Multinational naval exercises welcome in Southeast Asia.

In an effort to increase force interoperability and security in Southeast Asia, the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet participates in a series of hi-lateral exercises with other navies in the region. The planner behind some of these exercises is the Logistics Group, Western Pacific.

Apart from providing logistics support for the 7th Fleet's operational area of 51 million square miles of water, the command's second hat is to facilitate two yearly exercises-called CARAT (cooperation afloat readiness and training) and SEACAT (Southeast Asia cooperation against terrorism). Participants include Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

"We exercise with nations as they want to work with us," said Rear Adm. Kevin Quinn, commander of Comlog Westpac. "For the most part, they really like working with the U.S. Navy."

This year's CARAT started at the beginning of June and will finish in August, as the U.S. Navy cycles through with all participants, said Quinn.

The focus is regional maritime security, a Pacific Command initiative aimed at allowing the various navies to communicate more effectively.

"The whole purpose of this exercise is so that we can help interdict the bad guys that would use the seas for moving weapons of mass destruction aboard ships, moving terrorist operatives or equipment, trafficking of drugs, and other illicit cargos and, very important in this part of the world, piracy," said Quinn.

Traditionally, CARAT includes classic naval exercises, such as maneuvering in formation, anti-surface warfare and firing training. "We shoot at remotely piloted targets," he said. "We also will do some anti-sub warfare exercises and anti-air exercises."

Accompanying these exercises are training lectures in port where sailors learn everything from shipboard damage control, diving and salvage training to public affairs and shipboard security, said Quinn.

"There also is a big ashore phase where we do community relations projects," said Quinn. Some of these projects include fixing up schools and providing healthcare for locals.

The participating navies show a high level of interest. "Each of them varies in their level and the size and complexity," he said. "The vast majority, in fact in every case, wants lectures on things like damage control and force protection. They want to do that full range of exercises, mine warfare, surface and sub-surface air defense. They want to go out and maneuver their ships with our ships and practice those fundamental communications and maneuvering skills."

SEACAT focuses on tracking a potential terrorist vessel, getting position reports and information about it, and then sending a ship to intercept the suspect vessel. Each participating country provides information about the location of that vessel as it tracks through their waters and feeds that data to a U.S. ship, Quinn explained.

For these exercises, the U.S. Navy uses cruisers, destroyers and frigates. For the first time in CARAT, the service is going to have two Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers this year. Amphibious ships and the occasional submarine also participate. Diving salvage ships get some play.

"We have the Coast Guard involved, too, because in order to be effective, in many of these countries, once you get into the territorial waters, it is their version of the Coast Guard or the coastal police," who would perform interdiction, Quinn said.

Whenever possible, the Navy tries to bring the Marine Corps. "That goes over very well in these countries, because they each have some sort of Marine Corps or some sort of land component that they want to practice and train with our Marines," Quinn said. This year, however, the Marines won't be able to participate.

The participating countries also show considerable interest in special warfare. "Many of them have similar types of special forces, and they want to talk things like tactics, procedures and equipment," Quinn said.

The most basic type of interoperability between the U.S. Navy and the region's forces comes from radio communications, said Quinn. "You find that, unless you get out to sea and start talking on the radio to each other, and using standard terminology and standard procedures, it is very hard to work together," he said. The U.S. Navy provides other forces with equipment that would allow them to receive the Navy's Link 11. "it really makes the exercise more effective," he said.

An up-and-coming global architecture system called CENTRIX-short for combined enterprise regional information exchange-already has been used by 46 nations participating in operations in the Arabian Gulf. Both Central and Pacific Commands are using this system that allows U.S. forces to share information with allies.

"What this system allows a ship to do is to come up basically into an Internet environment.... They can get all the background intelligence information that has been put in there. They can get copies of all the operational briefings for an exercise or an operation," he said.

The system allows them to go into chat rooms where they can share or clarify information about an operation, Quinn said. "The beauty of it is that it is really not that complicated. You need a computer with commercial off-the-shelf software, you need a Cisco router and you need a piece of crypto equipment, which we provide, so that it is all secure," he said. The system is being used in CARAT for the first time this year.

--Roxanna Tiron