U.S.

Navy trains Djiboutians in Maritime Interdiction Operations

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (AW/SW) Nathan Laird

CJTF-HOA Public Affairs

DJIBOUTI (July 15, 2010) – Thirty members of Djibouti’s defense forces graduated from a
Boarding Team Operations course, conducted by a mobile training team from the U.S. Navy’s
Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training Command (MCAST) July 15.

“The main goal is to add mission capability to elements of the Djiboutian military,” said Navy Lt.
Charles Egli, Mobile Training Team leader and Maritime Interception Operations Team Officer.

The two-week long course covered basic boarding and inspection procedures in support of
Maritime Interception Operations (MIO), and included safety, physical training/close quarters
battle (CQB), vessel boarding, basic weapons handling and employment, shipboard inspection
procedures, tactical movements, document inspection, mission planning and tactical
communications.

Lt. Salah Abdi Damaleh, Djiboutian gendarmerie, spoke about the importance of the training.
“This training is very valuable for the port of Djibouti, and I thank Lieutenant Egli and his staff
for conducting this training.”

The students participating included members from the Djiboutian navy, gendarmerie (police),
garde cotes (coast guard) and civilians employed by the port of Djibouti.

“We hope this class helps to set the stage for future training missions, and to really build that
partnership with Djibouti’s defense forces,” said Egli. “We’re all on the same plane here, and
we all want to build toward a better tomorrow.”

MCAST, stationed at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Va., deploys mobile training teams all
over the world to establish and enhance relations between military forces, governmental and
nongovernmental organizations and the civilian populace.