Category: MIL-OSI

Source: United States Navy

CHICAGO (May 9, 2024) – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti traveled to Chicago to meet with high school Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) students from the Rickover Naval Academy, William Howard Taft High School and Corliss High School, NROTC college students in the Chicago Consortium, and community leaders, May 8-9.

The visit provided the CNO the opportunity to discuss her personal journey in the Navy and share leadership lessons, as well as to open students’ minds to what service in the Navy looks like.

“When I was in your shoes, I could never have imagined that I would be standing here today as the chief of naval operations. Life is not necessarily what we predict, and being open to possibilities that come along the way is really important,” Franchetti shared with an auditorium of nearly 500 NJROTC cadets. Paraphrasing Chester Nimitz she added, “‘learn all you can, do your best, and don’t worry about the things you can’t control,’ because you never know what opportunities are going to come your way, and if you always take advantage of the them, when doors start to open, you’ll be ready to walk through.”

Franchetti also spoke with Rickover Naval Academy faculty and members from the Chicago Board of Education and community leaders to educate them about the mission of the Navy and the value of service to the Navy and the Nation.

“Every day about 110 U.S. Navy ships and 70,000 Sailors and Marines are underway – defending our Nation, enabling the free flow of commerce and protecting sea lanes of communication,” Franchetti said. “It’s not just our ships, we operate from the seabed to space in cyberspace, and in the information environment.”

She added, “You may not think about it all the time, but freedom of the seas is really important. Ninety percent of our trade goes across the oceans. So when you order something online and it gets to your doorstep, it’s because we have a Navy out there… and it’s those Sailors and Marines that are protecting our way of life, and I couldn’t be more proud of our Navy team.”

CNO concluded her outreach visit at her alma mater of Northwestern University where she attended a cook-out with Chicago Consortium NROTC students and members of the crew team.

Franchetti told them how a chance encounter with a group of NROTC students at a cookout during her freshman year changed the course of her life. She said she stopped by to say hi and see what they were doing. They said they were NROTC students and she could compete for a scholarship and get a hundred dollars a month and free textbooks. She talked to their lieutenant, who told her more about the mission and opportunities in the Navy and she decided to sign up on the spot.

“I joined the Navy for free college, but I stayed for our mission,” Franchetti said. “I love being part of the Navy team. I love serving with amazing Sailors, amazing people all over the world, and getting to be that beacon of hope and democracy all around the world– and it has been an amazing journey.”

While visiting Northwestern University, CNO was one of seven alumni who were inducted into the 2024 Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement.

This was ADM Franchetti’s first trip to the Chicago region as CNO.

Source: United States Navy

EVANSTON, Ill. (May 9, 2024) – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti was one of seven alumni who were inducted into the 2024 Medill School of Journalism Hall of Achievement at Northwestern University, May 9.

This is the highest honor Medill bestows on its graduates. Franchetti offered brief remarks at the ceremony reflecting on her time at Medill and what this award means to her.

Her full remarks are below:

“Well thank you very much, and what an honor it is to be here tonight. Good evening and thank you, Dean Whitaker and Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. It is an incredible honor for me to receive this award, but as equally important to receive it alongside these other amazing recipients. So again, what an honor to be here.

You know, I remember the day that the letter came to my house that said I was accepted to Medill. It was an amazing day, it was a dream come true. When I arrived here on campus back in September of 1981, I was ready to pursue my dream of becoming a journalist. And then a funny thing happened. I was walking around doing that check-in sheet that we had to do during freshman orientation week, and I was coming back from Patten gym and I was walking down the other side of the road, and there were some people playing football – throwing a football around in a parking lot right across from [tech]. So I stopped by to talk to them, and I asked them what they were doing, and they were NROTC students. They said they were going to be in the Navy and Marine Corps, and oh, by the way, they can give me a $100 a month, free books, and probably a scholarship. I thought, as one of six kids that sounded like a really good thing.

So I signed up on the spot. I got those free books, I got free tuition, and I got that scholarship that I really, really needed. So, it is kind of funny 38 years later, I’m now standing here as the chief of naval operations. And I think that’s in large part thanks to what I learned here at Northwestern and at Medill.

And though I never got to become the journalist that I dreamed of becoming, I think Medill gave me a really strong foundation. It taught me to ask questions, it taught me to always be curious, and it taught me how to tell a story.

