In the News: SPS in Nicaragua

Southern Partnership Station Arrives in Nicaragua

Release Date: 2/17/2009 12:49:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel Ball, Southern Partnership Station Public Affairs

EL BLUFF, Nicaragua (NNS) -- High speed vessel Swift (HSV 2) arrived in Nicaragua Feb. 16 for the first of two instructional evolutions during Southern Partnership Station (SPS).

SPS is an annual deployment of various specialty platforms to the U.S. Southern Command area of focus in the Caribbean and Latin America. The mission goal is primarily information sharing with navies, coast guards, and civilian services throughout the region. SPS is comprised of Navy training and support teams, Marine Corps training teams, foreign naval officers and civilian contract mariners on a Military Sealift Command platform.

Training teams from Navy Expeditionary Training Command, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Marine Corps Training and Advisory Group began their courses today with students from the Nicaraguan Navy. The courses provide instruction in maritime interdiction officer, the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, small boat maintenance and repair, small boat basic coxswain skills and port security.

Training began today in classrooms set up on Swift and at the local military facilities in El Bluff, Nicaragua.

"I am the lead instructor for thirteen students in small boat maintenance and repair," said Construction Mechanic 1st Class Kyle Taylor, from Axtell, Texas. "We cover outboard motor and inboard engine repair, fiberglass and metal hull repair, electrical systems troubleshooting and lower unit repair. By the time the students are done, they will know the theories behind the course and they will have repaired two of their own outboard motors."

The visit to Nicaragua comes two days after the conclusion of the second SPS visit to Panama. In two visits, Swift transited the Panama Canal four times and spent nearly five weeks in Panama City. During that time, SPS training teams instructed 188 Panamanian service members in a wide array of topics including junior and senior leadership, waterborne security, basic coxswain, small boat repair, martial arts, nonlethal weapons, port security, combat lifesaving and armed sentry.

Nicaragua is the seventh stop for SPS. After Nicaragua, SPS is scheduled to visit the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Colombia and Jamaica.

The mission is coordinated through U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet (NAVSO/ 4th Fleet) with partner nations to meet their specific training requests. As the Naval Component Command of SOUTHCOM, NAVSO's mission is to direct U.S. Naval Forces operating in the Caribbean, Central and South American regions and interact with partner nation navies within the maritime environment. Various operations include counter-illicit trafficking, Theater Security Cooperation, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, military-to-military interaction and bilateral and multinational training.

Fourth Fleet is the numbered fleet assigned to NAVSO, exercising operational control of assigned forces in the SOUTHCOM area of focus.