NAPLES, Italy (NNS) -- The Navy will participate in the regularly scheduled Exercise Reliant Mermaid in the Mediterranean Sea, Aug. 13-16.
Reliant Mermaid, in its 11th iteration, is an annual search and rescue exercise designed to increase interoperability by developing individual and collective maritime proficiencies of participating nations, as well as promoting friendship, mutual understanding and cooperation.
Training with other military forces enhances our mutual awareness and maritime capability of our partners. Reliant Mermaid helps create an environment that promotes maritime safety and security in the region, and interoperability among participating nations.
U.S. 6th Fleet units scheduled to participate in the exercise are guided-missile destroyers USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) and USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98), fleet replenishment oiler USNS John Lenthall (T-AO 109), and a P-3 aircraft from Patrol Squadron 9 out of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Reliant Mermaid is a regularly scheduled exercise and is not associated with, or a reaction to any real world events.
U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts a full range of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation missions in concert with coalition, joint, interagency, and other parties in order to advance security and stability in Europe and Africa.
