RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (July 13, 2009) -- Approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors from seven countries came together in the opening ceremony for Exercise Southern Exchange 2009 (SE09), hosted by the Corpo de Fuzileiros Navais (CFN) Amphibious Division at the Governor’s Island Naval Complex here.
The multinational combined exercise is meant to train various countries’ forces together to effectively learn to operate as one force, as well as to bolster overall stability and security throughout the region. The countries participating this year are the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Uruguay.
“The goal of this year’s iteration of Southern Exchange is to provide opportunities for the participating nations to come together and join efforts to enhance regional security,” said Brig. Gen. Mark W. Bircher, Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South in a previous media release. “Southern Exchange provides a unique, military-to-military opportunity for participating countries to strengthen ties and improve collaboration and camaraderie between partner nations’ military forces.”
The ceremony, in which all participants took part, opened with a speech by Vice Almirante (FN) Carlos Alfredo Vicente Leitão, the Brazilian Marine Fleet Forces Commanding Officer. “I want to express my deep satisfaction in receiving you at the amphibious division of the Brazilian Marine Corps and recognize the dedication of those that have worked to make these events occur,” said Leitão.
Afterward, the row of the nations’ flags was raised simultaneously, symbolizing the official start of SE09. Seven countries will work as one over the next three weeks, learning from each other and training together.
During this two-phased exercise, Law of War and Human Rights classes will be taught daily, and training will be taught by various experts from each participating nation.
Training will focus on fundamentals that are common amongst all Marine Corps' throughout the Americas: convoy operations, first aid, water survival, amphibious training, martial arts, patrolling, and checkpoint operations in order to enhance each nation’s peacekeeping and humanitarian disaster relief capabilities, should the need arise.
Phase two will culminate with a three-day final peace-keeping exercise in which participants will showcase the lessons learned and seize the opportunity to utilize the mission-focused knowledge and expertise shared amongst each other during the initial phase.
A successful Southern Exchange will enable participants to return to their respective nations to further train and share their experiences and lessons learned with their colleagues.
Through this collaborative sharing of mission-focused knowledge and expertise, each participating country will be able to improve its own core capabilities in what it considers key mission areas resulting in enhanced regional security.
With the exercise now underway, the next three weeks are slated to show examples of strength and skill from all nations collaborating together.