7th Fleet, Indonesian Navy Leaders Share Knowledge On board USS Blue Ridge

Jakarta ★ Senior leaders from the U.S. 7th Fleet and Indonesian Navies met for a professional exchange of ideas in a variety of technical and tactical topics on board the 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) March 26.

The meetings, or "staff talks," included professional dialogue between the leadership of the two staffs and are designed to share knowledge and develop methodologies for joint responses to any contingency within Indo-Asia-Pacific. The exchange included discussion of maritime patrol and reconnaissance, maritime domain awareness, mine warfare, navigation, engineering and medical training.

In addition to knowledge sharing, the Indonesia navy, known as the TNI-AL, and U.S. 7th Fleet participate in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training and other multilateral military exercises such as Komodo. Both exercises serve as models of how Indonesia and U.S. navies can cooperate and work together to address shared security concerns. Examples include humanitarian assistance and disaster relief events, maritime security and improving communication procedures.

"It is an honor for USS Blue Ridge to visit Indonesia," said Cmdr. Dwiyana, an Indonesian officer. "This staff talk will further the understanding and partnership between Indonesia and the 7th fleet."

The U.S. 7th Fleet intent for the staff talks is to increase cooperation and interoperability through the facilitation of bilateral and multilateral military exchanges and dialogue. It provides a forum partnered navies' subject matter experts to meet and discuss different aspects of their mission objectives and their responsibilities.

"The goal of staff talks is to have an open discussion with our counter parts from other countries in an effort to strengthen the partnership and cooperation between our navies," said Lt. Kevin Zweirko, 7th Fleet's Indonesian desk officer. "The staff talks went very well with Indonesia, certainly helping in this effort and as always it was good to see our partners face to face and build professional friendships."

Blue Ridge and embarked staff are in Indonesia for a scheduled port visit during a spring patrol operating forward throughout the South China Sea, building maritime partnerships and conducting security and stability operations.

  ★ navy