Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Steven S. Giordano traveled to Lima, Peru to attend the commencement of the 58th annual UNITAS exercise, July 16-17. Hosted by the Peruvian navy this year, 19 countries' naval maritime forces participated in the exercise.

During his two-day visit, Giordano toured two U.S. Navy ships, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, a Peruvian navy submarine and a Peruvian frigate. He also attended office calls with Peruvian navy officials.

He visited the guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90), the amphibious transport dock ship USS Somerset (LPD 25) and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Escanaba (WMEC 907), and held all-hands calls with the ships' crews.

After answering questions ranging from the changes to the evaluation system, enlisted classification codes and force distribution, to Navy and Coast Guard interoperability, Giordano spoke about the importance of legacy.

"There are a lot of great people who did a lot of great things in history in our Navy who didn't leave as the master chief petty officer of the Navy, as a commanding officer or as an admiral," said Giordano. "There are people who left our Navy as seamen with many years of service. Legacy rests with the people you surround yourself with, who you have the opportunity to serve alongside and hopefully make them better than what we were. That's my goal in all this; to make you better than what I was."

Giordano also toured the Peruvian navy submarine BAP Angamos (SS 31) and the Peruvian navy frigate BAP Mariategui (FM 54). After the tours, he had office visits with Peruvian MCPON equivalent Tecnico Supervisor Primero Lander Nunez Andrade; Vice Adm. Fernando Raul Cerdan Ruiz, Peru's Pacific fleet commander; and Rear Adm. Alberto Alcala Luna, Peru's surface force commander.

During the office visits, Giordano explained the officer-enlisted dynamic in the U.S. Navy and spoke of the importance of the enlisted force and how their technical competencies contributes to the success of the naval force.

UNITAS Pacific is designed to train each navy to conduct combined naval operations through the execution of littoral warfare, anti-piracy, maritime interdiction operations, countering transnational organized crime, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare, communications exercises, and air and amphibious operations in order to increase the capabilities of participating naval and marine forces.

UNITAS began in 1960, making it the world's longest-running annual multinational maritime exercise. UNITAS, which means "unity" in Latin, is a demonstration of U.S. commitment to the region and to the value of the strong relationships forged between our partner militaries.

UNITAS has evolved over many years and now includes training for 21st century threats that are encountered in today's maritime environment. By training with our Caribbean, Central and South American counterparts, U.S. forces further develop professional understanding and mutual respect with our regional partner-nations by sharing best practices and expertise, and will gain new knowledge about each other's culture and people throughout the exercise.

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