In support of Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH), Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (SWCC) attached to Naval Special Warfare Group 4 (NSW4), participated in a Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) event in Uruguay May 15 to June 15.
This was the first time a training event of this scope has been conducted with Uruguay and NSW in about 20 years. Although, there have been other, smaller training venues such as UNITAS, a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored naval exercise, within that time period.
These specialized U.S. military personnel had the opportunity to sharpen their skills and swap techniques during the month-long JCET with the Uruguayan Sección de Reconocimiento (SECRON) of Fusileros Navales (FUSNA), Uruguayan Coast Guard and Special Operations Police. During the four weeks of training, they worked on honing their special tactics techniques in order to increase their ability to conduct missions more effectively. By working together, they were able to learn from each other and function as a more proficient unit.
“We hope that they go back to their respective units and they show their guys what we trained on, or at least the basics so that everybody has a working knowledge of what everyone does and that way they can operate better,” said a Petty Officer Special Operations Medic.
According to the executive officer of the FUSNA, the main goal he wanted was that his men gain a better grasp of how to perform counter illicit trafficking, which is a big part of their mission.