Sailors from East African navies and coast guards and the United States trained aboard two Mauritian coast guard vessels in the first of a two-part training engagement for Africa Partnership Station (APS) East, August 25, 2011.

During the visit, Mauritius hosted military personnel from Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, and the United States for training in maritime intelligence, anti-piracy and non-commissioned officer leadership.

"This has been a wonderful opportunity for both the U.S. and our African partners to enhance our capabilities to combat piracy and smuggling," said Cryptologic Technician (Technical) Chief (Select) Matthew Gonter, an APS instructor. "Protection of national borders and exclusive economic zones is vitally important to African nations. One of our goals with these courses is to help improve the capability of these countries to defend their interests on the high seas."

The training focused on practicing procedures and techniques to properly board and search a vessel.

"I enjoyed attending the lectures, and this practical exercise allowed us to apply the skills we learned in the classroom and practice our techniques to make us more proficient," said Mauritian Police Corporal Chandra Lutchmun.

APS is an international security cooperation initiative, facilitated by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, aimed at strengthening global maritime partnerships through training and collaborative activities in order to improve maritime safety and security in Africa.