MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

International maritime exercise concludes in Scotland

Scotland said goodbye this weekend to the thousands of military personnel from the 14 nations, 49 ships and submarines and 72 aircraft which took part in the major UK led maritime training course, Neptune Warrior 052, formerly the Joint Maritime Course, which is held three times a year around the coast of Scotland.

With simulated hostilities coming to a successful conclusion on Friday (17 June 2005), the ships and submarines dispersed for the weekend to a number of ports around Scotland, including HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, Leith, Glasgow and Greenock, to allow personnel a well earned break after taking part in one of the most rigorous maritime training courses in the world.

Personnel from all participating units attended a lengthy debriefing session at HM Naval Base Clyde on Saturday to evaluate the success of the training achieved. With the west coast of Scotland providing one of the most testing maritime environments in the world, and with a large number of nations taking part, Neptune Warrior 052 proved a valuable and very successful operational training evolution for all those involved.

The overall aim of the course is to prepare nations to work together successfully in maritime operations in a cohesive and effective manner. Neptune Warrior in particular provides a training environment that allows nations to practice their interoperability, develop common procedures and, to learn from each other.

Planned and run by the joint Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Joint Maritime Operational Training Staff (JMOTS) normally based at Northwood, outside London, JMOTS transfer operations to Scotland three times a year to run the course from the Maritime Operations Centre at Faslane.

Nations taking part in this summer's Neptune Warrior included the UK, USA, Turkey, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Norway, Estonia, Canada and Italy. NATO nations are well-represented but there will also be non-NATO forces from Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. (RN).-