Riverines Eyeing Future Missions Around the Globe

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FEATURE ARTICLE

April 2007

By Grace Jean

Fort Pickett, Va. — Even as they prepare for their first deployment, officers in the Navy’s Riverine Group One are contemplating potential missions beyond the imminent one in Iraq.

“We’re already looking down the road at deployment to other countries, other continents, for exercises and operations,” says Lt. Cmdr. Mike Egan, executive officer for Riverine Squadron One, during a pre-deployment exercise here. The squadron began its mission at Haditha Dam in Al-Anbar province last month.

Riverine operations are a growth industry, with many rivers and deltas all over the world, and burgeoning conflicts, he adds.

Potential hotspots for the riverines are countries in the Gulf of Guinea and South America, among other regions.

“The types of missions we’ll be working on post-Iraq will be theater security cooperation,” says Capt. Michael L. Jordan, commanding officer of Riverine Group One. Riverines not only will be working alongside other countries to increase their maritime security posture, but also training with them to work together if deployed to other areas.

“We’re built for a whole new environment,” says Cmdr. William Guarini, commanding officer of Riverine Squadron One. With the capability to work in rivers and inland waterways where conventional Navy surface forces cannot easily penetrate, the unit is ideally suited to operate with foreign countries whose navies consist mainly of riverine forces, he says.

“Many nations don’t have frigates and crews. What they do have are river forces and patrol boats,” says Guarini. Engaging with those nations, operating with them and training with them in their native environments is a win-win situation.

“To them, they get to work with the U.S. Navy. For us, we get to establish relationships with some of these nations and navies in mutual cooperation,” he says.

A “major focus” of the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command, which has purview over the riverine squadrons, is helping other countries improve their maritime security capabilities, says its commanding officer, Rear Adm. Donald K. Bullard.

The NECC was created to help organize, equip and train naval forces that operate in the near-shore and inland waterway environment. Along the way, it has established new units, such as the riverines, which deployed to Iraq last month, and civil affairs teams, which are training for future deployment.

Bullard wants to formalize a curriculum for training maritime security operations forces in other countries.

“This is extending part of the CNO’s 1,000-ship Navy,” he says, referring to a concept concocted by Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Michael Mullen. The 1,000-ship Navy is a notion in which multiple countries pool their naval forces and work together to promote global maritime security.

The NECC can provide a myriad of training opportunities to help those nations improve their maritime security, says Bullard.

With forces such as the riverines, naval coastal warfare, force protection and other expeditionary teams, the command is well postured to take the lead in the coastal and inland waterways, he says.

“NECC is about balancing the overall Navy’s commitment to perform maritime security operations — I think we’ve done that.”

Please email your comments to GJean@ndia.org