CNO, Peers Discuss ‘Common Challenges’

A panel of top naval officers from six nations joined Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft to emphasize the importance of their global partnership, during an April 13 panel discussion held by the Navy League of the United States. “We all face some very clear common challenges around the world, keeping this global economy thriving as we keep the sea lines open,” said Greenert, speaking at the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space Exposition in Oxon Hill, Md. French Chief of Naval Staff Bernard Rogel mentioned the 3,500 sailors his nation has deployed in the Indian Ocean, conducting missions such as air strikes against ISIS targets. Vice Adm. T.W. Barrett of the Australian navy talked how his navy, representing a relatively small country, nonetheless is responsible for search-and-rescue operations in 54 million square miles of water. Adm. Tomohisa Takei, the chief of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, and Rear-Adm. Lai Chung Han, chief of Singapore’s navy, discussed the importance of providing security to the important Pacific Ocean trade routes. Rear-Adm. Alexandra Mirsu of the Romanian navy discussed the heightened tensions in the Black Sea, intensified by Russia’s recent seizure of Crimea from Ukraine. Adm. Hernando Willis Velez, commander of the Colombian navy, pointed to significant inroads involving seizures of illegal drugs. Zukunft alluded to perhaps the only “good news” story relating to U.S.-Russian relations – the cooperation that takes place between the two countries’ Coast Guards in patrolling the waters around the Arctic and Bering Sea.