CTJF-HOA Sailors Teach Basic Seamanship Skills to Local Tanzanian

Fishermen
By: LT Clint Phillips, Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training Command, Team 115 Officer in Charge

(TANGA, Tanzania) Sailors deployed to Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa facilitated a
Basic Sea Survival class with fisherman along the northeastern district of Mkinga here August 7.

The Sailors, members of Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training Command, Team 115, are
deployed to CJTF-HOA to help build lasting relationships with African partners and conduct
Civil Affairs activities in support of the CJTF-HOA mission.

The Maritime Civil Affairs Team has two complete iterations of the BSS since their arrival in
Tanga in late May. The program though, was constructed after the MCAT identified local fishing
villages and an enduring need to further survival skill sets within the local fishing community.

“The fishermen have grown up in these water ways and know them very well. However, the
survival basics every Sailor graduates boot camp with, is something that previously has not
existed to them,” said BM1 (EXW) Gabriel Martinez, MCAT 115 Coxswain and BSS trainer.

The BSS program incorporates skills such as CPR, sea survival swim strokes, celestial
navigation, and navigation by compass. The class also incorporates basic knots and the use of
clothes as a flotation device. Prior to the class, fisherman posses a basic knowledge of
navigation by site of land, but many are unfamiliar with the usage of a compass and celestial
navigation.

“Many fishermen have been lost and scared, traveling as far north as Nairobi, before they were
able to find land. Knowing how to find our way home using the stars will help us greatly,” said
Said Hamad, a fisherman in the village of Moa.

Since the inception of the program, the MCAT has received requests from other fishing villages
to come teach BSS. Working with Partner Nation government officials, the MCAT identified the
need to incorporate a new facet to the BSS program. The term, “train the trainer”, is prevalent
throughout the U.S. Armed Services, its actions are key in building capacity in local Tanzanian
areas.

“In order to meet our Mission Objective of creating capacity, we must create an environment of
shared learning and knowledge pass down to our Partner Nation. Where we no longer teach the
class, but it falls on the graduates to pass this information on to other future students, with
minimal MCAT support,” expressed ETC (EXW) Scott Nelson, MCAT 115 Team Chief and
BSS instructor.
Local fishermen organize themselves into a governing body, which they refer to as Beach
Masters Units. These units are responsible for tracking the departure and arrivals of sea going
vessels from their respective villages. By coordinating with the BMU governing bodies, the
MCAT identified several PN individuals who will receive more in-depth BSS training and
become the Subject Matter Experts of their BMU.

“Working with Tanzanian fishermen has been rewarding for our team,” said HM2 (FMF) Sergio
Madrid, MCAT 115 team corpsman. “The better we can understand the people whose country
we work in, the more successful we will be in accomplishing our mission.”

Understanding the culture, communication practices and furthering the capacity of the
Tanzanians is a key component to the Civil Affairs mission in Tanzania. MCAT 115 continues to
working directly with the U.S. Embassy, the Government of Tanzania and other Partner Nation
officials, in order to further strengthen the relationships held in the East African Community.