US Navy and Marine Corps Commanders Visit Vietnam

Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Scott H. Swift and Commander of the US Marine Corps in the Pacific, Lieutenant General John A. Toolan, met on March 18 with Rear Admiral Pham Hoai Nam, Commander of the Vietnam People's Navy.

Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Scott H. Swift.

Commanders Swift and Toolan arrived in Vietnam for a three-day visit from March 17 to 19 and held meetings with senior Vietnamese officials in Hanoi and Hai Phong.

“This is the first joint visit by a U.S. Navy and Marine Corps commander in the Pacific to Vietnam in decades, and it is an excellent opportunity to meet with our partners in the Vietnam People’s Navy and explore ways for our navies to meet more frequently through ship visits and exchanges,” Swift said. “Our navies share a commitment to a rules-based international order, maritime security, and stability in a way that benefits the growing prosperity of all nations in the region.”

The visit highlights the deepening bilateral naval relationship as part of the U.S.-Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership and the Joint Vision Statement on Defense Relations signed by U.S. Secretary of Defense Carter and Vietnamese Defense Minister Phung Quang Thanh.

The U.S. and Vietnamese navies regularly interact through officer-to-officer talks, port visits, and professional exchanges such as Pacific Partnership and the annual Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) in Da Nang. Such interactions – both bilateral and multilateral – help strengthen working relationships, build mutual trust, and demonstrate a shared commitment to maritime security, peace, and stability in the region.

According to Infonet