Photo By Jeffrey Landis | APRA HARBOR, Guam (March 4, 2016) – Four American destroyers sit at Sierra Pier,...... read more read more
APRA HARBOR, Guam – Ten naval surface combatants assigned to the U.S. and Japanese navies arrived in-port to Apra Harbor, U.S. Naval Base Guam, March 4 to participate in the at-sea bilateral exercise, Multi-Sail 2016 (MS-16), under the exercise control of Commander, Destroyer Squadron-15 (COMDESRON-15). The ships left Apra Harbor March 14, after a few days of liberty and community relations projects in Guam.
The ship composition included five forward deployed U.S. Arleigh Burke class destroyers and one Ticonderoga class cruiser and four Japanese Maritime Defense (JMSDF) destroyers including one destroyer command ship. The presence of MS-16 surface ships increased the total number of visiting and home-ported vessels at the base to 20 and marked the largest contingent of vessels in Apra Harbor in more than 30 years.
MS-16 is aimed at interoperability and collective benefits from realistic, shared training between the U.S. and Japanese forces. This training enables real-world proficiency in sustaining combined forces through detecting, locating, tracking and engaging units at sea, in the air, on land, and underwater in response to a range of mission areas, as well as ensuring stability and security throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
“We operate routinely with the JMSDF – our operations at sea are the bedrock of U.S.-Japan’s enduring relationship,” said Capt. Christopher Sweeney, COMDESRON-15. “Exercises like Multi-Sail are designed to address common maritime security priorities and concerns, enhance combined operations and communication, and enrich relationships that will benefit our forces for many years to come.”
Additionally, the exercise helped to “build our aptitude to execute Distributed Lethality, a return to our most fundamental instincts as warfighters,” said Sweeney.
“This concept means that every ship is a shooter, ships are positioned geographically to be lethal at many points, and ships are prepared to be resilient and persistent.”
The U.S. and JMSDF conducted combined operations in the waters off Guam, from March 7-11, exercising a wide range of capabilities and demonstrating the inherent flexibility of combined forces. MS-16 enabled real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces through detecting, locating, tracking and engaging units at sea, in the air, on land, and underwater in response to a range of mission areas, such as maritime security operations to anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as complex warfighting.
“Naval Base Guam exists to support forward deployed operations and our warfighters at sea,” said Capt. Andy Anderson, commanding officer of NBG. “Apra Harbor is a major contributor to the U.S. Navy’s maritime strategy and our ability to sustain the fleet in this part of the globe. We were excited to host all these ships and demonstrate our capability to support our maritime forces in-port, here in Guam.”
Participating U.S. surface ships included: The guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), the guided-missile destroyers USS Barry (DDG 52), USS Benfold (DDG 65), USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54), USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), USS McCampbell (DDG 85) and fast attack submarines USS North Carolina (SSN-777) and USS Chicago (SSN-721).
The ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force were: Amagiri (DD 154), JS Harusame (DD 102), JS Kirishima (DDG 174), JS Kurama (DDH 144).
| Date Taken: | 03.14.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.16.2016 04:03 |
| Story ID: | 192532 |
| Location: | APRA HARBOR, GU |
| Web Views: | 499 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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