|
U.S. and Royal Malaysian Navy deep sea divers ready themselves for a familiarization dive with U.S. equipment in preparation for a real combined salvage dive later. Photo by PH1 (NAC) Spike Call, USN |
 |
"Positioning the wedge is important. If you place it the wrong way, it will buckle under the pressure of the incoming water. You then have to start all over again," observed First Warrant Officer, G.F. Oon, of the Singapore Navy. "They learn what works and what doesn’t right here in the trainer," said Capt. Thiong. "I saw sailors and their [American counterparts] working side by side, water pounding on them as they try to stop the flooding."
Singapore was the last stop in the six-phase CARAT exercise. During Singapore’s closing ceremonies, CARAT commanders outlined accomplishments and lessons learned. Capt. Natale said, "Both U.S. naval forces and the Singapore Navy can look back on CARAT 2000 Singapore with a sense of pride and accomplishment."
"The U.S. and Singapore forces have worked very hard to move one notch up on the scale of interoperability," observed Singapore Navy Lt. Col. Chew Men Leong.
Addressing future improvements in CARAT 2001, Lt. Col. Chew said, "Both sides will work to increase the scope and complexity of the exercise, bringing greater training value to both navies."
