thedrifter
06-05-08, 07:45 AM
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay —In keeping with the "in every clime and place” mantra, four Marines of the 24th Marine Regiment recently boarded the USS Farragut and departed the “sunny tropic scenes” of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, for the nearby shores of Montevideo, Uruguay, and in the interim, made history.
The four-Marine team marks the first time in nearly 50 years that Marines have embarked and disembarked a U.S. Navy destroyer to or from foreign shores.
“I don’t think any of us realized the significance of our presence aboard Farragut until someone started researching the last time Marines were actually on a destroyer. We were all excited to be part of Navy/Marine Corps history,” explained the assistant operations officer for the 24th Marines, Maj. Bill Sablan, 37, from Kansas City, Mo.
The historic voyage, seemingly choreographed by an unseen maestro, took place near Latin America, during Partnership of the Americas 2008 (POA 08), an exercise in support of Caribbean, Central and South American nations, and unfolded on the decks of the USS Farragut, a ship named after the son of Hispanic Immigrants from Spain and one of the greatest admirals in U.S. naval history.
Admiral David Farragut gained fame for his exploits while in command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. In 1864, Rear Admiral Farragut rallied his men to victory, shouting, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” and led all but one of his 18 ships safely through the channel to win the Battle of Mobile Bay, one of the most celebrated victories in American naval history.
Choreography aside, the 24th Marine Regiment had a mission and an exercise to complete.
“The purpose of this exercise was to conduct a subject matter expert exchange with the Uruguayan Fusileros Navales as well as integrated training with the U.S. Navy enroute to Uruguay,” said Sablan.
The Uruguayan Marine Corps, Cuerpo de Fusileros Navales, is a battalion-sized unit consisting of four company-size brigades.
Sablan explained the training is designed to enhance security cooperation, one of the primary goals of POA 08.
"The overall idea is to enhance the capability sets of everyone involved in the training," Sablan said. "We'll take turns throughout the training, showing each other our different tactics, techniques, and procedures. This type of face-to-face exchange is designed to build camaraderie between partner nations."
The Marine detachment also provided martial arts training to ship’s Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO) teams including Marines from 3rd Force Recon Company out of Mobile, Alabama, and assisted Farragut personnel MIO teams in providing training to a contingent of Uruguayan Navy and Marine officers.
Training included gear and equipment familiarization and a demonstration of Navy and Marine Corps boarding tactics.
“The training aboard ship went extremely well and I think both the Marines and Sailors got a lot out of the interaction,” said Master Sgt. Jim Dinwoodie, 39, from Rhode Island.
Although the entire Uruguayan Marine Corps is the size of a battalion, and its Army numbers about 14,000 active duty members, Uruguay provides support to United Nations commitments in Haiti and the Sinai Peninsula among other peacekeeping missions making the training provided by the 24th Marines timely and welcomed.
POA is an annual U.S. Marine Corps Forces South multi-national exercise in support of the Theater Security Cooperation Plan and UNITAS, a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored, multi-national naval exercise executed by U. S. Naval Forces Southern Command. POA 08 focuses on interoperability and theater security cooperation events, at sea and on shore. U.S. maritime forces work jointly with partner nation governmental forces throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America to develop the relationships needed to ensure maritime security in the region.
The four-Marine team marks the first time in nearly 50 years that Marines have embarked and disembarked a U.S. Navy destroyer to or from foreign shores.
“I don’t think any of us realized the significance of our presence aboard Farragut until someone started researching the last time Marines were actually on a destroyer. We were all excited to be part of Navy/Marine Corps history,” explained the assistant operations officer for the 24th Marines, Maj. Bill Sablan, 37, from Kansas City, Mo.
The historic voyage, seemingly choreographed by an unseen maestro, took place near Latin America, during Partnership of the Americas 2008 (POA 08), an exercise in support of Caribbean, Central and South American nations, and unfolded on the decks of the USS Farragut, a ship named after the son of Hispanic Immigrants from Spain and one of the greatest admirals in U.S. naval history.
Admiral David Farragut gained fame for his exploits while in command of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. In 1864, Rear Admiral Farragut rallied his men to victory, shouting, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” and led all but one of his 18 ships safely through the channel to win the Battle of Mobile Bay, one of the most celebrated victories in American naval history.
Choreography aside, the 24th Marine Regiment had a mission and an exercise to complete.
“The purpose of this exercise was to conduct a subject matter expert exchange with the Uruguayan Fusileros Navales as well as integrated training with the U.S. Navy enroute to Uruguay,” said Sablan.
The Uruguayan Marine Corps, Cuerpo de Fusileros Navales, is a battalion-sized unit consisting of four company-size brigades.
Sablan explained the training is designed to enhance security cooperation, one of the primary goals of POA 08.
"The overall idea is to enhance the capability sets of everyone involved in the training," Sablan said. "We'll take turns throughout the training, showing each other our different tactics, techniques, and procedures. This type of face-to-face exchange is designed to build camaraderie between partner nations."
The Marine detachment also provided martial arts training to ship’s Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO) teams including Marines from 3rd Force Recon Company out of Mobile, Alabama, and assisted Farragut personnel MIO teams in providing training to a contingent of Uruguayan Navy and Marine officers.
Training included gear and equipment familiarization and a demonstration of Navy and Marine Corps boarding tactics.
“The training aboard ship went extremely well and I think both the Marines and Sailors got a lot out of the interaction,” said Master Sgt. Jim Dinwoodie, 39, from Rhode Island.
Although the entire Uruguayan Marine Corps is the size of a battalion, and its Army numbers about 14,000 active duty members, Uruguay provides support to United Nations commitments in Haiti and the Sinai Peninsula among other peacekeeping missions making the training provided by the 24th Marines timely and welcomed.
POA is an annual U.S. Marine Corps Forces South multi-national exercise in support of the Theater Security Cooperation Plan and UNITAS, a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored, multi-national naval exercise executed by U. S. Naval Forces Southern Command. POA 08 focuses on interoperability and theater security cooperation events, at sea and on shore. U.S. maritime forces work jointly with partner nation governmental forces throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America to develop the relationships needed to ensure maritime security in the region.