KARACHI, Pakistan – The crew aboard Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell arrived here Thursday after four days of multi-national exercises hosted by the Pakistani navy as part of AMAN ’09, an integrated international exercise aimed at improving work relations between coalition forces.
Thirty-eight countries sent representatives to participate in segments of the exercise. While most countries observed the week’s events, Boutwell was one of 12 participants in exercises that included gunnery, search and rescue, vessel boarding search and seizure, and terrorist attack scenarios.
This is the second time in the last week Boutwell’s crew visited Karachi to participate in AMAN ’09.
The first AMAN exercise was held in March 2007, where seven different navies and 14 ships participated.
AMAN is an Urdu word meaning peace. The AMAN ’09 slogan is “Together for Peace.”
Assigned to the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area Command, headquartered in Alameda, Calif., Boutwell is one of 12 high endurance cutters with missions that range from drug interdiction to fisheries enforcement.
Boutwell’s patrols range as far north as the Aleutian Island chain off the coast of Alaska and as far south as the coast of Columbia. The Boutwell and its crew represent the Coast Guard’s commitment to support national defense operations around the globe. The cutter is currently attached to the USS Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group. During its current patrol, the crew of the 378-foot cutter will circumnavigate the globe, visiting numerous countries in an effort to create strong professional ties, share maritime defense strategies and improve interoperability with cooperating foreign nations.
