SINGAPORE: The Singapore phase of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2009 ended June 19 at Changi Naval Base yielding a new level of cooperation and interoperability between the Republic of Singapore and U.S. forces, supporting a key pillar of the Navy’s Maritime Strategy.
“Each year we dig deep and we somehow manage to expand the scope and the complexity of the exercise,” said Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) Col. Wellman Wan, commander, First Flotilla, during the CARAT closing ceremony. “CARAT 2009 is no different.”
The addition of two submarines, one from the RSN, one from the U.S. Navy, to the at-sea phase was just one of the highlights of a training schedule that exceeded the expectations of commanders on both sides.
Commodore, Capt. William Kearns III, commander, Task Group 73.5, embarked aboard the Singapore frigate RSS Intrepid during the at-sea phase with Wellman, his RSN counterpart. The two commanders directed exercises in numerous warfare areas over a five-day period.
Members of the Singapore Armed Forces got together with the U.S. Marines for marksmanship training and a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise. And the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Safety and Security Team worked side-by-side with Singapore’s Police Coast Guard and the RSN to sharpen boarding techniques.
“CARAT 2009 boasts many operational achievements and successes – targets knocked out of the sky, vessels boarded by law enforcement teams, disaster response exercises, submarines tracked by sonar, community outreach projects, and so much more,” said Kearns. “But what truly stands out – and what will endure – is the spirit of teamwork and partnership between our people.”
Operational exercises involving the RSN and U.S. Navy included events in the air, surface and sub-surface arenas, including the first U.S. submarine to operate during CARAT Singapore, USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705). The Los Angeles-class attack submarine interacted in anti-submarine warfare exercises with the RSN diesel submarine RSS Conqueror and the surface ships of the CARAT task group.
On the surface, RSN and U.S. Navy ships participated in gunnery exercises against surface and air targets. The highlight came on June 12, when the RSN patrol vessel RSS Brave used one of its Mistral surface-to-air missiles to intercept a BQM-74E target drone launched from the dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), knocking down the drone as it was traveling from 260-300 knots at an altitude of 1,000 feet.
Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) pilots flew with their American counterparts in SH-60B Seahawk helicopters for various events during CARAT. The RSAF will fly a variant of the SH-60B, the Sikorsky S-70, from the RSN’s Formidable-class frigates beginning in 2010.
Both navies also worked to increase communications interoperability to a level above previous Singapore-U.S. exercises. The RSN and U.S. Navy exchanged information by transmitting data concerning air, surface and sub-surface tracks via Link 11, a tactical data system which effectively increased the information available to all ships involved. Singapore and U.S. ships also used the Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System (CENTRIXS), designed to support the secure sharing and exchange of information between multinational partners.
An RSAF CH-47 Chinook helicopter conducted deck landing qualifications aboard Harpers Ferry, then took part in the HADR exercise, moving mock casualties to the Harpers Ferry and the RSN tank landing ship RSS Endeavour. Singapore Army soldiers and U.S. Marines came ashore in RSN landing craft during the HADR scenario, with RSN doctors and U.S. Navy hospital corpsmen evaluating mock casualties.
While the task group was at sea, U.S. Coast Guardsmen and Navy divers were training ashore with their Singaporean counterparts. The Coast Guard joined with the RSN and Police Coast Guard in training PCG boarding officers, while Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) One deployed from USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50) to engage in diving operations with the RSN.
Sailors and Marines from Task Group 73.5 – consisting of Harpers Ferry and the guided-missile destroyers USS Chafee (DDG 90) and USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) – also set aside time to visit at-risk children living at Sunbeam Place Children’s Home in Singapore, as well as inviting the children to a tour of Chafee at Changi.
“What we have achieved in CARAT in the South China Sea will pay significant dividends should we be called upon to operate together in any part of the world,” Wellman said.
