The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Underwood (FFG 36) is representing the U.S. Navy during both UNITAS Pacific and Atlantic.
Naval forces from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the United Kingdom and the United States kicked off the Atlantic Phase of UNITAS 2012 Sept. 17. Thirteen warships
are taking part in the training.
The multi-national naval forces will conduct operations in Key West and in the Western Caribbean through Sept. 28, 2012. UNITAS 2012 is designed to train participating forces in a variety of maritime scenarios to test command and control of forces at sea, while operating as a multinational force to provide the maximum opportunity to improve interoperability.
Partnership of the Americas
Included as part of UNITAS Atlantic is the field-training exercise known as Partnership of the Americas being conducted at Camp Blanding in Starke, Fla. The 13-day training exercise began Sept. 3 and is led by U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South.
Partner Nation forces from the following countries are participating in UNITAS-Partnership of the Americas 2012; Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.
Training includes a ship-to-land movement portion of the exercise, military operations in urban terrain (MOUT), and the multiple live-fire ranges.
UNITAS Pacific (May 2012)
Peru hosted the two-week exercise which included navies from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the United States. Training included maritime interdiction operations, counter-piracy events, air, surface, and anti-submarine warfare.
Background
UNITAS was first started in 1959 and has been held every year since. This year marks the 53rd iteration of this long running exercise. UNITAS exercises are conducted annually in Atlantic and Pacific waters around South America. UNITAS enhances friendly, mutual cooperation and understanding between participating navies by developing interoperability in naval operations among the nations of the region.