NAVCENT Hosts Maritime Course for Regional Partners in Bahrain

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) and instructors from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island are co-hosting the Combined Force Maritime Component Commander (CFMCC) officer course at Naval Support Activity Bahrain through Aug. 18.

The CFMCC course is a senior officer-level professional military education seminar designed to provide leadership tools to U.S. and partner-nation naval leaders that will help improve multilateral coordination.

“In such a dynamic and vast maritime region, relationships are essential,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of NAVCENT, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. “We are thrilled to again host regional leaders for this weeklong course and discuss opportunities for greater collaboration.”

This is the ninth time the CFMCC course has been held in Bahrain after the previous iteration in 2019. This year’s students represent nations from the Middle East, Europe, Indo-Pacific and North America.

Instructors and speakers are presenting on maritime security, strategy, multinational operations. Students will also discuss regional challenges and future opportunities for deepening maritime security cooperation.

“The participants recognize the need to be able to work together because the seas are not barriers that separate our nations; they are a great global common that connect us all,” said retired Rear Adm. Ed Cashman, the dean of the College of Maritime Operational Warfare at the Naval War College.

NAVCENT is headquartered in Bahrain with two major international partnerships: Combined Maritime Forces, the largest naval partnership in the world with 34 member nations; and the International Maritime Security Construct, a nine-nation coalition established in 2019 to address increased threats to freedom of navigation for merchant mariners transiting international waters in the Middle East.