U.S. Navy
July 21, 2013
Exercise Sea Breeze 2013 Draws to a Close
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jason Howard, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, U.S. 6th Fleet Public Affairs
ODESSA, Ukraine: Exercise Sea Breeze 2013, the 16th iteration of the largest annual multinational maritime exercise in the Black Sea, ended July 20, as representatives from the 14 participating partner nations gathered together for the exercise closing ceremony.
Naval, air, and land forces from participating countries worked together both ashore and at sea from July 8-20 in order to strengthen interoperability…
“The military leadership of the fourteen nations that participated in Sea Breeze know that we can only improve as a cooperative team if we challenge ourselves,” said Capt. James Aiken, exercise deputy director. “Only then can we increase our cooperation and our interoperability as we become familiar with each other’s military operating procedures and practices.”
Much of the exercise focused on maritime interdiction operations as a primary means to enhance maritime security. The other key component was utilizing sea basing to conduct a range of operations ashore such as non-combatant evacuation to humanitarian assistance/disaster relief.
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This year’s Sea Breeze increased in complexity by incorporating more real time operational challenges.
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“I strongly believe we have been successful in continuing to grow our relationships with each other – relationships that, in the 16 years of Sea Breeze exercises, have been built through cooperation, strengthened through partnership, and affirmed through improved interoperability on the seas, over the land, and in the air.”
This year’s participants included Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and U.S., along with France, Libya, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates, as observers.
Sea Breeze 13, co-hosted by the Ukrainian and U.S. navies, aimed to improve maritime safety, security and stability engagements in the Black Sea by enhancing the capabilities of Partnership for Peace and Black Sea regional maritime security forces.
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