Month: April 2022

Source: United States Navy

After completing the ship’s inaugural patrol, Paul Ignatius will join destroyers USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51), USS Ross (DDG 71), USS Porter (DDG 78) and USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) as Forward Deployed Naval Force-Europe (FDNF-E) ships homeported in Rota, Spain, fortifying the enduring relationship between the U.S. Navy and NATO.

Paul Ignatius’ move is one of several scheduled homeport shifts to occur in support of the U.S. Navy’s long-range plan to gradually rotate the Rota-based destroyers.

The ship is named in honor of former Secretary of the Navy Paul Ignatius, who served under President Lyndon Johnson from 1967 to 1969. Ignatius previously served as a Navy lieutenant during World War II.

Paul Ignatius is the second of eight planned Flight IIA “technology insertion” ships, which contain elements of the Flight III ships. The Flight III upgrade is centered on improvements to the DDG air and missile defense capability, enabling Flight III ships to simultaneously perform AAW and BMD. This improvement satisfies the Navy’s critical need for an enhanced surface combatant Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) capability.

“We are excited to begin this journey today,” said Cmdr. Aaron Arky, commanding officer of Paul Ignatius. “This is the culmination of a lot of hard work by many Sailors to both prepare the ship and hone our tradecraft. Paul Ignatius is one of the newest and most advanced destroyers in the Navy. Together with our embarked helicopter detachment, we are bringing a lot of capability to the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations.”

U.S. Navy ships assigned to FDNF-E demonstrate national resolve, strengthen alliances, dissuade potential adversaries, and enhance the ability to respond quickly to contingencies. Rota offers a world-class port facility that provides an excellent location for multi-mission Aegis ships to support NATO and U.S. missions, exercises and engagements.

U.S. 2nd Fleet, reestablished in 2018 in response to the changing global security environment, develops and employs maritime forces ready to fight across multiple domains in the Atlantic and Arctic in order to ensure access, deter aggression and defend U.S., allied, and partner interests.

For more news from C2F, visit http://www.facebook.com/US2ndFleet or http://twitter.com/US2ndFleet

Source: United States Navy

The operations included the U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Momsen (DDG 92) and the Indian Navy’s guided-missile frigate INS Trishul (F 43), which focused on building interoperability and strengthening relationships.

“Our crew strives to work efficiently and effectively to ensure we are able to operate together with our partners while underway. Conducting an exercise with the Indian Navy off of their western coast is a chance that we did not want to miss,” said Cmdr. Erik Roberts, commanding officer of Momsen. “Our commitment to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific is bolstered every time we perform at-sea operations with those who share our maritime goals.”

The U.S.-India bilateral operations focused on division tactics, a passing exercise, communications checks, and formation sailing, providing both navies the opportunity to work together to further common maritime goals.

Momsen is assigned to Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15. CTF 71/DESRON 15 is the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet is the largest forward-deployed fleet and routinely operates and interacts with 35 maritime nations while conducting missions to preserve and protect critical regional partnerships.

For more news from CTF 71, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/DS15

Source: United States Navy

Lescher met with Naval War College leaders, spoke with students at the Navy Leadership and Ethics Course (NLEC), and discussed Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP) and shipyard performance with shipyard leadership. He also discussed the production of the Virginia class SSN and Columbia class SSBN – platforms critical to accelerating our undersea warfare advantage.  

Lescher received helpful feedback from leaders at all levels about the Chief of Naval Operations’ Get Real, Get Better (GRGB) movement.   

While at the Naval War College and NLEC Lescher emphasized the need to establish clear standards and measures for the GRGB behaviors desired in the fleet. Lescher has made it a priority to engage with each NLEC class over the last year, encouraging them to take GRGB principles to their new commands.  

“As leaders we must role model Get Real, Get Better behaviors by removing barriers for our people where we can and elevating barriers with specificity and accountability where we can’t,” Lescher said. 

On the trip Lescher also visited both PNS and GDEB shipyards to talk with leadership about the challenges they are facing and how the Navy and industry can partner at all levels to enhance transparency to remove barriers and measurably improve performance.  

“The Navy is changing our mindset and processes through GRGB, and we are actively challenging our industry partners to do the same,” said Lescher. “Working together to achieve better outcomes is key to accelerating Navy’s maritime advantage in our strategic competition with China.” 

For more information about Get Real, Get Better visit www.navy.mil/GetRealGetBetter