US MSC Chartered 'Swift' on African Partnership Mission
Military Sealift Command-chartered High Speed Vessel 'Swift' begins week of Africa Partnership Station (APS) in Port of Douala, Cameroon.
Swift's Military Detachment Officer-in-Charge Lt.Cmdr. Brad Fillius met with the various leaders of the commands and departments that will be impacted the most by the APS events scheduled for the week.
"These visits remind us of the importance of the sea; paying attention to the sea is a new way of thinking for us," said Capt. Lucien Dzou, commander Douala Naval Base. "The training is great too, because when you train one man, you train many more, so APS has been really great for us."
The visits allowed for an exchange of information on the APS program which includes the classroom instruction that began Monday with courses on port security, Marine Corps martial arts, non-commissioned officer leadership, and maritime domain awareness and oil platform protection classes. All the classes seek to build partnerships and knowledge to confront the emerging issues a nation like Cameroon faces.
APS is an international security cooperation initiative intended to strengthen global maritime partnerships through training and collaborative activities to improve maritime safety and security in Africa.
HSV 2 Swift is an Australian built, privately-owned, privately-operated vessel that has been outfitted for the U.S. Navy. Swift is manned by contract mariners who operate the ship, navigation, and engineering, while the military detachment oversees theater security cooperation efforts.