Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Jacob Allison | AT SEA (March 31, 2025) Royal Australian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Luke Searle stands watch...... read more read more
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AT SEA (March 31, 2025) Two foreign exchange officers from the Royal Australian Navy and Belgian Navy embarked aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59) for its 2024 to 2025 Western Pacific deployment with Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 1, highlighting the Navy’s commitment to allies and partners.
Royal Australian Navy Lt. Cmdr. Luke Searle, a tactical officer, and Belgian Navy Lt. j.g. Viktor, a deck officer, embarked Princeton as part of a personnel exchange from their respective countries for a period of more than two years.
“It’s been an awesome experience,” said Viktor. “I hope we can continue to do this in the future and that we keep emphasizing our alliance and with our allies in the Indo-Pacific region because it’s a huge benefit.”
The two officers integrated completely, attending U.S. Navy schools, standing watch, and living aboard Princeton while on two deployments. While some things were different, they found that operating with the U.S. Navy was a familiar routine.
“A navy is a navy,” said Searle. “We all get each other in a way. It’s like a big family, and I’m just being a member of that family. Everyone’s been really good at the transition and helping me so we can be on the same page.”
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kyle Fullerton, the executive officer of Princeton, said that the exchange program showcases the Navy’s commitment to interoperability with allies and partners.
“The foreign exchange program, for both officers and enlisted, is an outstanding opportunity for professionals in the U.S., allied, and partner nation militaries to serve together, share experiences, and strengthen bonds of friendship and cooperation,” said Fullerton. “By having personnel who have participated in an exchange program, it helps facilitate smoother integration, builds shared understanding, fosters the exchange of ideas and experiences, and positively influences mission accomplishment.”
During their time aboard, Searle and Viktor cross-qualified in U.S. Navy watch stations.
“I’m a tactical actions officer, and I’m here to learn about the AEGIS combat system,” said Searle. “My job is to take some of that knowledge back to Australia as we upgrade our destroyers to the new version of AEGIS, which is what Princeton has at the moment.”
The exchange gave Searle and Viktor an opportunity to learn how the U.S. Navy operates and to share their experience with U.S. Sailors.
“[Viktor] is an exceptional watch-stander, demonstrating a deep level of knowledge in seamanship and navigation and was essential, while deployed to U.S. 7th Fleet, for various exercises and training events, such as navigation watch-team assessments,” said Fullerton.
“It comes down to the same thing – driving warships,” said Viktor. “It’s been an awesome experience, especially deploying with Princeton to 7th Fleet.”
Overall, both officers felt that the exchange program was worth the time and that the opportunity to serve aboard an allied ship highlighted the ways in which the U.S., Belgian, and Australian navies can work together in the future.
“At the end of the day, there’s a lot of similarities,” said Searle. “We’re really doing the same job. We speak a little bit differently, we do things a little bit differently, and the procedures are slightly different, but I recognize everything in one form or another as being very similar so how we do it back home.”
Princeton, deployed as part of the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group, is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.
For more news from CSG-1 and Carl Vinson visit: https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/CSG1, https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/CVN70
| Date Taken: | 03.31.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.13.2025 02:47 |
| Story ID: | 495199 |
| Location: | AT SEA |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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