Asia-Pacific
Navy kicks off Cambodia leg of annual CARAT exercise
Stars and Stripes
November 16, 2015
Littoral comabt ship USS Fort Worth arrives for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Cambodia 2015 on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. CARAT is a series of annual, bilateral maritime exercises between the U.S. military and the armed forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and East Timor. (Antonio Turretto Ramos/Courtesy U.S. Navy)
Littoral comabt ship USS Fort Worth arrives for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Cambodia 2015 on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. CARAT is a series of annual, bilateral maritime exercises between the U.S. military and the armed forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and East Timor. (Antonio Turretto Ramos/Courtesy U.S. Navy)
Lt. j.g Clare Lyons watches for contacts on the bridge aboard the USS Fort Worth as the littoral combat ship arrives in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training Cambodia 2015. CARAT is a blend of shore-based exchanges and operational exercises that feature a wide range of naval operations, including surface, undersea, aviation and amphibious warfare. (Antonio Turretto Ramos/Courtesy U.S. Navy)
The Navy kicked off the Cambodian leg of the sixth annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise Monday.
CARAT — a five-month series of Navy exercises with Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and East Timor — is a blend of shore-based exchanges and operational exercises that feature a wide range of naval operations, including surface, undersea, aviation and amphibious warfare.
Ashore training in Cambodia will include damage control, navigation, tactical combat casualty care, force protection, and visit, board, search and seizure exercises, a Navy statement said. At sea, littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth — currently on a 16-month deployment to Singapore — will join two RCN Stenka-class patrol boats and a coastal patrol vessel for maneuvering and surface gunnery drills, along with maritime boarding and search-and-rescue exercises.
Rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard will also take part in CARAT Cambodia, which runs through Friday from Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and involves about 200 U.S. sailors and 300 Royal Cambodian sailors.
“CARAT enables us to develop strong relationships with our Cambodian navy partners,” Rear Adm. Charlie Williams, Task Force 72 commander, said in the statement. “Through persistent presence and relationships, we continue to make steady progress in increasing the complexity of our training and enhancing cooperation between our navies.”