221219-N-YQ414-545

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Dec. 19, 2022) - Indonesian and U.S. personnel staffing the bilateral coordination center in Surabaya monitor at-sea operations during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT)/Marine Exercise (MAREX) Indonesia 2022, Dec. 19. CARAT/MAREX Indonesia is a bilateral exercise between Indonesia and the United States designed to promote regional security cooperation, maintain and strengthen maritime partnerships, and enhance maritime interoperability. In its 28th year, the CARAT series is comprised of multinational exercises, designed to enhance U.S. and partner navies’ abilities to operate together in response to traditional and non-traditional maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. As the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed destroyer squadron in Southeast Asia, DESRON 7 serves as the primary tactical and operational commander of littoral combat ships rotationally deployed to Singapore, functions as CTF 76/3 Sea Combat Commander, and builds partnerships through training exercises and military-to-military engagements as the executing agent of Commander, Task Group CARAT. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Mohammad Issa)