By Prashanth Parameswaran
The Diplomat talks with Rear Admiral Charlie Williams about the future prospects for U.S. exercises and America’s presence.
Rear Admiral Charlie Williams is the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet’s Task Force 73. Based in Singapore, he helps plan, organize and support the execution of key U.S.-led maritime exercises in the Asia-Pacific.
He recently spoke with The Diplomat’s associate editor Prashanth Parameswaran about the current state of and future prospects for these U.S. exercises and American presence in the region more generally. An edited version of that interview follows.
To begin, can you give us a general sense of some of the exercises that the United States conducts with its allies and partners, including CARAT and SEACAT?
We have multiple opportunities for engagement with partners and allies throughout the course of the year. One of the principal vehicles we use is our Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) series. As you know, we have been doing that series of exercises now for 21 years; we’re in the 21st year right now. Originally it had six nations that we did the exercises with, we have expanded now to ten – really nine CARAT and then we do a naval engagement activity in Vietnam which is very similar to CARAT; just a different name.
Those exercises are done in company with our partner nations in a way that we work together to figure out what are the things we’re going to work toward. And that’s based on their desires, their capacity and also of course what are our goals in the exercise. So, the great thing about this exercise is that it allows for momentum, it allows for coming back and making the exercise more complex on a year to year basis. We’re having great success with that in every country from Singapore which is probably the high end of the exercise for us, and including other countries like Malaysia, Indonesia. This year Thailand was more complex than it has ever been before, and you know, it’s a common thread, a common theme of the exercise is increasing in complexity and increasing in capacity that we work towards.
Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) is a maritime security exercise that we do right now with six partner nations, all of whom also participate in CARAT. It’s a bilateral, at sea event with a very multilateral command and control side here in Singapore where our partners including the United States will all be out of the same command and control center and communicating in a very multilateral sense. So it’s a great event for us and our partners.
Read the full story at The Diplomat