Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - USS Patriot (MCM 7) and USS Salvor (ARS 52) played friendly volleyball matches with officers of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) navy at the Navy Technical School here July 2.

The friendly competition comes one day after the ship arrived to Ho Chi Minh City for a scheduled port visit to enhance U.S.-Vietnam relations.

With a gift exchange, meaningful hand shakes before and after the game and an enthusiastic crowd of PAVN sailors cheering on, participants felt the event served to build friendships between the two navies and two nations.

"Once in a lifetime experience to be here and to be competing with the Vietnamese people in this way," said Mineman 3rd Class (SW) Andrew Palka, crew member of Patriot. "I am truly honored that I was able to represent my country here playing volleyball with Vietnamese sailors. Though it is just a friendly match, I know we're gaining some quality camaraderie with them."

According to the commandant of the technical school, the game would be a bridge to friendship.

"We know that through volleyball competition, we can better understand each other," said the commandant through a translator. "Sport is fun and builds friendship, so we are glad to have the U.S. Navy here today and wish them the best."

In the three games played, the U.S. Navy Sailors were defeated by their PAVN navy counterparts. One of the Salvor teams stayed close to the Vietnamese crew down to the final points. But the Salvor divers could not overcome the precision and spiking ability of the Vietnamese team and lost 25-23.

The good sportsmanship mentality resided with the crews after the match was over. Though the U.S. Navy Sailors were slightly disappointed with the performance, they were ecstatic about the experience.

"It was really fun," said Mineman 3rd Class Shawn McFall. "With the cheering and seeing an aspect of their navy…it was something I won't forget."

Patriot is a mine countermeasures ship forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan. Patriot and USS Guardian (MCM 5) serve under Task Force 76, which serves as the U.S. 7th Fleet's mine countermeasures arm in forward-deployed operations. The ship and embarked Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 5, Detachment (Det) 51 are currently deployed in Southeast Asia to support 7th Fleet's interoperability and training commitments in mine neutralization warfare and maritime operations.

Salvor, homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is one of the U.S. Navy's four deep-ocean salvage and rescue vessels. The ship and its crew are currently taking part in the three-month Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercise series. CARAT is an annual series of bilateral maritime training exercises between the United States and six Southeast Asia nations designed to build relationships and enhance the operational readiness of the participating forces. As part of the most recent CARAT phase in Thailand, the crew of Salvor, along with embarked divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, completed six days of diving operations on wreckage in the Gulf of Thailand believed to be that of the lost World War II submarine USS Lagarto (SS 371).