Ex Carat '08 to focus on disaster relief
New command: US Navy's Rear Adm Nora Tyson speaking at the Empire Hotel & Country Club. Picture: The Brunei Times
Friday, January 18, 2008
THE Royal Brunei Navy (RBN) is keen to focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the upcoming annual US-Brunei Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) military exercise, a senior US Navy officer revealed.
Recently-appointed commander of the United States Navy's (USN) Command, Logistics Group Western Pacific (COM LOGWESTPAC), Rear Admiral Nora Tyson, recently met with RBN commander Colonel (L) Dato Paduka Hj Joharie Hj Matussin during a three-day introductory visit to the sultanate and spoke with The Brunei Times about her views on RBN as well as the upcoming naval exercise.
"I sat down with Col Joharie and talked about where we want to go with Carat this year and he really wants to focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, which is important to both of us," said Rear Adm Tyson, who relieved Rear Adm William Burke as COM LOGWESTPAC leader in September last year.
"We have learnt a lot over the past several years with the tsunami, Bangladesh and the earthquake in Indonesia and Katrina in the United States. So I think we need to collectively take a hard look at our lessons learnt, and what we can take from that, so when another catastrophe, when another crisis happens — which unfortunately we know is going to happen somewhere — we'll be ready to deal with it," she explained.
The rear admiral who hails from Memphis, Tennessee commanded the amphibious assault ship, USS Bataan, leading the ship's contributions to disaster relief efforts on the US Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and deploying twice to the Persian Gulf in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom I and II.
When asked on her professional point of view on the Royal Brunei Navy's capabilities — specifically its three Waspada-Class missile gunboats (MGB) on its effectiveness in safeguarding Brunei's security and maritime interests, she answered: "I am not qualified to answer that because I haven't been on the gunboats, I haven't talked to the navy leadership about readiness, how they feel as far as the level of training, the level of maintenance, the readiness, the ships themselves, and really we haven't talked about the threat itself either."
With the initial planning conference recently concluded, both countries will only be finalising plans for this year's Carat exercise in February, but Rear Adm Tyson noted that this year's exercise will take into consideration Brunei's updated defence white paper and US maritime strategy.
"One of the biggest costs that the military has is personnel. If we can leverage technology and reduce personnel cost — then we need to be doing that. There is a tremendous amount of advancements that happen all the time, and if we don't take advantage of it and see how we can use it to better do our job, then we're crazy," highlighted the rear admiral.
The updated defence white paper, unveiled last year, aims to increase the Royal Brunei Armed Forces' capabilities through the procurement of patrol vessels, expansion of the current air surveillance envelope for land and maritime areas and mechanisation for some components of the army, while placing emphasis on defence cooperation within the region for security purposes and contributing to humanitarian and relief operations.
Rear Adm Tyson also met with Royal Brunei Land Force commander Col Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Rosli Pengiran Haji Chuchu and Royal Brunei Air Force Commander Brig Gen (U) Dato Paduka Hj Mahmud Hj Saidin throughout her stay in the sultanate.
She said: "I am very impressed with what I do know of the Bruneian military and I feel confident that your navy, your military, is doing everything that they can. I know that there's been a lot of discussion, specifically within the navy, about the age of the ships, about possibly getting new ones."
"This is my first trip to Brunei, and I am very impressed with the professionalism and the dedication across the board, and that was Col Rosli, Brig Gen Mahmud, Col Johari0 and some of their staffmembers. Having read through the white paper, I found it very impressive. It is very well thought out."
The Brunei Times
Recently-appointed commander of the United States Navy's (USN) Command, Logistics Group Western Pacific (COM LOGWESTPAC), Rear Admiral Nora Tyson, recently met with RBN commander Colonel (L) Dato Paduka Hj Joharie Hj Matussin during a three-day introductory visit to the sultanate and spoke with The Brunei Times about her views on RBN as well as the upcoming naval exercise.
"I sat down with Col Joharie and talked about where we want to go with Carat this year and he really wants to focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, which is important to both of us," said Rear Adm Tyson, who relieved Rear Adm William Burke as COM LOGWESTPAC leader in September last year.
"We have learnt a lot over the past several years with the tsunami, Bangladesh and the earthquake in Indonesia and Katrina in the United States. So I think we need to collectively take a hard look at our lessons learnt, and what we can take from that, so when another catastrophe, when another crisis happens — which unfortunately we know is going to happen somewhere — we'll be ready to deal with it," she explained.
The rear admiral who hails from Memphis, Tennessee commanded the amphibious assault ship, USS Bataan, leading the ship's contributions to disaster relief efforts on the US Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and deploying twice to the Persian Gulf in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom I and II.
When asked on her professional point of view on the Royal Brunei Navy's capabilities — specifically its three Waspada-Class missile gunboats (MGB) on its effectiveness in safeguarding Brunei's security and maritime interests, she answered: "I am not qualified to answer that because I haven't been on the gunboats, I haven't talked to the navy leadership about readiness, how they feel as far as the level of training, the level of maintenance, the readiness, the ships themselves, and really we haven't talked about the threat itself either."
With the initial planning conference recently concluded, both countries will only be finalising plans for this year's Carat exercise in February, but Rear Adm Tyson noted that this year's exercise will take into consideration Brunei's updated defence white paper and US maritime strategy.
"One of the biggest costs that the military has is personnel. If we can leverage technology and reduce personnel cost — then we need to be doing that. There is a tremendous amount of advancements that happen all the time, and if we don't take advantage of it and see how we can use it to better do our job, then we're crazy," highlighted the rear admiral.
The updated defence white paper, unveiled last year, aims to increase the Royal Brunei Armed Forces' capabilities through the procurement of patrol vessels, expansion of the current air surveillance envelope for land and maritime areas and mechanisation for some components of the army, while placing emphasis on defence cooperation within the region for security purposes and contributing to humanitarian and relief operations.
Rear Adm Tyson also met with Royal Brunei Land Force commander Col Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Rosli Pengiran Haji Chuchu and Royal Brunei Air Force Commander Brig Gen (U) Dato Paduka Hj Mahmud Hj Saidin throughout her stay in the sultanate.
She said: "I am very impressed with what I do know of the Bruneian military and I feel confident that your navy, your military, is doing everything that they can. I know that there's been a lot of discussion, specifically within the navy, about the age of the ships, about possibly getting new ones."
"This is my first trip to Brunei, and I am very impressed with the professionalism and the dedication across the board, and that was Col Rosli, Brig Gen Mahmud, Col Johari0 and some of their staffmembers. Having read through the white paper, I found it very impressive. It is very well thought out."
The Brunei Times
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