Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.



U.S., South Korea Announce Yellow Sea Exercise
Source: U.S Department of Defense

The United States and South Korea announced a new set of military exercises that will be held in the Yellow Sea early next month, a Pentagon official said here today.

South Korean and U.S. forces will participate in anti-submarine warfare exercises. It is too early to detail what surface ships, submarines and air units will participate, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

The exercise is a direct outgrowth of a North Korean submarine sinking the South Korean frigate Cheonan in March. The attack killed 46 South Korean sailors.

In the “2-plus-2” meetings held in the South Korean capital of Seoul last month, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and Defense Minister Defense Kim Tae-young met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to discuss ways to demonstrate to North Korea the solidarity of the American alliance with South Korea.

“We said we would continue a series of exercises – defensive in nature – that are designed to send a clear message to North Korea,” Whitman said.

The exercise, to be conducted in international waters, will focus on anti-submarine warfare tactics, techniques and procedures. “It will be conducted in the waters off the western coast of South Korea,” Whitman said. “This exercise is designed to improve the readiness and proficiency of U.S. and [South Korean] forces to defend against subsurface attacks.”

As it builds on an already strong foundation of interoperability and flexibility, Whitman said, the exercise will strengthen the U.S.-South Korean alliance. “Broadly, what it does is reinforce our resolve to stability and security of the region,” he added.

China has objected to U.S. exercises in the Yellow Sea, though the United States military has exercised there for decades.

“China has no reason to view this exercise or this series of exercises as a threat to its security,” Whitman said. “These exercises are intended to deter North Korea from future destabilizing attacks such as occurred with Cheonan and assure the region of [U.S. and South Korean] resolve to maintain security and stability on the Korean peninsula.”


Royal Navy Trains Refurbished Iraqi Ship's Crew
Source: U.K Ministry of Defense

Now repair work on the Iraqi Navy Ship (INS) Nasser has come to an end, Royal Navy personnel have been training the ship's crew so they can take her out to defend and patrol Iraq's territorial waters.

Around 100 Royal Naval personnel are currently based at the main Iraqi naval base in the southern port of Umm Qasr, working alongside US colleagues to train and mentor the Iraqi Navy as part of the UK-led Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission - Navy (ITAM-N).

A team of eight Royal Navy and US personnel from this mission have been running INS Nasser's crew through a series of training evolutions covering seamanship, navigation, weapons-handling, anchoring, firefighting, damage control and engineering casualty control.

INS Nasser has sat alongside since being 'side-swiped' by a drifting freighter last January while berthed in Umm Qasr. She is one of four Italian-built Saettia Class patrol vessels operated by the Iraqi Navy in the Gulf.

Now looking her best after significant repair work in a local shipyard, she has been brought back home and is just waiting for her crew to be trained to a standard where they can operate the ship safely and take her out to defend and patrol Iraq's territorial waters.

The training team is led by Lieutenant Lars Lone of the United States Navy. He said:

"The training was intensive and we kept them very busy. They worked hard and the instructors from the Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission in Umm Qasr were impressed with their efforts."

Part of the seamanship training involved the launch and recovery of the patrol ship's rigid-hulled inflatable boat via the ship's stern ramp.

Led by the Royal Navy's Petty Officer Emma Mitchell, the Iraqi crew successfully completed several serials, culminating in a demanding launch and recovery at sea. Petty Officer Mitchell said:

"It was great to see such a unique way to launch and recover a boat; I am sure that our navy could learn a lot from this."

Iraq's ability to rebuild its infrastructure and services after decades of neglect is heavily dependent on income from oil exports. And so it is vital that the Iraqi Navy quickly develops its capacity to protect their own territorial waters and offshore oil platforms from which 80 per cent of their oil is exported.

At the moment Royal Navy ships continue to protect Iraq's offshore oil platforms while Royal Navy and US personnel bring the Iraqi Navy up to speed via the ITAM-N.

This Day in U.S. Naval History

1843 - Steam frigate Missouri arrives at Gibraltar completing first trans-Atlantic crossing by a U.S. steam-powered ship.
1942 - Five Navy nurses who became POWs on Guam are repatriated.
1951 - Twenty-three fighters from USS Essex (CV 9) escort Air Force heavy bombers attacking Najin, Korea, since target was beyond range of land-based fighters.


Photo of the Day



Reserve Component Sailors assigned to Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron (MSRON) 1, Boat Detachment Alpha, pilot a patrol boat.

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