So let me just tell a quick story. It’s kind of funny that we all have some memory of Professor Dick Hainey. So, I was a coxswains when I was here at Northwestern. Crew had just started up. And one of the things I did to motivate my rowers before a regatta is write them a little note every night, I’d slide it under the door before the big race. And I needed a lot of quotes. So I started writing down things that my professors would say.

One of the things Professor Hainey said – another Medill alum, he was a member for the inaugural class receiving this award. He told us one day that “not all roses open up on the same day.”

I jotted it in my book, I didn’t really think anything of it, and as I reflect on it 41 years later, I can say that sentiment became one of the most important tenets of my leadership philosophy. And it has really helped me be able to build great teams and empower people every day to bring their best to work, and accept that people – like roses – do indeed “bloom” in their own way and at their own pace.

I am confident that Professor Hainey never knew the impression he made on me, but I am forever grateful to him, and to this university for my experience, and for teaching me to respect our differences and value them as strengths and opportunities.

So, thank you very much to Medill for this great foundation that you gave me and for this incredible honor. And I want to say a remote thank you to my husband, Jim, and my daughter, Isabel – who had an AP exam today – for supporting me throughout my career … and a special thanks to Paul Lehman and Ronna Stamm, and my C-100 teammates that are here today. Thank you for your support and to all my professors – past and present – for what they did for me. Thank you very much.”

The Medill Dean, Charles Whitaker, also spoke at the ceremony.

“These seven individuals have distinguished themselves with exceptional accomplishments in their fields, from media to top brands to government,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker. “It is a pleasure to be able to recognize their impressive contributions with induction into the Hall of Achievement.”

Photos from the induction ceremony can be found here:

Source: United States Navy

Source: United States Navy

Sea Sisters began in summer 2023 when servicewomen from a previous MSRON unit at Camp Lemonnier conducted a maritime personnel recovery exercise with Djibouti Coast Guard servicewomen for the first time.

The Sea Sisters exercise is the result of 10 years of MSRON partnership with Djiboutian maritime forces.

“This was my first time participating in Sea Sisters,” said Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Cheyenne Monroe. “I enjoyed seeing everyone working together, creating partnerships with the Djiboutian Coast Guard servicewomen and having experiences that we will all carry with us throughout our careers.”

Sea Sisters occurs during the preparation for Exercise Bull Shark, a larger personnel recovery exercise that involves maritime forces from the United States, Djibouti, Spain and France. MSRON units work with the Djiboutian Navy and Coast Guard each year to prepare for the regional exercise, practicing maritime skills, signaling, advanced navigation and casualty care for months ahead of the exercise. Exercise Bull Shark is set to take place May 5-6, 2024.

Sea Sisters began on April 29 when Djibouti Coast Guard servicewomen visited Camp Lemonnier’s state-of-the-art virtual range to train on weapons familiarization, navigation and medical intervention.

On April 30, Joint Personnel Recovery Center Airmen taught maritime survival skills and Camp Lemonnier security forces personnel from the Pennsylvania National Guard’s Task Force Paxton taught casualty care techniques during a knowledge exchange at Camp Doraleh, the Djibouti Coast Guard base.

The next day, training commenced at the port of Djibouti. Three teams of U.S. and Djiboutian servicewomen practiced maritime search and rescue scenarios on three MSRON 10 vessels where they simulated man overboard drills and medical intervention.

“It was an amazing experience,” said Djibouti Coast Guard 2nd Lt. Fatouma Ali Ahmed, the first female marine pilot in the port of Djibouti. “The exchanging of expertise between us and the U.S. servicewomen during this exercise is very important to us. We learned about their navigation systems, man overboard procedures and first aid medical skills.”

Following the maritime exercise, Camp Lemonnier Commanding Officer, U.S. Navy Capt. Eilis Cancel presented certificates to participants with Djibouti Coast Guard Deputy Commandant Lt. Col. Mohamed Adawa Mohamed.

“Thank you for sharing this experience with us,” Cancel said during the closing ceremony. “We appreciate the opportunity to learn from you, work with you and share maritime techniques. We look forward to future Sea Sisters events where we can continue to do the same.”

MSRON 10, assigned to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, provides CLDJ’s 38 tenant commands and visiting naval vessels protection through 24/7 port security and escorting operations. CLDJ is an operational installation that enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to be where they are needed to ensure security and protect U.S. interests.

Source: United States Navy

Borne out of a need for a common regional strategy to address transnational threats in the Gulf of Guinea, the YCoC has been in place for over a decade and has proven an integral component of maritime security and stability in the region.

