SINGAPORE -- Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, visited Singapore October 11-14 to strengthen maritime partnerships with leaders from the Republic of Singapore Navy while meeting with U.S. Sailors and their families.

During his visit, Sawyer met with the Republic of Singapore Navy Fleet Commander, Rear Admiral Cheong Kwok-Chien, for a briefing aboard RSS Stalwart and visited Singapore's Maritime Crisis and Regional Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Center at Changi Naval Base where he discussed the importance of the U.S. - Singapore strategic partnership.

"Singapore is an important partner for Seventh Fleet and we benefit greatly from the exchanges between our forces," said Sawyer. "I look forward to advancing our partnership with the RSN and other regional navies while at Seventh Fleet."

While in Singapore, Sawyer also visited with staff from Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific/Task Force 73 and Destroyer Squadron 7 and then held an All Hands Call aboard USS Coronado (LCS 4), which is rotationally deployed to Singapore in support of security cooperation efforts across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

During his discussion with local Sailors and families, Sawyer highlighted the importance of fleet readiness and sustaining the U.S. 7th Fleet's forward presence in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

Sawyer also took questions on a variety of Navy topics while recognizing the important contributions of Sailors and Navy families who live and operate from Singapore.

"What happens in this region matters to the entire world," said Sawyer. "Your contributions to maintaining our fleet presence and deepening partnerships with our allies and partners matters a great deal to me and I could not be more proud of the work that you are doing for our nation and our Navy."

Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific is the U.S. 7th Fleet's provider of combat-ready logistics, operating government-owned and contracted ships to keep units throughout the fleet armed, fueled, and fed.

Additionally, Task Force 73 conducts advanced planning, organizes resources and directly supports the execution of maritime operations and exercises such as the Pacific Partnership, the bilateral CARAT series, Maritime Training Activity with the Philippines and Malaysia, the Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) with Vietnam, and the multilateral Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) with 9 nations across the region.