Month: May 2022

Source: United States Navy

For military families with special needs, the Department of Defense Exceptional Family Member Program provides support and resources to help members and their families thrive in military life.

At Joint Base San Antonio, EFMP programs are available to all branches of the military, but an added bonus for Navy personnel in and around San Antonio is that they have their own case liaison for the program.  

Josephina “Josie” Rangel is the new Navy EFMP case liaison for DOD’s largest joint base.  

“We all know the struggles of moving from place to place, and the stress it can put on families with exceptional family members,” she said. “I encourage Sailors to reach out to their command’s EFMP coordinator, and that person can reach out to me if a Navy family needs additional resources.” 

The need for a case liaison specifically for South Texas Navy families was established through a pilot program that took place from November 2019 through November 2021 on JBSA-Fort Sam Houston at the Military and Family Readiness Center.

In the pilot, the JBSA EFMP office gathered daily information on the contact made with service members, Rangel said. This data was reported to the Office of Special Needs on a bi-weekly basis.

The reports confirmed the necessity for a Navy case liaison in the JBSA area, she said. 

Now that the service has its own point of contact for EFMP needs, Navy members are encouraged to reach out through their command EFMP coordinator, or directly if needed.  

“My cases include family members who live in Austin, Houston, and as far south as the McAllen, Texas, area,” Rangel said. “Navy Recruiting Command has a big presence in the area, as well as this being the place where Sailors come to “A” school and “C” school, schools where Sailors go to receive technical training and in-depth instruction in their selected military occupational specialty.

“These service member’s Military Treatment Facility coordinator is in Corpus Christi, so it may be difficult for members to coordinate services,” she said. “I can take care of coordinating their enrollment, disenrollment, and updates locally, and then provide that information to the MTF coordinator in Corpus Christi.” 

Rangel said enrollment in EFMP is essential for all military personnel with family members needing continual medical, educational, or behavioral health care, noting that there are over 200 Navy EFMP family members in the region.  

“If members want to meet up to discuss their EFMP enrollment, I am available to meet with them,” she said. 

Navy EFMP participants are also eligible to attend classes, events, and other EFMP offerings at JBSA. 

“By contacting us, we can get members added to our JBSA EFMP distribution list so they receive information on all the things we offer,” Rangel said.  

Navy members can reach out to Rangel by phone at 210-221-2705, by email at: 802FSS.FSYR.EFMP-FS@us.af.mil, or at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Military and Family Readiness Center, which is equivalent to the Navy’s Fleet and Family Support Center. 

Source: United States Navy

The Blue military crew (MILCREW) of the USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) and the ship’s Military Sealift Command Civilian Mariners (CIVMARs) departed Civitavecchia, Italy, to begin a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, May 14, 2022.

The Blue Crew took over for the Gold Crew while in Civitavecchia, May 9. This crew swap follows Gold Crew’s five-month deployment, which included participation in exercise Obangame Express and security operation patrols with African partners along the west coast of Africa.

“We are rested and ready to get back on the open seas to execute our mission requirements,” said Capt. Chad W. Graham, commanding officer of Hershel “Woody” Williams Blue MILCREW. “The Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams is a unique platform that enables us to integrate and operate with internal and international partners improving interoperability, maritime domain awareness, and building upon our existing relationships.”

During the deployment, the ship and crew will complete a mobility air qualification. They will also participate in a variety of exercises and operations with partner nations.

USS Hershel “Woody” Williams is the first warship permanently assigned to the U.S. Africa Command area of responsibility. The U.S. shares a common interest with African partner nations in ensuring security, safety, and freedom of navigation on the waters surrounding the continent, because these waters are critical for Africa’s prosperity and access to global markets.

The ESB ship class is a highly flexible platform that operates across a broad range of military operations. Acting as a mobile sea base, they are part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to support missions assigned.

For over 70 years, U.S. Sixth Fleet forces have forged strategic relationships with our Allies and partners and solidified a foundation of shared values, experiences, and vision aimed at preserving security and stability.

U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with Allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

Source: United States Navy

Members of Task Force 61 Naval Amphibious Forces Europe/2d Marine Division (TF-61/2), operating under U.S. Sixth Fleet, joined their Estonian counterparts to kick off exercise Siil 22, also known in English as Exercise Hedgehog, in Tallinn, Estonia, May 16.

The Estonian-led exercise Siil, designed to exercise command and control and security threat response while evaluating combat readiness of Estonian 2nd Infantry Brigade and Center of Strategic Communication, will consist of around 15,000 Estonian and Allied military members training alongside elements of the USS Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and forces from Task Group 61/2.4. The training between U.S. and Estonian forces is scheduled to last until May 30 and will take place in and around Pärnu, Saaremaa and Võru, Estonia.

