an additional 58 international sailors completed at sea training.

During the deployment, Swift and Nicholas brought with them teams of maritime experts who provided training and engaged in exercises with the maritime professionals of the APS participating nations. In addition to the port visits, Nicholas conducted at sea instruction. The trainees spend their time not only learning basic watchstanding principles, leadership skills, damage control and engineering, but also building relationships with sailors from around the globe.

The staff presented significant accomplishments in the areas of training and raising awareness among military and government leadership, and the general populations of east and southern African countries; They also discussed ways to improve future operations. Among the suggestions were longer training periods to accomplish more in-depth training ashore and more time between ports.

"In Mauritius we conducted classroom training ashore followed by an at sea exercise," explained Major Vikraj Mangroo, deputy assistant superintendent of the Mauritius Police Force, and APS Ship Rider Coordination Officer. "This allowed students to put into practice material learned in the classroom. Our observation is this resulted in much more effective training and allowed for an assessment of the training."

Mangroo said that the international staff faced some communication challenges given their varied backgrounds and languages. "But our diversity was a blessing in disguise and a real asset for this mission," asserted Mangroo. "In each country one or more of our officers bridged the cultural and language gap to effectively execute the events."

At the conclusion of the brief, Commander Misero Mujui of Mozambique and APS director of staff, left the guests with parting thoughts.

"Generally, very few common African citizens on the east coast know much about this Africa Partnership Station initiative and how it affects their country or their daily personal lives," explained Mujui. "During this deployment we were able to educate and inform African citizens at all levels of society of the important role maritime safety and security plays in improving their nations' security, stability and prosperity."

APS East Commander Captain James Tranoris emphasized the value of APS and the importance of building long-term trust and relationships among its partner-countries.

"Maritime problems are global concerns, that no one nation can tackle alone," said Tranoris. "Africa Partnership Station East 2010 demonstrated both the capability and the promise of lasting cooperative maritime partnerships."