Bonhomme Richard ARG WESTPAC 02 Deployment
LHD-6 Bonhomme Richard
"Revolutionary Gator"

More than 4,000 Sailors and Marines embarked aboard three amphibious warships steamed away from their homeport of San Diego Dec. 1, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Their deployment was originally scheduled for mid January of 2002, but were deployed a month and a half early. Sailors aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), USS Ogden (LPD 5) and USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) set sail with Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

The three ships form an Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), led by Amphibious Squadron 3. The ARG was ordered to deploy 45 days earlier than originally scheduled, to join America's war against international terrorism. The ARG and embarked MEU have successfully trained and operated in several fleet exercises in the past few months with the latest military state-of-the-art technology. Now these naval expeditionary forces are heading west, ready to support combat operations as directed by the National Command Authority.

Chronology

18 Jun 2002 - Returned to San Diego
01 Dec 2001 - Deployed