Operation Calypso - Royal New Zealand Navy

international
in a ceremony onboard uss Mason
(ddg 87), new Zealander Captain Jim
gilmour, rnZn, assumed command
of Combined task force (Ctf) 151,
the Combined Maritime forces (CMf)
counter-piracy task force.
This is the first time in recent decades
that a Royal New Zealand Navy officer has
commanded a major multi-national taskforce
and it reflects the high-regard in which New
Zealand and the New Zealand Defence Force
is held by our international partners.
CMF is a US-led, 25-nation coalition based
in Bahrain. CTF 151 is one of three task forces
operated by CMF, with its primary mission to
disrupt piracy and armed robbery at sea.
CAPT Gilmour, supported by an eclectic
international staff from NZ, Australia, the
Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, the
United Kingdom, Canada, and the United
States, is embarked in USS ANZIO (CG68), a
Ticonderoga Class Cruiser. CAPT Gilmour is
the tenth Commander of CTF 151.
CTF 151 was established in January 2009
with a specific counter-piracy mission-based
mandate under the authority of five separate
United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
Our mission is to disrupt piracy at sea, protect
ships of any nationality, and secure freedom of
navigation for the benefit of all nations.
Piracy is a very real threat to commerce. New
Zealand relies on sea-lanes of communication,
with over 99% of New Zealand’s trade by
volume carried by sea. The Gulf of Aden and
surrounding areas is considered the world’s
piracy ‘hotspot’. Somalia is the source of this
modern day piracy, which has grown from the
economic, social, and political strife that has
gripped the country since the mid-1990s.
23,000 vessels transit the Gulf of Aden every
Combined task force (Ctf 151)
coMbating
By COMMander Mat WilliaMS, MnZM, rnZn
DePuty CommanDeR anD Chief of staff, Ctf 151 embaRkeD in uss anZio
18 NT162AUGUST11
year, and there are currently 17 ships under
ransom, with over 400 innocent sailors being
held hostage. Although exact calculations are
difficult, some experts estimate the cost of
piracy in 2010 at almost $20 billion. Although
piracy attacks and kidnapping have more than
quadrupled in the area since 2007, there has
been an overall reduction in successful attacks
since the establishment of CTF 151 in 2009.
The size and shape of CTF 151 is determined
by force flow. Force flow is the movement of
warships in and out of operations in the CMF
Area of Responsibility; an area that covers over
1.1 million square miles and includes the North
Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Somali
Basin, Arabian Sea, and a large tract of the
Indian Ocean. Some ships are assigned for
months at a time; others for specific tasking;
still others for a few days or hours. At the time
of writing, CAPT Gilmour has two cruisers,
two destroyers, and one frigate under his
command, along with their eight helicopters!
Indeed, ANZIO herself has seven helicopter
pilots onboard.
The command and partner environment is
rich and complex. Combined Maritime Forces
is headed by a US Navy three star, Vice Admiral
Fox, who also holds the national positions of
Commander US 5th Fleet and Commander US
Naval Forces, Central Command. The Deputy
Commander CMF, who Captain Gilmour reports
to, is held by a Royal Navy one star officer,
Commodore Fraser, who also holds the national
position of regional United Kingdom Maritime
Component Commander. We work alongside
four other key military and state actors:
• t h e E u ro p e a n U n i o n N a v a l F o rc e
(EUNAVFOR)—TF 465 (Operation
ATALANTA), whose primary role is shipping
escort for the United Nations World Food
Programme with a secondary role of counter
piracy;
• the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(NATO)—Task Force 508 (Operation OCEAN
SHIELD)—who has a similar mission to
CTF 151;
• a large number of independent deployers—
nations who have chosen to deploy
their own task groups, such as: Japan,
Malaysia, India, China, Russia, and the
Republic of Korea, that primarily operate
independently conducting convoy escort,
but also collaborate on information sharing
and, where possible, support counter-piracy
efforts more directly, and;
• Coastal states, including Yemen, Djibouti,
Oman, and Somalia (through the Transitional
Federal Government (TFG).
CoMMander Mat williaMs (left)
and Captain JiM gilMour
ctf 151 was estabLished in janUary 2009
with a specific coUnter-piracy Mission-based
Mandate Under the aUthority of five separate
United nations secUrity coUnciL resoLUtions.
WWW.NAVY.MIL.NZ