Teamwork, partnership, trust and resilience - essential components for British and Omani personnel working together on Exercise Saif Sareea 3. Activities were carried out off the coast of Oman and in the mountains (or Jebel in Arabic) south of Muscat. The sailing was carried out with help from Oman Sail, an organisation initiated to promote and revive Oman’s rich sailing heritage, supported by His Highness the Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said.
Some personnel have been deployed on Exercise Saif Sareea for several months now and have benefited from spending time in a different environment, including the sea; something more suited to the Royal Navy! For the RAF and Army personnel, the ability to have time away from essential duties, develop new skills and have some fun is fundamental for welfare, mental health, resilience and relaxation. It also provides a new challenge; AT aims to take personnel out of comfortable situations and put them into ‘stretch’ or even ‘panic’ conditions in a controlled environment and under close supervision.
‘Stretch is where most learning takes place’ said Physical Training Instructor Sgt Stu Damon from the British Army’s Mercian Regt. This is a great opportunity for personnel to work as a team in a sailing boat, or trusting in each other on a belay and rope suspended up a 50ft rock face!
Saleh Said Al-Jabri, the sailing school’s Operations Manager featured in the book the ‘Jewel of Muscat’ said that "sailing is perfect for developing communication, discipline, teamwork and respect for your equipment. We have adults and over 300 children at each of our four centres along the beautiful coast of Oman. People learn these values from sailing, it’s great for development."
The learning from these activities has been extremely valuable. Understanding each others’ backgrounds and cultures is essential to the relationship between the two nations. Underpinning the activities was the professionalism of the instructors from both nations, with the Omanis bringing a profound sailing knowledge to the activities - several Omani instructors were Ex Omani Royal Navy Officers. Sailing has a rich heritage in Oman, made famous by seamen such as the fabled ‘Sinbad’ and Omani sea-going trade dating back 1000s of years. The instructors had all sailed in many destinations around the world with one talking about his childhood commuting to school by boat and another explaining how he once crewed with record-holder Ellen MacArthur.
Britain and Oman working together has been a great example of friendship and enduring international partnership.