Coalition Task Force Teams Up With Iraq, Kuwait For Operation River Dragon

ABOARD USS NORMANDY (NNS) -- Coalition maritime forces and maritime forces from Iraq and Kuwait launched an historic operation July 20 focused on maritime security operations (MSO) in the North Persian Gulf, marking the first time the countries' sea services have worked together.

"Operation River Dragon was intended to form the foundation for developing a suite of coordinated Iraqi, Kuwaiti and coalition [maritime] security operations which can be executed at short notice," said Commodore Steve Gilmore, of the Royal Australian Navy, who leads Combined Task Force (CTF) 58.

During the four-hour operation, participants patrolled the waterway between Iraq and Kuwait, increasing interoperability and conducting MSO.

“We aim to detect and apprehend maritime criminals and to gain actionable intelligence leading to the ongoing disruption of criminal activities,” said Gilmore.

Task Force 58 routinely works with the Iraqi navy and marines, but this marked the first time Kuwait and Iraqi units were enrolled in MSO at the same time.

“Including the Kuwaiti coast guard contributed greatly to the intelligence preparation of the environment on illegal activity within the area of operations,” said Gilmore, the first Australian naval officer to command a maritime coalition task force in real-world operations since World War II.
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Wow looks like a lot of change is coming about. I'm sure when these groups get more developed, there have a lot of the persian gulf patrolled. Hey maybe will even be able to stop the drugs being smuggled by Afghanistan.