The U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington hosted several Chilean officers as part of naval exercise UNITAS 2015.

Carrier Strike Group Nine and embarked Carrier Air Wing Two also took part in hosting the officers, as they participated in several exercises designed to improve cooperative relations during tactical engagements. UNITAS is the Navy's longest running multinational annual training exercise. Sailors from both the U.S. and Chile said the program is helpful for building working relationships.

"There are so many people aboard, and it is impressive how smoothly it all works," a Chilean naval officer said. "We've compared their leadership to our own and realized that we have many similarities and that we face the same challenges they do."

Lt. Anne Domko, who was assigned to Carrier Strike Group Nine during the exercise, said both forces were able to learn from each other.

"It took some coordination to integrate them into the work we were doing for the exercises but they were a valuable asset," Domko said in a statement. "We learned a lot from each other about the way our countries do business. The more we continue to increase interoperability between countries the better."

Chile hosted the first of two phases of UNITAS. The second phase, which will take place in November, will be hosted by Brazil.