Pan-American Highway (South America) among these countries. It is crossed by three large rivers, but an international system of ferries helps cross these natural obstacles. The highway begins its path through South America in Colombia. However, a branch called the Simon Bolivar Highway runs through Venezuela. This stretch of the highway is an important link between Caracas and Bogotá. The road begins as Venezuela Highway 9 in Güiria, a small town in the state of Sucre just west of Trinidad along the Gulf of Paria coastline. From Güiria, the highway winds west towards the town of Yaguaraparo. Once the highway reaches Yaguaraparo, on the
USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) vessel to the inbound channel for passage to the SSBN refit site, and the beginning of the next patrol cycle. During the off-crew period, critical skills were practiced and enhanced at the Fleet Ballistic Missile Training Center at the naval base where off-crews were located (Naval Base Charleston for Simon Bolivar). Specialized facilities were used for sonar, weapons and engineering training. Included was a control room simulator in which control room watchstanders (Officer of the Deck, Diving Officer, Chief of the Watch and planesmen) could practice realistic casualty responses that could not be simulated on board the submarine. One critical