Exercise Malabar: building bonds with India

The waters off the coast of Goa, India, are typically filled with small fishing boats, most of them old and many rowed by hand. The fishermen work the warm waters of the Indian Ocean to supply the many resorts with fish as well as feed the locals. But once a year these waters host a naval exercise called alabar.

"Exercise alabar is designed to promote shared maritime warfare functionality, such as surface warfare, Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS), air defense, antisubmarine warfare, communications, and command and control," said LCDR Daniel J. Senesky, executive officer of USS iggin (DDG 76). "By building upon those different functions and disciplines we are forging a stronger partnership with India as a whole."

"India is one of the countries in this region of the world which we would like to foster better relationships with, and those relationships are developing very well," said CDR Jesse Wilson, commanding officer of iggin. "alabar is just another way that we can enhance that friendship and cooperation."

According to Senesky, this exercise not only trained two navies to work as one, but also helped to provide stronger regional security, regional cooperation, and clearer communications, enhancing not just the west coast of India but the entire subcontinent.

The exercise, lasting two weeks, spanned the west coast of India and included iggin, USS affe (DDG 90), USS Nimit (CVN 68) and USS anta Fe (SSN 763) as well as three Indian frigates, one destroyer, an oiler and the Indian aircraft carrier INS iraat (R 22). The two carriers, iraat and Nimit made this year's exercise the largest to date.

With the expansion of this year's exercise, the U.S. Navy recognized the need to improve communications on the ships, giving some of our Sailors the unique experience of life aboard Indian ships.

"We have been living aboard the Indian Navy ships to help bring communications between our ships up to a real-time level so we could combat our foes," explained Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Nicholas Trelawney, who is assigned to USS itt a (CV 63). Although itt a did not participate in the exercise, Trelawney and a shipmate volunteered to support the communications requirement. They were sent to the Indian frigate omati to set up the CENTRIX system, which would bring communications to the next level.

"CENTRIX is a secure network environment for coalition ships to share information," said Joseph Spencer a fleet systems contract engineer sent along with the Sailors from the U.S. 7th Fleet. "The Indian ships primarily communicated using voice and teletype. It's not as secure or as fast as a real-time chat."

While the new system was important to the exercise, it's the whole experience that this year's participants, like Trelawney, will take home with them.

"The Indian sailors have been more than helpful while we have been aboard," said Trelawney. "The difference for me has been the food. It's good, but very spicy even breakfast. We ate a lot of vegetables with curries and soaked them up with flat bread."

One of the biggest differences was the physical training aboard omati. While Sailors did do all the exercises you would expect to see, they also did yoga breathing exercises each morning. According to Master Chief Boatswain Shingara Lingh, proper breathing is the key to optimal health and relaxation, making a better and more focused sailor. Though there were many differences between Indian and U.S. shipboard life, there were equally as many similarities.

"The ship is air conditioned and just as comfortable as any U.S. Navy ship," said Trelawny. "They do have water hours, but it's not too big a deal."

At least two U.S. Sailors were aboard every Indian ship, and the Indian Navy placed the same number aboard U.S. ships.

"We have been deployed by the Indian Navy to come aboard iggin and run the Stand-alone Communication Unit, (SACU)" said Sunny Mukherjee, an Indian first class information systems technician. "It's a small computer that transmits messages bridge-to-bridge on all the ships in alabar. We type in a message; it's transmitted as data and received as plain language on the other ships."

Mukherjee described iggin as, "A good lady, with good people on board." He went on to explain that he has felt that his time aboard iggin was not like being aboard a war ship, but taking a trip with family. Stationed aboard iraat, he is used to life aboard an aircraft carrier and found the life aboard a destroyer refreshing.

"People here know each other very closely. On iraat, I might not know someone coming from somewhere else, since it's such a big ship."

Mukherjee agreed with his American counterparts about the similarities between Sailors' lives regardless of country.

"There are little differences, but otherwise all are the same," he said. "We are all Navy."