The Winston Churchill follows the USS Carson City’s visit Feb. 24-26, and U.S. Africa Command’s Deputy Commander for Civil-Military Engagement, Ambassador Andrew Young, and Director of Intelligence, Rear Adm. Heidi Berg, Jan. 25-27, further building on the partnership with the Sudanese Armed Forces. 

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“Together with Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government, we are striving to build a partnership between our two armed forces,” said Rear Adm. Michael Baze, director of maritime headquarters, Navy Africa, U.S. Sixth Fleet. “In just the past few months, we have already seen an increase in military-to-military engagements.”  

This visit will provide an opportunity for the Sudanese and U.S. military leaders to engage in staff talks to further explore opportunities to work together and establish a basis for a relationship committed to security and stability in the region. The Sudanese officials will also tour the Winston Churchill followed by a reception given by both the Sudanese and U.S. military.

“We look forward to fortifying our friendship through increased interactions at sea and ashore,” Baze said.

Winston S. Churchill departed Norfolk, Virginia, Aug. 10 for a regularly-scheduled deployment to maintain maritime security and ensure the freedom of navigation in critical waterways. Feb. 21 marked Churchill passing 50,000 nautical miles traveled on their deployment.

On Feb. 11-12, the ship seized illicit shipments of weapons and weapons components from two stateless dhows during a maritime security operation in international waters off the coast of Somalia. The seizure of the illicit weapons by the ship was conducted while providing direct support to the Combined Maritime Security’s maritime security operations in the region. These routine patrols are performed by U.S. and coalition partners to ensure the free flow of commerce for legitimate traffic and to disrupt the transport of illicit cargo that often funds terrorism and unlawful activity.

Churchill is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, which is headquartered in Manama, Bahrain, and conducts joint and naval operations in support of coalition and regional partners, and U.S. national security interests in the Middle East.

U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts joint and naval operations in order to support regional allies and partners and U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.