While Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen participating in Exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) have a primary focus of increasing interoperability between U.S. and Southeast Asia navies, they also take advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate their roles as global citizens.
The exercise series kicked off May 21 in the Philippines, and members took some time to participate in a number of community outreach projects.
Exercises like CARAT foster not only bilateral partnership between the participating nations, but also partnerships with the citizens of the visited countries. Each plays an important role in building trust and ultimately contributing to security and stability in the region.
Articles in the Philippine Inquirer and on the Exercise CARAT Web site highlighted some of the outreach projects the service members participated in during the Philippine Phase of the exercise. These projects focused on medical, dental and engineering outreach. Both U.S. and Philippine service members painted homes, delivered education and athletic materials to schools, and provided medical, dental and optometry care to more than 800 citizens.
CARAT will include similar events in other participating nations, which include Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
How come suddenly got so many aegis warships take part in this year Ex Carat??
ReplyDeleteThey are USS Chafee (DDG 90), USS Russell (DDG 59), USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) and USS John S. McCain (DDG 56).
It is very impressively.
The numbers and types of ships involved in the various CARAT phases are determined by a number of factors, including the training desires of the host nation and the availability of U.S. Navy assets. The four Aegis ships you mention are participating in various phases, not necessarily each phase. CARAT has continually increased in complexity from year to year, which represents a continued maturation and interoperability between the navies involved.
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