A DIILS Mobile Education Team (MET), including Major Nathan Kearns, USAF, CAPT Jonathan Fink, SJA U.S. Sixth Fleet, LCDR Dave Furry, ASJA, U.S. Sixth Fleet and LT Jeffery King, USCG, MLC Pacific Legal Division participated in the regional Black Sea Partnership Cruise exercises aboard the USS Mount Whitney.

The focus of the DIILS program was Legal Issues in Maritime Security and Law Enforcement.

The team program embarked in Constanta, Romania where the ship was underway throughout the Black Sea and disembarked in Varna, Bulgaria.

The program involved junior naval and coast guard officers from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and the Ukraine.

This MET was intended to build upon the growing partnerships among the five nations represented.

The goal was to provide foreign naval and coast guard officers an understanding of the underlying international law related to military and law enforcement at sea, situational challenges encountered at sea and the fight against terrorism. The seminar provided current scenarios, hypotheticals and examples of practical and pragmatic ways to help cope with these challenges.