US, RI Carat Joint Exercise Concludes

Jakarta (Antara) - The United States and Indonesia held the closing ceremony for the Cooperation Afloat Readiness And Training (CARAT) joint naval drills here on Wednesday, according to the US Embassy here on its official web site. US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Kristen Bauer delivered remarks along with the Chief of the Indonesian Navy Admiral Marsetio. CARAT is the largest bilateral engagement between the US and Indonesian Navies and is designed to enhance cooperation between our two countries. The annual exercise advances bilateral cooperation on shared security priorities, which include maritime security, combating terrorism, and disaster response. In addition to joint training activities, the sailors participated in community outreach activities including playing soccer with students from the SDN Marunda in North Jakarta. CARAT Indonesia 2013 included several different training components with approximately 1,200 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps personnel, three ships: USS MOMSEN, USS TORTUGA, USNS SAFEGUARD, and a P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft. It was reported earlier that on the Indonesia side, approximately 800 Indonesian Navy and Marine Corps personnel will participate in CARAT from: KRI OSWALD SIAHAAN, KRI SULTAN ISKANDAR MUDA, CN212 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, TNI-AL Western Fleet Aviation, Medical, Diver and other units, and KORMAR Marine Troops II. CARAT has been conducted individually between the US and its various regional partners for the last 19 years. In addition to Indonesia, individual exercises are also conducted with Malaysia, Cambodia, Philippines, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Brunei. (*)