The Israeli and US navies completed a joint drill last week in the Mediterranean
Sea.
The exercise, dubbed Reliant Mermaid, focused on search and rescue
maneuvers and involved helicopter landings on vessels, but also live
fire.
The US Navy stressed that the exercise was not associated with any
real world events and was planned long in advance.
“This was a successful
exercise which strengthened the bonds between the US and Israeli navies and
increased our ability to work together as a team,” said Cmdr. David
A.
Bretz, commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer, the USS
Jason Dunham.
“The Jason Dunham team was proud to be a part of Reliant
Mermaid 2012. We’ve enjoyed our time in Israel and the valuable experience of
working with our partners in the Israeli navy. It was really great to get to see
the differences between our navy and the US,” said Israel Navy Capt. Niv
Bar-Ilan.
“We learned a lot about how the US Navy operates differently
and how the sailors all have individual jobs onboard. It was great and we are
very appreciative of the Jason Dunham crew’s hospitality.”
In the past,
the Turkish Navy took part in the joint annual maritime safety drills, but has
pulled out of the exercise since diplomatic relations with Israel collapsed
following the Gaza flotilla incident in 2010.