The USS Emory S. Land sits moored Monday at a pier at Naval Station Rota, Spain. The submarine tender is en route to the Gulf of Guinea to train with African military units and foster greater relations with countries in the region. (Scott Schonauer / S&S)
The USS Emory S. Land sits moored Monday at a pier at Naval Station Rota, Spain. The submarine tender is en route to the Gulf of Guinea to train with African military units and foster greater relations with countries in the region. (Scott Schonauer / S&S)
Sailors from the USS Emory S. Land help load a pallet of cargo onto the submarine tender. (Scott Schonauer / S&S)
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — Sailors and Marines aboard the sub tender USS Emory S. Land are heading to the Gulf of Guinea to help African nations boost maritime security and forge stronger alliances.
The 646-foot ship left Rota on Tuesday and will visit Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Gabon and Ghana before returning to its home port in La Maddalena, Sardinia, sometime in March.
About 1,400 sailors and Marines are making the deployment.
“This is a working trip,” said Marine Col. Barry Cronin, commander of Task Group 60.5 and leader of the mission. “This is not a pleasure cruise. We’re going to go down and we’re going to work and help these folks. The big thing is to develop the regional approach to maritime security.”
Those aboard the ship include members of the Rota-based Marine Corps Security Force Company Europe, who will interact with their African counterparts on how to better protect shipping channels and guard ships. A group of Navy construction workers, better known as Seabees, will help fix navy vessels and do some community relations projects.
In addition, sailors and officers from some of the West African countries will be riding aboard the Emory S. Land — which was originally designed to service Los Angeles-class submarines.
“Coastal security in West Africa, for example, is done probably differently by each of the countries that are here,” Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dan Trott, the ship’s operations officer. “So, we can talk with them and share some ideas on ways to use the few resources that are available in that region.”
The mission to the region will include performing some humanitarian aid, the exchange of security and anti-terrorism techniques, HIV-AIDs prevention and awareness efforts and search-and-rescue training.
The Gulf of Guinea, which is on the southwest coast of Africa, is an oil-rich region, and the Bush administration has tried to partner with the developing coastal countries in the area.
The idea of bringing the sub tender to the area sprang from a conference in Naples, Italy, last year. In October, naval leaders from 17 nations met at the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Security Conference to discuss ways their forces could improve cooperation and security to prevent such threats as smuggling, piracy and drug and weapon trafficking.
For American sailors and Marines, the deployment is a chance to see a part of the world many Americans have not seen.
Petty Officer 2nd Class David Drake will be making the trip to the Gulf of Guinea aboard the ship and is excited about the chance to learn more about the West African culture.
“The main reason I joined the Navy is to see the world,” he said. “And this is a chance to see a part I haven’t seen.”
