U.S. Navy completes participation in Oman-led naval exercise

FromU.S.NavalForcesCentral

CommandPublicAffairs

MANAMA, Bahrain U.S. naval forces completed participation in a weeklong Oman-led naval exercise in and off the coast ofOman,May11,withforcesfromFranceand theUnitedKingdom.

The five-day exercise, called Khunjar Hadd, focused on mine countermeasures, explosiveordnancedisposal,maritimeinterdictionandothercombinednavaloperations PersonnelfromaU.S.5thFleetexpeditionary minecountermeasuresunitparticipatedwith crewmembers from mine countermeasures shipUSSDextrous(MCM13)andaU.S.Navy P-8APoseidonmaritimepatrolaircraft.

“Training alongside the incredible forces of Oman’s Royal Navy has been an invaluable experience for our aircraft, ships and divers,” said United Kingdom Royal Navy Capt. Derek McKnight, deputy commander for Task Force 52, which oversees U.S. 5th Fleet’sminecountermeasuresmissioninthe Middle East “I have no doubt that opportunities such as this increase our effectiveness andenableustoachievesharedobjectives.”

Theexerciseaimedtostrengthenrelationships and enhance interoperability among participating military forces It began May 7, the same day U.S. 5th Fleet hosted Oman’s top naval commander at the U.S. Navy base inBahrain Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of

U.S.NavalForcesCentralCommand,U.S.5th FleetandCombinedMaritimeForces hosted CommanderoftheRoyalNavyofOmanRear Adm.SaifbinNasserbinMohsinAlRahbiand other senior Omani officials for discussions onstrengtheningregionalmaritimesecurity cooperation Cooper later traveled to Oman and embarked Royal Navy of Oman patrol vessel RNOV Al Rahmani (Q41) to observe theexercise.

U.S. 5th Fleet’s area of operations encompassesapproximately2.5millionsquaremiles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal and Strait of BabalMandeb