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Lakeville Navy Captain Deploys to Arabian Gulf for Mine Countermeasures Exercise

Capt. Richard Henderson works as what is known as a "White Cell" Director for IMCMEX 13.

Editor's Note: The following story was written by Capt. Sterling Smith, U.S. Navy.

Lakeville resident Richard Henderson, a Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserves, recently deployed to the Arabian Gulf area of operations to participate in the 2013 Mine Countermeasures Exercise (IMCMCEX 13). Conducted through the month of May, IMCMEX 13 is a multilateral defense exercise in multiple operating areas in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

Captain Henderson works as what is known as a “White Cell” Director for IMCMEX 13. Henderson serves at the headquarters for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) /U.S. 5th Fleet, located in the Kingdom of Bahrain, an island nation within the Arabian Gulf. He leads groups of coalition personnel assigned to monitor progress and safety of the exercise and its numerous mine countermeasures events.

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IMCMEX 13 includes navies from more than 40 countries whose focus is to promote regional security through mine countermeasure operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.  It includes not only mine countermeasures events but also Maritime Security Operations (MSO), Maritime Infrastructure Protection (MIP) events, and an oil spill response discussion with industry representatives. Events addressed more of the security picture than just mines on the high seas.

IMCMEX 13, hosted by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) /U.S. 5th Fleet, is being conducted in three phases: (1) A symposium on MIP, (2) An afloat operations phase in the international waters and airspace of multiple operating areas; (3) And a phase where participants discuss best practices and lessons learned for future exercises

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Henderson oversees events during the exercise that include Avenger, Hunt, Sandown, and other mine countermeasure ships and mine hunting operations; Sea Dragon airborne mine countermeasure operations; and USS Ponce, HMS Cardigan Bay afloat MCM support bases, international Explosive Ordnance Disposal mine hunting and diving operations, small boat exercises, unmanned aerial vehicle operations, unmanned underwater vehicle operations, and port clearance operations focused toward underwater improvised explosive devices.

Richard Henderson also serves as the Commanding Officer of the Naval Forces Japan Headquarters Detachment, a 175-person unit based at the Naval Operations Support Center in Minneapolis, MN.

For more information: CAPT Sterling Smith, sterling.smith@navy.mil / (615) 405-8712, or Richard Henderson, richard.henderson@navy.milrichard.henderson@earthlink.net ;

For more IMCMEX13 photos visit the Facebook page for the “International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2013.”

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