Since 2005, U.S. naval ships and sailors deployed to the APS program have trained thousands of African military personnel in seamanship, search-and-rescue operations, law enforcement, medical emergencies; environmental stewardship and small-boat maintenance, according to the APS Web site.
That training paid off in the Gulf of Guinea, Harris said, when Benin recently “conducted a counterpiracy operation where they took back a ship that had been captured by pirates. The chief of the Benin navy said later that his success, his navy’s success, was directly attributable to the Africa Partnership Station and the efforts that we have expended in partnering with Benin and helping them improve their ability to get out counterpiracy operations.”
On the continent, where it is estimated that $1 billion a year is lost to illegal fishing, Harris said, APS is making inroads through its law enforcement training program in Sierra Leone, where authorities “arrested four ships that were illegally fishing in their waters.”
