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Truman Strike Group Conducting Composite Training Unit Exercise

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS040616-11
Release Date: 6/17/2004 3:00:00 AM

From USS Harry S. Truman Public Affairs

ABOARD USS HARRY S. TRUMAN AT SEA (NNS) -- Ships and aircraft of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG) are in the midst of their Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX).

The exercise, which began June 5, is scheduled to run through late June and will use the Virginia Capes and Jacksonville, Fla., operating areas and training ranges along the East Coast and Gulf Coast of Florida.

Additionally, the exercise will involve complex strike group training events, naval surface fire support training and air-to-ground events.

COMPTUEX is an intermediate-level exercise designed to forge the strike group into a cohesive fighting team and is a critical step in the new Fleet Response Plan (FRP).

"The first part of the exercise has engaged only one warfare area at a time, whether it's surface, air or undersea," said Cmdr. Richard Fraenkel, combat direction center officer. "The second part will involve multiple warfare areas, with each competing for resources."

The Truman Strike Group is making use of the following ranges for air-to-ground events during the exercise: Pinecastle, Fla.; Avon Park, Fla.; and Dare County, N.C. Harry S. Truman is the Navy's most recent carrier strike group to exercise using these ranges as part of the comprehensive Training Resource Strategy (TRS). Under this plan, ships and aircraft will use existing East Coast and Gulf Coast range training facilities, and improved simulation technology now available to the fleet.

In implementing the TRS, Atlantic-based carrier strike groups train among existing training ranges and facilities throughout the region. Throughout COMPTUEX, the Harry S. Truman Strike Group will demonstrate that the Navy is enhancing its training flexibility and effectiveness through geographical and technological diversification.

"We will face increasingly complex scenarios to include low, slow flyers, swarm tactics from small boats and dhows approaching from multiple axes," said Lt. j.g. Mark Michel, one of Truman's intelligence officers. "If we can effectively execute these missions during COMPTUEX, we will be ready to handle the real threat during deployment."

The upcoming deployment will be Truman's first under FRP, which allows the Navy to provide combatant commanders ready forces able to respond quickly in times of crisis. The FRP will enable the Navy to consistently deliver six forward-deployed or surge-ready carrier strike groups within 30 days, plus two additional strike groups that are in basic training phase in 90 days or less.

Summer Pulse '04 is the first exercise of the Navy's new FRP, which aims to increase fleet readiness throughout the Navy and improve the ability of the United States to respond appropriately in the event of a crisis.

"We are ready to go out for Summer Pulse '04 where we will show the skill and ability of the Navy. We are proof of concept," said Truman's commanding officer, Capt. Michael Groothousen."

Commanded by Rear Adm. Michael C. Tracy, commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group 2, the Truman Strike Group is comprised of the Norfolk, Va.-based Harry S. Truman, commanded by Groothousen; the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61); the guided-missile destroyers USS Mason (DDG 87) and USS Barry (DDG 52); the attack submarine USS Albuquerque (SSN 706); USNS Leroy Grumman (T-AO 195), and Carrier Air Wing 3 - commanded by Capt. Mark A. Vance, embarked aboard Harry S. Truman.