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News | May 15, 2019

Southern Partnership Station 2019 Begins

By Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Hendricks

MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) – The U.S. Navy has deployed adaptive force packages (AFPs) in support of Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2019 to the Caribbean, Central and South America to conduct subject matter expert exchanges from May to October 2019.

SPS is an annual series of U.S. Navy deployments focused on exchanges with regional partner nation militaries and security forces. This year’s deployment will visit Barbados, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Peru to work alongside those nations’ military forces, police forces, civilian health professionals, and other governmental agencies. 

SPS 19 will build upon innovation and the AFP employment model by conducting training and subject matter expert exchanges to improve capacity in medical, dive operations, engineering and explosive ordnance disposal.

The AFPs are separate units comprised of military personnel from Naval Construction Group 2, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 2, Mobile Diving and Salvaging Unit 2, U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and Navy Public Affairs Support Element.

The deployment will focus on enhancing cooperative partnerships with regional maritime services and improving operational readiness for all participants. Regional partnerships reflect our enduring promise to one another for a cooperative, prosperous, and secure hemisphere. Assigned units will focus on locally-identified needs to include port and harbor security, health service systems, and humanitarian response infrastructure. 

Southern Partnership Station is part of U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative and reflects the United States’ enduring promise of friendship, partnership, and solidarity with the Caribbean, Central and South America. U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet is committed to supporting the efforts of partner nations to increase institutional capacity and regional collaboration for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief – one of the greatest challenges facing the region.

For more information and news from U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. 4th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/cusns/, https://www.facebook.com/NAVSOUS4THFLT, and https://twitter.com/NAVSOUS4THFLT.

COMMANDER'S PRIORITIES