“In June 2013, the leaders of the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS) and Central Africa (ECCAS), as well as the Gulf of Guinea Commission (CGG), met in Yaoundé, Cameroon, laying the foundations for a common regional strategy relating to the prevention and repression of illegal acts perpetrated in the common maritime space of West and Central Africa,” said Captain Emmanuel Bell Bell, Head of the Information and Communication Management Division at the Interregional Coordination Center (ICC). “The primary objective of the Yaoundé Code of Conduct is to manage and significantly reduce the adverse effects of acts of piracy, armed robbery against vessels and other illicit maritime activities, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.”

The heart of the YCoC centers on continued regional collaboration and a sense of trust among neighboring countries and YCoC signatories. Maritime threats are not relegated to one nation’s territorial waters, so collaboration is essential to the economies and livelihoods of all West African nations. What affects Senegal’s Exclusive Economic Zone can affect the waters of Angola and Namibia. Illicit activity off the coast of Cabo Verde can have repercussions in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. This interconnectedness presents challenges and opportunities.

“Given the maritime transnational threats facing the Gulf of Guinea, no State could effectively resolve this maritime security problem alone, hence the regional maritime security and safety strategies adopted by the Regional Economic Communities,” Bell Bell added.

This overall Gulf of Guinea information sharing framework divides the West and Central African maritime domain into a series of zones, with national Maritime Operations Centers (MOC) feeding information to the zone leads and into Maritime Multinational Coordination Centers (MMCC), located in Luanda, Angola; Douala, Cameroon; Cotonou, Benin; Accra, Ghana; and a final MMCC under development in Praia, Cabo Verde. These MMCCs then report to one of two regional-level coordination centers, the Regional Maritime Security Center for Central Africa (CRESMAC) in Pointe Noire, Congo, and the Regional Maritime Security Center for West Africa (CRESMAO) in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, with the overall responsibility for implementing the YCoC resting with the ICC in Yaoundé.

In order to truly hone a collective regional response to threats, exercise Obangame Express, by design, takes place across more than 6,000 kilometers in Western and Central African waters. Rather than partner nations coming to one country and one MOC to train, exercise serials will take place across all zones, from Senegal to Angola, mirroring the zones of the YCoC.

“The key to success in the Obangame Express series of exercises is leveraging the experiences, capabilities and functionalities of all of our African partners, and leveraging them across the entire Yaoundé Code of Conduct area,” said Capt. Harish Patel, Obangame Express exercise director. “Obangame Express participants are united in a common purpose – working together to ensure maritime security across Western Africa. We are excited to work toward that goal during the course of the exercise.”

For this overall maritime architecture to work, every step of information gathering and processing, from national MOCs to MMCCs, to the CRESMAC and CRESMAO, and ultimately to the ICC, must be coordinated and communicated to be successful. This is where multinational training opportunities like Obangame Express come into play.

Now in its 13th iteration, a primary goal of the exercise is to test this information sharing framework. It empowers African and international partners to identify, assess, and share suspect activity and potential threats with operations centers for further evaluation and, if needed, a coordinated response.

“Exercises like Obangame Express are an opportunity to test some pillars of the regional maritime security and safety strategy for the Gulf of Guinea, notably the exchange of information, the harmonization of operational procedures and the strengthening of cooperation between partners in the maritime sector,” said Bell Bell. “On a practical level, we are talking about testing the technical, procedural and human interoperability of all our navies based on realistic scenarios concerning maritime threats. In addition, Obangame Express grants a certain visibility to the architectural structures of Yaoundé.”

As partners and allies work together through various Obangame Express exercise serials, they know that the training they accomplish during the exercise has real world benefits throughout the year. Understanding and implementing the tenets of the Yaoundé Code of Conduct benefits not only those nations on Africa’s Western shores, but all participating partner and ally forces.

In place for more than a decade, the YCoC has become an integral component of West African maritime security. Through combined initiatives like Obangame Express, it will remain a model for regional and international collaboration for decades to come.

During exercise Obangame Express 2024, the 13th iteration of the exercise, partner and ally forces collaborate to enhance collective maritime law enforcement capabilities, bolster national and regional security in West Africa, and foster greater interoperability among U.S., African, and multinational partners. The U.S. routinely exercises with our partners in Africa to build enduring relationships and combined capacity to ensure the safety and security of the regional maritime environment.

For more information on Obangame Express, visit https://www.dvidshub.net/feature/obangameexpress2024 or https://twitter.com/usnavyEurope/. Please direct any questions or requests to cne_cna_c6fpao@us.navy.mil.