“Hedgehog 22 is a fantastic opportunity for our Sailors and Marines to train alongside and learn with our Estonian Allies,” Col. Robert J. Hallett, Commanding Officer of Task Group 61/2.4 (RXR) and Deputy Commander, Task Force 61/2, said. “The Estonian military is incredibly professional and we have similar goals in enhancing regional Maritime Domain Awareness. We look forward to the success of this exercise as a testament to the strength of our relationship with our Estonian allies and Baltic partners and as a demonstration of our shared commitment to regional security and stability.”

The exercise scenario will consist of an amphibious landing followed by a multi-day force on force exercise, as well as the execution of a vertical assault raid. Training in the Baltics is an outstanding opportunity to integrate Marine Corps stand-in forces with not only the ARG and MEU, but with members of the Estonian military as well.

Since deploying from the East Coast in March, the ARG-MEU team has routinely worked alongside Allies and partners. Elements of the ARG-MEU participated in Exercise Northern Viking in Iceland and bilateral training with Norway in April and early May. The ARG-MEU team has also joined in the Greek-U.S. bilateral exercise Alexander the Great in Greece, with participating units including the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Arlington (LPD 24) and RXR Marines.

Task Force 61/2 aligns multiple existing deployed forces under the Naval Amphibious Force commander; deployed amphibious ready groups (ARG), Marine expeditionary units (MEU), and reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance (RXR) forces. TF-61/2’s establishment under the Commander of Sixth Fleet embodies a shift in how the Marine Corps supports fleet and joint commander in accordance with Force Design. Operationalizing these integrated concepts, capabilities, and doctrine demonstrates Marines are a naval expeditionary force-in-readiness, capable of identifying and deterring malign behavior and, when necessary, fighting inside our adversary’s engagement zone to support numbered fleet commanders’ operations.

Beyond command-and-control synchronization within the fleet, the task force operationalizes Marine Corps forces critical new concepts through training and experimentation, providing naval and joint force commanders with dedicated multi-domain reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance (RXR) capabilities. TF-61/2 is executing the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ Concept for Stand-in Forces (SIF) to generate small, highly versatile units that integrate Marine Corps and Navy forces.

U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with Allied and interagency Partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability throughout Europe and Africa.

Source: United States Navy

Units and personnel from U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa / U.S. Sixth Fleet joined their Italian counterparts and other Allied navies in the Italian-led exercise Mare Aperto 22-1/Italian Minex 22 in the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Seas, May 15, 2022.

U.S. forces participating in the exercise include the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), aircraft assigned to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman’s (CVN 75) Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1, Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler USNS Laramie (T-AO 203), U.S. Transportation Command-charter commercial tanker motor vessel Maersk Peary, and U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft from Commander, Task Force 67.

Mare Aperto 22-1 is a joint and combined high-end exercise led and executed by the Italian Navy. The aim of the exercise, conducted in a realistic and complex scenario, is to plan, conduct and test the combat readiness of the participating forces in a three-dimensional environment.

In the coming weeks, French, Italian, Spanish and U.S. maritime forces, as well as the multinational forces of NATO’s Standing NATO Maritime Groups (SNMG), will train together to enhance interoperability and proficiency among the Allies.

“The entire crew is looking forward to participating in exercise Mare Aperto,” said Cmdr. James Hagerty, Bainbridge’s commanding officer. “This exercise presents an excellent opportunity to participate in joint and combined high end training with our NATO Allies.”

This training – consisting of amphibious operations, mine counter-measure operations and tactical exercises, will feature multi-domain operations, made possible by units like the P-8A Poseidon.

P-8As will find, track, and communicate surface contacts to Allied units during the exercise. This key information sharing between NATO Allies builds an accurate picture of the maritime domain, enhancing commanders’ awareness of the area of operations and enabling a faster and more informed decision-making process.

Surface combatants like Bainbridge will participate in multiple unique serials in support of the overall exercise, honing their skills through a variety of warfighting scenarios across multiple domains, while the Maersk Peary and USNS Laramie will provide refueling and sustainment capability to Allied ships at sea.

Maersk Peary can operate as a consolidation (CONSOL) tanker to replenish other logistics ships (like Laramie) while providing bulk capabilities that increase the endurance of the Combat Logistics Fleet (CLF). Peary’s unique mission set enhances the sustainability and operability of U.S. and Allied units in theater. In February, the ship conducted fuel offload operations in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2022 near the South Pole, underscoring the platform’s geographic and mission set diversity.

The strategic relationship between the U.S. and NATO Allies has been forged over the past seven decades and provides the U.S. strategic access, critical to meet NATO Article 5 commitments. This relationship is built on a foundation of shared values, experiences and vision, and is demonstrated through combined operations and multilateral exercises like Mare Aperto.

U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests, security and stability in Europe and Africa.