Cutlass Express 2022 Curtain officially falls on joint naval exercise |19 February 2022
Ms DeBaere addressing the gathering
An official ceremony was organised yesterday to mark the end of the International Maritime and Cutlass Express Exercise aimed at assessing and improving combined maritime law enforcement capacity and promote national and regional security in East Africa.
During the closing ceremony, held at the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) base at Ile Perseverance, mementoes were presented to participating countries and partners.
The maritime multi-lateral regional military exercise in its eleventh edition and which started on February 7, 2022, is also to increase interoperability between the United States (US), Africa, and international partners. The aim is to assess the capability to conduct operational planning in a multi-international environment, tactical capability to conduct maritime safety and security operations, utilisation of existing regional framework to conduct maritime security operations, maritime domain awareness capability with respect to equipment, infrastructure and standard operating procedures, information sharing capabilities and procedures and effective use of rule of law during maritime operations.
The training is for the participating nations to test their abilities to detect or disrupt illicit trafficking, piracy, illegal fishing, as well as search and rescue situations in port and at sea.
The exercise, the largest naval training exercise in the Indian Ocean, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command (Africom) and conducted by the US Naval Forces Africa (Navaf), saw the participation of our local coast guard, air force, special forces including from participating countries, Comoros, Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya and exercise planners and facilitators from the US, United Kingdom, Canada and from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The exercise began with an in-port training period followed by sea scenarios and concluded with a senior leadership symposium.
Present at the official closing ceremony yesterday were the Cief of Defence Forces, Brigadier Michael Rosette; chargée d’affaires from the embassy of the United States of America based in Mauritius, Judes Debaere; commander of SCG, Colonel Jean Atala; members of the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) defence council; senior officers; officers and international participants and partners.
In her opening remarks, Ms Debaere said Cutlass exercise, which has been in occurrence for the past ten years, has not only helped in securing the waters of the Western Indian Ocean (one of the busiest trading routes) but also reminds us of the intangible attributes required to assure maritime security: vigilance, sacrifice, and partnership, given that transitional threats still remain in the region, affecting global commerce and security.
“Vigilance because we know threats remain and it is necessary to train for these threats. Sacrifice because our valued time, resources, and efforts are devoted to this exercise, and partnership, which is a foundational aspect of this exercise. Collaboration between nations and entities forms the backbone of this exercise and is the reason for its continued success,” said Ms DeBaere, who thanked partner nations and international organisations that participated in Cutlass Express.
Chargée d’affaires DeBaere called on the participants to continue to develop the partnership, take the lessons learnt, foster relationships and seek out new ways to cooperate across the region.
She thanked the country for the hospitality, the international partners and organisations who participated in the exercise, and to everyone who chose to serve their country’s armed forces, she described, entail lots of sacrifices.
“Without your help, this exercise will not have been possible. Your participation and collaboration were instrumental to this exercise and directly contributed to its success,” chargée d’affaires DeBaere said.
For his part, Brigadier Rosette said that our country and SDF remain committed in its leadership role, and in doing its fair share in ensuring that our waters and the region remain safe and secure; hence our continued engagement and commitment at both national and regional level and to continually commit to such exercises.
“Seychelles Defence Forces will continue to contribute in the planning, organisation and execution of the exercises, and to be good host, offering our facilities and limited resources to facilitate the exercise, something that we will continue to do to the best of our abilities,” Brigadier Rosette said.
Brigadier Rosette said that he was very satisfied with the running of the exercise that has now come at its peak and bears true evidence that the regional countries are more than ever ready to work together for a common cause.
He noted that the last filed exercise he attended at sea on Thursday, through the execution of the vessel boarding exercises, furthermore displays that the exercise is continually improving, and getting more complex and realistic with time.
“I urge all participants to keep on practicing and implementing what have been learnt during these two weeks, so that it eventually contributes to solving real-life issues whenever the need arises,” he said.
Brigadier Rosette thanked the local forces, staff, international participants and planners towards the successful organisation and conduct of the exercise.
He also thanked the international partners for choosing Seychelles to conduct the exercise.
“We are looking forward for the next Cutlass Express in 2023 and hoping the same spirit will prevail but with larger participation of the regional countries,” Brigadier Rosette said.
The exercise saw for the first time the participation of the flagship of Mauritius, CGS Barracuda, which is also the largest ship participating in the exercise, along with a NCG Dornier aircraft, supported by SCG ships, Le Vigilant and Etoile.
Patrick Joubert
Photos by Joena Meme
