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Proud Manta Holds Media Day

AUGUSTA BAY, Sicily (Feb. 13, 2012) - Rear Adm. James G. Foggo III, Commander Submarines, Allied Naval Forces South (left), and Italian Vice Adm. Rinaldo Veri, Commander Allied Maritime Command Naples (right), speak to local media during the media day for Proud Manta 2012. Proud Manta is NATO's largest anti-submarine warfare live exercise, involving submarines, surface ships, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters from eleven NATO countries.

February 13, 2012
MC2 Matthew C. Haws, Naval Air Station Sigonella Public Affairs Office

AUGUSTA BAY, Sicily – Proud Manta 2012, NATO’s largest anti-submarine warfare, began with a media day in Augusta Bay, Feb. 13.

Rear Adm. James G. Foggo III, Commander Submarines, Allied Naval Forces South, participated in the media day and praised the efforts of the NATO forces that are focused on training submarines, ships, and aircraft on anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and other maritime operations.

“The most impressive part for me is to see all these different nations represented together in one portion of the Mediterranean,” said Rear. Adm. Foggo. “Different nationalities are all speaking one common language: NATO. They are all working together with different communication systems and ramping up to the culmination of this event which is the best anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare exercise that we do all year long in the NATO alliance.”

Rear Adm. Foggo also noted the contributions of the NATO Undersea Research Center (NURC) and Naval Air Station Sigonella in this year’s exercise.

“NURC has autonomous underwater vehicles, this year, operating in concert with five submarines, nine surface ships and 24 aircraft in this exercise,” said Rear Adm. Foggo. “Additionally, Naval Air Station Sigonella operates as a base of operations for air elements. The maritime patrol aircraft rendezvous at Sigonella and they fly in support of the submarines and surface ships in this exercise. We couldn't do this without support from our Italian partners.”

Proud Manta 2012, which continues through Feb. 26, is a live exercise designed to improve tactical skills, test doctrine, and enhance interoperability of participating forces.

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