PEARL HARBOR - More than 50 Singapore Armed Forces officers visited the U.S. Pacific Fleet headquarters compound and historic Pearl Harbor sites Sept. 11 as part of a wider program with U.S. military counterparts in Hawaii.

Students and faculty of Singapore's Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College (CSC) Overseas Study program are spending Sept. 9-12 on Oahu in an international exchange of cooperation and ideas with U.S. Pacific Command and service components.in Hawaii, while also being introduced to historic and cultural sites.

The visit was organized to educate and familiarize Singapore CSC students and faculty with the missions of Pacific Command, Marine Corps Forces Pacific, Pacific Air Forces, and U.S. Army Pacific, in addition to the responsibilities of the Navy's Pacific Fleet.

While being hosted by the Navy, the students were briefed on the Pacific Fleet mission, "emphasizing the importance of maritime relations," according to Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Tam of the Fleet's plans and policies directorate During the brief, keynote speaker William J. Wesley, Pacific Fleet's executive director for plans and policy, stressed the importance of establishing, building and growing international relationships in the Pacific region.

Wesley acts as the principal advisor to the commander on matters of policy and planning development regarding foreign engagement, strategic planning, operational research, and Joint and Navy doctrine.

"The reason we want to advance our relationships with friends, partners and allies is the fact that we all have to work together for a common good and a common cause," Wesley said. "We all have an economic inter-dependence on each other to ensure the free flow of goods and services continues unabated. Maritime security is an environment that all of us have to strive for and to do so effectively we need everybody to work together."

After the brief the students visited the USS Arizona Memorial and the Pacific Aviation Museum.

"I find all of these engagement opportunities as very fortuitous for Pacific Fleet so that we gain a better understanding not only of us but of them as well. There's reciprocity there as we exchange ideas because we can learn from each other," Wesley added.