SOUTHCOM Commander Visits 4th Fleet During PANAMAX 2010

From U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs

MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- Commander, U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet (C2F) and director of operations for USSOUTHCOM visited U.S. 4th Fleet (C4F) headquarters in Mayport, Fla., Aug. 25.

Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, USSOUTHCOM; Vice Adm. Daniel Holloway, C2F; and Coast Guard Rear Adm. Steven Ratti, director of operations for USSOUTHCOM, toured PANAMAX facilities, met partner nation participants and attended a daily mission update brief for PANAMAX 2010 in the C4F conference room.

Fraser commented after the briefing that exercises such as PANAMAX 2010 are as realistic as possible and are structured that way to ensure everyone comes away with a better appreciation for training.

"It is great to be here in Mayport, all of you are doing great work and learning at all levels... on an international level, this training makes a big difference and helps us all prepare for the future," said Fraser.

Fraser told allies and partner nation participants that they were key to the PANAMAX mission and encouraged them to provide feedback on training.

Rear Adm. Vic Guillory, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (COMUSNAVSO) and C4F, ended the morning's activities with a hosted lunch with Fraser and the PANAMAX partner nation directors.

PANAMAX 2010 is the one of the largest multinational exercise and focuses on the defense of the Panama Canal. It is being conducted to exercise a variety of responses to any request from the government of Panama to protect and guarantee safe passage of traffic through the Panama Canal, ensure its neutrality and respect national sovereignty. PANAMAX 2010 consists of participation from 2,000 personnel and 18 nations.

COMUSNAVSO is the naval component command for USSOUTHCOM and is responsible for all naval personnel and assets in the C4F Area of Responsibility. COMUSNAVSO conducts a variety of missions in support of the U.S. Maritime Strategy, including theater security cooperation, relationship building, humanitarian assistance and foreign disaster response, community relations and counter-illicit trafficking operations.