Photo By Matthew Montgomery | LIMMASOL, Cyprus – Civilian mariners and embarked military detachment personnel from...... read more read more
LIMMASOL, Cyprus – Personnel from USNS Yuma (T-EPF 8), a Military Sealift Command Fast Transport vessel, recently participated in a Republic of Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Center-led exercise.
Exercise Argonaut 2019, designed to develop the individual and collective maritime proficiencies of participating nations in search and rescue and non-combatant evacuation operations, provided Yuma a chance to test and polish real-world applicable skills in dynamic training environment. Additionally, the military detachment aboard the ship and civilian crew were able to conduct community outreach activities, promote mutual understanding among partner nations and foster cooperation and interoperability.
“In addition to the actual at sea portion of the exercise, we also conducted good relationship building with the Cypriots,” said Navy Cdr. Greg Jonic, USNS Yuma MILDET officer in charge. “We did a Community Relations event where 14 of our sailors went out in Limmasol, Cyprus, and painted and cleaned a children’s park. We were also able to provide tours of the ship during the day and host a sunset reception for government officials from partner nations.”
Participation in the exercise is a demonstration of the U.S. Navy’s continued commitment to strengthening strategic partnerships in the European region. In addition to the community relations activities, Yuma was able to practice real-world search and rescue (SAR) training scenarios with air assets from the Cypriot and British militaries.
“What we’re doing is extremely relevant because it’s engaging the entire ship-board team in SAR patterns and practicing how we would rescue people from the water,” said David Gommo, USNS Yuma captain. “The Cypriots and British teams were able to repel down, secure the simulated body and return back to their helicopters in under 10 minutes. They were really well trained and the entire evolution represented very successful day and night-time training evolutions.”
| Date Taken: | 06.11.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.11.2019 08:09 |
| Story ID: | 326566 |
| Location: | LIMMASOL, CY |
| Web Views: | 486 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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