Closing Remarks for Cutlass Express Exercise

It is with great pride that I address you here today, for the closing ceremony for Cutlass Express 2023. For the last 10 days over 18 total countries have participated in over 20 at sea exercises, not including a week of academic requirements prior to the at sea portion of the Cutlass Express 23.

This training has enabled our services to come together from across the globe, take part in training exercises and to build strong relationships and expertise. As we all know our security and prosperity in this region are inextricably linked, and an exercise like Cutlass Express helps us demonstrate our ability to work together across oceans.

I was very glad when Mauritius volunteered to host Cutlass Express this year. These exercises provide a unique opportunity for participating nations to improve interoperability and effectively execute missions together. From boarding operations, the law of the sea, and all other training that has taken place, you have met these objectives and requirements to prove yourselves as experts in working together to maintain the safety and security of the seas.

This expertise is critical for the Indian Ocean countries and for the partner countries to combat the shared threats we face in the high seas: drug and human trafficking, illegal fishing, and piracy. You ALL should be extraordinarily proud of this achievement.

I want to sincerely thank our hosts, the Government of Mauritius, the Mauritius National Coast Guard, and the Mauritius Police Force. The United States values the strong relationships that have been forged during Cutlass Express 2023, and I know that the U.S. is committed to building and sustaining enduring relationships with all participating nations.

While Mauritius was host, I want to acknowledge the exercises themselves as an outstanding model of ongoing international cooperation. I want to give a special thanks to the U.S. military for demonstrating to our partners as well as our adversaries that we can collectively conduct critical security cooperation operations. These regional and interagency partnerships reflect our enduring promise to one another for a cooperative, prosperous, and secure hemisphere.

Congratulations to Mauritius and all our partner nations on executing a highly successful Cutlass Express 2023!! Thank you.