Africa Partnership Station: Phoenix Express 2016 - Hellenic Navy Mission Unit
Channel: CNE-CNA/C6F
Date: 2016-05-29

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Participants of Phoenix Express 2016 include Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States, and will have opportunities to enhance expertise in a number of areas on land and ashore.

The NATO Maritime Interdiction Operations Training Center, in Souda Bay, Greece, will host the exercise control group, managing at-sea operations and practice effective information sharing between maritime operation centers throughout the exercise area.

The at-sea portion of the exercise will test North African, European, and U.S. forces’ abilities to address irregullar migration, illicit trafficking, and movement of materials for weapons of mass destruction.

Participating forces will also work together to practice search and rescue procedures for scenarios where vessels are in distress. Specific scenarios will allow the endorsing nations of Tunisia and Morocco to develop capabilities to detect and disrupt the delivery of materials used to build and develop weapons of mass destruction.

While the exercise is facilitated by the U.S. Navy, senior leaders from North African navies have prominent roles in the exercise. A Moroccan officer will oversee the exercise control group; a Tunisian officer will oversee the CMOC; and an Algerian officer will oversee a five-ship surface action group participating in the at-sea phase.

U.S. units participating include the dive and rescue salvage ship USNS Grasp (T-ARS 51). NATO Shipping Center is also scheduled to participate.

Here’s how you can follow along with Phoenix Express 2016. We will file everything under the tag Phoenix Express 2016 but you can also join the conversation on Twitter at @USNavyAfrica, or with the hash tag #PhoenixExpress. You can also register for emails updates and follow us on Facebook.