On April 16, 2023, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King and Supreme Commander of the Kingdom of Bahrain, visited the US Fifth Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander, U.S. Navy Central Command, U.S. Fifth Fleet and Combined Naval Forces, welcomed His Majesty the King together with U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Stephen Bondi. The leaders and His Majesty the King discussed the operations of the U.S. Navy and regional partners, including efforts to strengthen international cooperation at sea and integrate unmanned and artificial intelligence technologies.
“We are very honored to welcome His Majesty the King and are deeply grateful for our long-term strategic partnership with the Kingdom of Bahrain,” said Cooper. “Bahrain remains a strong ally of the United States and an important leader in regional maritime security.”
In addition to the US Fifth Fleet, Bahrain hosts the headquarters of two US-led international maritime partnerships, the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and the International Maritime Security Constituent (IMSC).
CMF is the world’s largest maritime partnership, comprising 38 partner navies serving four operational task forces in the Middle East. The IMSC is an 11-nation naval coalition formed three years ago in response to threats to merchant mariners transiting the region’s waters. Bahrain is a member of both organizations.
His Majesty the King last visited the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in August 2019.
The U.S. Fifth Fleet has 8,000 personnel stationed in Bahrain and operating in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean, and three key choke points: the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal, and Bab Al Mandeb. of Americans and their families.
