Scenes from the Panamax 2008 war games

PACIFIC OCEAN (August 5, 2008) Sailors assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron (HM) 15 wash their aircraft on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) as the ship sails towards Panama to participate in the multinational training exercise Fuerzas Alidas PANAMAX 2008. This will be the final exercise for Tarawa, which is slated for decommissioning in early 2009. FA PANAMAX 2008 is a multi-national training exercise tailored to the defense of the Panama Canal, involving civil and military forces from the US Southern Command area of focus. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Richard Doolin

20 nations, 7,000 men and women play Panamax 2008 war games
photos and captions by the US Southern Command

Sailors from Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron TWO conduct entry control point training with sailors from Panama as part of Fuerzas Aliadas (FA) PANAMAX 2008, a US Southern Command joint and multi-national training exercise co-sponsored with the Government of Panama. More than two hundred sailors from Panama, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru at Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (VNB) Naval Base, headquarters of the Panamanian National Maritime Service, on August 13, 2008.

US Navy Aviation Boatswain's Mates (Handling) 3rd Class Jonathan Lambes and Melchor Navora direct an MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter assigned to Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 on the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) as the ship sails toward Panama on August 8, 2008. Tarawa is deployed in support of Fuerzas Aliadas Panamax 2008, a US Southern Command joint, multinational training exercise that brings together military and civil forces from 19 countries to promote interoperability to counter threats to the Panama Canal. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Richard Doolin

US Sailors assigned to the deck department of amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) slide an inert training mine into the water while under way in Panama on August 10, 2008. Tarawa is deployed in support of Fuerzas Aliadas Panamax 2008, a US Southern Command joint, multinational training exercise that brings together military and civil forces from 19 countries to promote interoperability to counter threats to the Panama Canal. The exercise is Tarawa’s last before its upcoming decommissioning ceremony slated for 2009. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class David A. Brandenburg

US Sailors assigned to the deck department of amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1) slide an inert training mine into the water while under way in Panama on August 10, 2008. Tarawa is deployed in support of Fuerzas Aliadas Panamax 2008, a US Southern Command joint, multinational training exercise that brings together military and civil forces from 19 countries to promote interoperability to counter threats to the Panama Canal. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class David A. Brandenburg

CHILEAN FRIGATE ALMIRANTE RIVEROS AT SEA (August 16, 2008) A maritime interdiction team from the Ecuadorian naval ship Eloro (CM-14) conduct ‎a visit, board, search and seizure exercise aboard the Chilean frigate ‎Almirante Riveros (FF-18), as part of Fuerzas Aliadas PANAMAX 2008. FA ‎PANAMAX 2008 is a multi-national training exercise tailored to the ‎defense of the Panama Canal, involving civil and military forces from ‎the US Southern Command area of focus. US Navy photo by Mass ‎Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW) David A. Brandenburg

USS TARAWA AT SEA (August 14, 2008) A 32-ship armada led by the amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1), manuever off the Panamanian ‎coast as part of the multi-national training exercise Fuerzas Aliadas ‎PANAMAX 2008. FA PANAMAX 2008 is a multi-national training exercise ‎tailored to the defense of the Panama Canal, involving civil and ‎military forces from the US Southern Command area of focus. US ‎Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW) David A. ‎Brandenburg

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