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Navy's First Tomahawk Shooter of Operation Iraqi Freedom Returns to Pearl Harbor

Navy NewStand

Story Number: NNS030428-11
Release Date: 4/28/2003 11:14:00 AM

By Chief Journalist David Rush, Commander, Submarine Force U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Cheyenne (SSN 773), one of the Navy's first ships to launch a Tomahawk cruise missile in Operation Iraqi Freedom, returned from nearly nine months at sea April 24.

As part of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Strike Group, the submarine was an integral part of destroying Iraqi defense and communication abilities. Following the initial strikes, air and ground forces were mobilized to take towns and cities throughout Iraq, culminating in coalition forces taking the capital city of Baghdad.

In an address at the Navy League Sea Air Space exposition April 17, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Vern Clark said that the Navy's role was key to the coalition's success in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"When I think about time-sensitive strike, I think about the joint-decapitation strike [on Baghdad]. I remember when the Tomahawk was a system where planning a target would take days to weeks. But on this occasion, from the time we got the target, which came back via satellite to the United States for planning and got back to the ships via satellite into the system, and a missile went out of the tube, it took just over a couple of hours," said Clark.

"That's what speed is about. I am so pleased with the way the Navy Marine Corps team has responded to the challenge," Clark added.

As the Navy's highest-ranking enlisted Sailor, and a submariner as well, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) Terry Scott welcomed the submariners of Cheyenne. Scott serves as the senior enlisted advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations.

"When you consider what our Sailors have done, and looking at the length of the deployment they made, it is a testament to a lot of the work we have done to make sure that our Sailors are ready, that they are trained and have the right equipment, and that their families are ready," said Scott.

"This isn't your normal circumstance and this isn't normal operations. They met and exceeded every expectation. They were integral to the overall operation. To be able to respond as they did.they're just great American heroes. We couldn't have done it without them. Those in Navy leadership know what submarines bring to the fight. All this did was demonstrate it to everyone else. That's who we are and that's what we do," Scott said.

Homeported in Pearl Harbor, Cheyenne left for deployment from Hawaii July 31. Cheyenne was in the Arabian Gulf when coalition forces began the initial strike against various targets in Iraq and launched the first Tomahawk cruise missile on Iraq March 18.

Cheyenne is also the first Pacific Fleet warship to return home following Operation Iraqi Freedom.