Month: February 2023

Source: United States Navy

SNMG2 entered the Port of Bar on Jan. 24 with its flagship, U.S. Navy destroyer USS James E. Williams (DDG 95), and Turkish Navy frigate TCG Barbaros (F 244).

During the port call, Commander of SNMG2 U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Scott Sciretta visited with Acting Minister of Defense Mr. Filip Adzic, Chief of Defense General Zoran Lazarevicthe, Chief Naval Officer Commander Milan Jevtovic, Mayor of the Municipality of Bar Mr. Dusan Raicevic, and U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro Ambassador Judy Reinke. Additionally, Sciretta conducted a press availability with local media and hosted a reception with Montenegro officials aboard the flagship.

“Since becoming a member of the NATO Alliance, Montenegro has participated in key exercises with Allied partners,” Sciretta said. “Montenegro is an integral player, helping to guarantee readiness and safety within the Adriatic region. To have a member-nation that can provide this capability and ensure that Allied ships can remain at a high level of readiness provides a tremendous advantage.”

As a NATO task group, SNMG2 prioritizes its mandate to enhance the collective readiness, responsiveness, deployable readiness, integration and interoperability of its forces. Its focus is on deterrence and defense against every potential threat in the maritime domain, upholding freedom of navigation, securing maritime trade routes and protecting the main lines of communication.

SNMG2 is a multinational integrated task group that projects a constant and visible reminder of the Alliance’s solidarity and cohesion afloat. This continuous maritime capability performs a wide range of tasks, including exercises and real-world operations in periods of crisis and conflict.

SNMG2 is one of four Standing Naval Forces that operate under NATO Allied Maritime Command, headquartered in Northwood, United Kingdom.

For more news and information on SNMG2, visit https://mc.nato.int/SNMG2 or follow us at:
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Source: United States Navy

U.S. Coast Guard personnel facilitated the course for 10 members of the Lebanese Navy, leading discussions on defense tactics, boarding procedures, evidence collection, safety and medical care.

“Hosting the Lebanese Navy at our facility embodies the commitment between our two nations,” said Capt. Eric Helgen, commander of Patrol Forces Southwest Asia, who leads U.S. Coast Guard personnel stationed in Bahrain. “Engagements between the Lebanese Navy and our Maritime Engagement Team experts build capability and foster trust.”

The course was held at an indoor training facility that includes replicas of shipboard spaces commonly encountered aboard fishing vessels and commercial ships transiting the Middle East.

This was the first time the Coast Guard team hosted Lebanese Armed Forces personnel in Bahrain for the course. The U.S. Coast Guard conducted 17 similar exchanges for 14 different partner nations in 2022.

NAVCENT’s operating area includes 21 countries, the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and Suez Canal.

Source: United States Navy

The interdiction took place in the Gulf of Oman on Jan. 15, along routes historically used to traffic weapons unlawfully from Iran to Yemen. More than 3,000 assault rifles, 578,000 rounds of ammunition and 23 advanced anti-tank guided missiles were recovered.

CENTCOM and partner naval forces regularly conduct regional maritime security operations. The seizure is one of four significant illicit cargo interdictions over the past two months that have prevented more than 5,000 weapons and 1.6 million rounds of ammunition from reaching Yemen.

CENTCOM forces previously intercepted a fishing vessel Jan. 6 in the Gulf of Oman and discovered it smuggling more than 2,100 assault rifles along a maritime route from Iran to Yemen.

In 2021, CENTCOM prevented 9,000 illegal weapons from reaching Yemen, representing a 200% increase in the number of weapons seized over the previous year. In 2022, CENTCOM Maritime assets and partner forces seized weapons components for the same type of cruise missiles launched in attacks against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates earlier in the year. In December 2022, U.S. naval forces also seized explosive precursor materials that included 140 tons of urea fertilizer, 70 tons of ammonium perchlorate, and 50 tons of ammunition rounds, fuses, and propellants for rockets.