Brunei-US naval exercise boosts maritime security
Saturday, August 4, 2007
THE sultanate is set to gain maritime-security commerce benefits along with increased maritime security in this year's Cooperation Afloat Readiness And Training (CARAT) exercises that are taking place this month.
"CARAT Brunei is an important maritime exercise for both our navies," said Rear Admiral William Burke in his speech during the opening ceremony yesterday. He said that seaborne threats such as armed robberies, piracy, drug smuggling, human trafficking and terrorism, are real. To keep the region's waterways safe from these threats that cross internation borders, he feels like-minded maritime forces have to cooperate and share real-time information with one another.
"By operating together in an exercise environment, we develop mutual awareness and understanding."
During the CARAT, Brunei Darussalam and the United States will work together in several tactical areas, such as maritime interdiction and surveillance.
"We stand to learn a great deal from each other during this combined training," said the Rear Admiral.
He added that actions made to bring security to the seas serve the local national interests while serving the global well-being at the same time.
"CARAT presents us with another opportunity to build on our partnership. Our nations are bound together by dependence on the seas and in our need for security of the vast common area they represent," he said.
Apart from hightened naval security, Brunei will also benefit from the commerce that comes with it.
"Maritime security suits both of our countries," said the Rear Admiral in a separate interview. "First of all, Brunei is a maritime nation as it is right on the South China Sea. So maritime commerce is big in Brunei, as it is big in the United States. We are also trading partners with one another. Ninety per cent of the world's goods pass on the ocean, so that's why we look at maritime security."
"We'll be doing lots of things together, there'll be some time at sea of course, and also discussions about how the Brunei and US Navy do things. We'll try to learn from one another," he added.
He feels that one of the most important things is "the engagement we get from working with our partners", speaking about his relations with Fleet Commander of the Royal Brunei Navy, Colonel Abdul Halim Hj Mohd Hanifah.
"We met a year and a half ago," he said. "So when you have problems, the best situation you can be in, is to call somebody. And if I called him on the other end, we already know one another, so it's easy to get right to solving the problem or addressing whatever we need to do," he remarked.
"If you haven't done that, then that can be a challenge." "That's one piece of it," said the Rear Admiral.
"The other piece of it is the exchange of knowledge about how we do things, and how it impacts us. There's also procedural things that we do and that the Brunei Navy does, and we need to make sure those are interoperable, such that when we go out and work together, it's easy for us to work together."
"So the same thing we achieve on the person-to-person level, we want to be able to achieve on the ship-to-ship level," he said, adding that "it is most important to us".
Colonel Halim who was standing nearby added, "We are achieving another milestone in the relations and cooperation between Brunei and the US."
The Brunei Times
"CARAT Brunei is an important maritime exercise for both our navies," said Rear Admiral William Burke in his speech during the opening ceremony yesterday. He said that seaborne threats such as armed robberies, piracy, drug smuggling, human trafficking and terrorism, are real. To keep the region's waterways safe from these threats that cross internation borders, he feels like-minded maritime forces have to cooperate and share real-time information with one another.
"By operating together in an exercise environment, we develop mutual awareness and understanding."
During the CARAT, Brunei Darussalam and the United States will work together in several tactical areas, such as maritime interdiction and surveillance.
"We stand to learn a great deal from each other during this combined training," said the Rear Admiral.
He added that actions made to bring security to the seas serve the local national interests while serving the global well-being at the same time.
"CARAT presents us with another opportunity to build on our partnership. Our nations are bound together by dependence on the seas and in our need for security of the vast common area they represent," he said.
Apart from hightened naval security, Brunei will also benefit from the commerce that comes with it.
"Maritime security suits both of our countries," said the Rear Admiral in a separate interview. "First of all, Brunei is a maritime nation as it is right on the South China Sea. So maritime commerce is big in Brunei, as it is big in the United States. We are also trading partners with one another. Ninety per cent of the world's goods pass on the ocean, so that's why we look at maritime security."
"We'll be doing lots of things together, there'll be some time at sea of course, and also discussions about how the Brunei and US Navy do things. We'll try to learn from one another," he added.
He feels that one of the most important things is "the engagement we get from working with our partners", speaking about his relations with Fleet Commander of the Royal Brunei Navy, Colonel Abdul Halim Hj Mohd Hanifah.
"We met a year and a half ago," he said. "So when you have problems, the best situation you can be in, is to call somebody. And if I called him on the other end, we already know one another, so it's easy to get right to solving the problem or addressing whatever we need to do," he remarked.
"If you haven't done that, then that can be a challenge." "That's one piece of it," said the Rear Admiral.
"The other piece of it is the exchange of knowledge about how we do things, and how it impacts us. There's also procedural things that we do and that the Brunei Navy does, and we need to make sure those are interoperable, such that when we go out and work together, it's easy for us to work together."
"So the same thing we achieve on the person-to-person level, we want to be able to achieve on the ship-to-ship level," he said, adding that "it is most important to us".
Colonel Halim who was standing nearby added, "We are achieving another milestone in the relations and cooperation between Brunei and the US."
The Brunei Times
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