Nigeria Next Stop for APS Nashville

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Nigeria Next Stop for APS Nashville
March 18, 2009
Navy News

LAGOS, Nigeria - The Africa Partnership Station (APS) Nashville team, consisting of USS Nashville (LPD 13) Sailors with a staff of Destroyer Squadron 60 and international maritime professionals, arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, March 17 for the third African port visit of its five-month deployment.

The second "banner" deployment of its kind, APS Nashville has brought together an international team of experts in a variety of military areas and a handful of civilian fields such as fisheries management and environmental stewardship.

"I am very happy to be back in Lagos," Thebaud said, "and very much looking forward to continuing to partner with our Nigerian colleagues on maritime safety and security issues. The three Nigerian Navy officers on our staff have been of huge benefit in preparing for this visit, and the hospitality of the Nigerian Navy upon our arrival has been wonderful."

APS Nashville focuses on traditional mariner training in areas such as engineering maintenance, small boat handling, and shipboard medicine and damage control, but also conducts workshops and seminars pertaining to variety of specialty skills, all of which fit into the goal of enhancing maritime safety and security along the coast of West and Central Africa. Those training sessions, developed in collaboration with Nigerian officials, are the most important aspect of the APS deployment, said Nigeria Navy Cmdr. Enoch Bello, the APS deputy for maritime engagement.

"We are very happy to bring APS to back to Nigeria," Bello said. "This international program allows us the opportunity to select the training we receive, so there is no doubt that what we are going to do here will be helpful to us. The training will make our sailors more knowable and skilled in their jobs within our Navy."


Rest of Africom article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/navy-news/nigeria-next-stop-for-aps-nashville.html?col=1186032311124