Month: June 2023

Source: United States Navy

Guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) spotted the vessel as its civilian crew signaled for help in the early afternoon local time. McFaul quickly deployed a small-boat team to provide the mariners water and engine-testing assistance for two hours until the United Arab Emirates Coast Guard arrived.

“We were proud to assist fellow mariners at sea,” said Cmdr. Antonia Shey, commanding officer of McFaul. “We remained on scene until follow-up assistance from the United Arab Emirates arrived. Our duty to render assistance at sea allows us to aid mariners in distress and we’re proud to have provided that support.”

McFaul is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help ensure maritime security and stability in the Middle East region.

The U.S. 5th Fleet operating area includes 21 countries, the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and Suez Canal.

Source: United States Navy

During their first week aboard HMS Albion, the U.S. Marines began a series of familiarization classes and drills under the guidance of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando Royal Marines.

“We’re working closely with the 45 Commando Royal Marines – they’re piloting the boats and teaching us their amphibious landing tactics,” said 1^st Lt. Jacob Fretto, platoon commander with Golf Company.  “The whole purpose of why we are here is for interoperability with allies. One of the best things about BALTOPS is we get to work with so many different countries and people and learn about how they conduct military operations.”

Entering the combat enhancement and force integration training phases of BALTOPS 23, Golf Company and X-Ray Company conducted amphibious landing drills near Ventspils, Latvia, June 5-8. The Marines utilized inflatable raiding crafts, landing craft vehicle/personnel, and landing craft utility to transport the Marines to shore, where they worked together to execute an amphibious raid.

“It’s been a good opportunity to work with 2/6 Golf Company. It’s been really insightful how the U.S. Marine Corps is developing for the future, and it’s been a really great opportunity to work out how we can develop higher level interoperability and exchangeability between X-Ray Company and Golf Company,” said Maj. Lee Stewart, officer in charge of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando. “I’m really looking forward to working alongside Golf Company, looking at how we can work at the team level together, and see how our communications and tactics can support each other.”

BALTOPS 23 culminates with the final tactical phase of the exercise where forces shift into a “free play” portion, and commanders are given more freedom to run their tactical programs, designed to replicate realistic military dilemmas  and operations. This is an opportunity for Golf Company and X-Ray Company, alongside NATO Allies and Partners, to demonstrate their overall coordination and interoperability as a joint force.

The Golf Company Marines, attached to 2d Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force and deployed from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, are operating under the tactical control of Task Force 61/2, U.S. Sixth Fleet, and U.S. Naval Forces Europe.

U.S. Sixth Fleet (SIXTHFLT) and STRIKFORNATO-led BALTOPS 23 is the premier annual maritime-focused exercise uniting 19 NATO Allies and one NATO to provide complex training designed to strengthen the combined response capability critical to preserving the freedom of navigation and security in the Baltic Sea. U.S. European Command and U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) have promoted the traditional U.S.-led or bi-lateral exercises as opportunities for NATO to improve interoperability as a collective force, using NATO command and control systems as a foundation for the exercise design.

For over 80 years, NAVEUR-NAVAF forged strategic relationships with our Allies and Partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. SIXTHFLT is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.

STRIKFORNATO, headquartered at Oeiras, Portugal, is a rapidly deployable and scalable headquarters, under the operational command of SACEUR, capable of planning and executing full spectrum joint maritime operations including maritime ballistic missile defense, primarily through integration of U.S. and other nation’s carrier and amphibious forces into NATO operations to provide assurance, deterrence, and collective defense for the Alliance.

Source: United States Navy

More than 15 U.S. service members helped staff at Bahrain Mobility International (BMI) in Isa Town, Bahrain clean and lay new turf at the playground.

“We are very excited about the playground,” said Zainab Radhi, physiotherapy director for BMI. “I know that when the Navy comes here something great will happen. We have nowhere for the kids to play outside. We provide free education for kids with disabilities, so it’s difficult with our budget.”

Established in 1979, BMI is a non-governmental humanitarian organization that offers speech therapy, occupational therapy and other special needs services to the Bahrain community. International and American military personnel have frequently support children and staff at the site.

Last October, more than 80 service members and civilians from multiple U.S. and partner militaries assisted with cleanup and beautification projects at the facility. The volunteers included Sailors, Marines, Coastguardsmen, Soldiers, and international service members assigned to Combined Maritime Forces.

U.S. 5th Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain with two U.S.-led international partnerships: Combined Maritime Forces, a 38-nation naval partnership, and the International Maritime Security Construct, an 11-nation coalition.

The U.S. Navy’s operating area in the Middle East includes 21 countries, the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and Suez Canal.

Source: United States Navy

The visit, held in support of exercise African Lion 2023, will include a ship tour for leaders and representatives of U.S Naval Forces Europe-Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) and the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. Arleigh Burke will also partake in a Maritime Exercise Key Leader Engagement (MTX KLE), critical in strengthening U.S. and Moroccan Armed Forces’ relations, supporting NAVAF readiness goals, and building interoperability with Morocco.

“It is an honor to visit Agadir,” said Cmdr. Pete Flynn, commanding officer of USS Arleigh Burke. “Our partnership with Morocco provides the U.S. Navy with a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate our shared commitment to a secure, stable, and prosperous Africa.”

After this port visit, Arleigh Burke and its crew will join approximately 8,000 participants from 18 nations in the ongoing exercise African Lion 23, U.S. Africa Command’s largest annual, combined, joint exercise. In addition to U.S. forces, participants include allies and African partners from Morocco, Djibouti, Ghana, Senegal, and Tunisia.

African Lion provides a critical opportunity for members of the joint team to build and test their strategic readiness to deploy, fight and win in a complex, multi-domain environment. The maritime portion of the exercise, led by NAVAF, includes maritime interdiction operations, air defense exercises, anti-submarine warfare exercises, and naval gunfire exercises.

The exercise underscores the United States’ approach in Africa as partner-led and U.S. enabled. Participation in multinational exercises like African Lion has a lasting and sustained impact on regional security while also enhancing Allies and partners’ abilities to operate together in pursuit of common goals.

“African Lion will again show the true grit and resilience this crew has displayed throughout our third patrol,” said Arleigh Burke’s Command Master Chief (CMDCM) Rafael Barney. “Just like our namesake, Admiral Arleigh Burke, once said, ‘This ship is built to fight,’ and we cannot wait to put our commitment to African security on full display for our African partners.”

Arleigh Burke is on its third patrol in the NAVEUR-NAVAF area of operations as a member of the Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Europe (FDNF-E). The ship began patrol on Feb. 2, 2023, departing from its homeport of Naval Station Rota, Spain, and has operated in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Arctic Circle, Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Red Sea.

FDNF-E destroyers routinely operate throughout the waters of Europe and Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Arctic Circle, demonstrating their mastery of the maritime domain. Arleigh Burke is one of four U.S. Navy destroyers based at Naval Station Rota, Spain, and assigned to Commander, Task Force 65 in support of NATO’s Integrated Air Missile Defense architecture.

For over 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with our allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.