• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

USS Fort McHenry and JDS Ohsumi Conduct Transport Exercise 2006

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060203-09
Release Date: 2/3/2006 2:23:00 PM

By Lt. Ed Sisk, Task Force 76 Public Affairs

YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and Japanese Defense Ship (JDS) Ohsumi (LST 4001) will be conducting a second bilateral transport exercise Feb. 5-8.

The transport exercise is designed to enhance the maritime transport proficiency and interoperability of the U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force in support of humanitarian relief missions.

“One of our primary mission areas in Task Force 76 is to ably perform humanitarian and disaster relief operations,” said Fort McHenry’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Michael T. Talaga. “Fort McHenry supported two humanitarian relief missions - First in the Philippines, after a series of early December 2004 typhoons and tropical storms caused massive flooding and landslides on the island of Luzon, and Second – Operation Unified Assistance in Southeast Asia, to provide humanitarian aid to the victims of the Dec. 26 [2004] earthquake and tsunami.”

“This joint transport/amphibious exercise will help familiarize each of us on wet-well operations and landing procedures through cross-training and landing craft recoveries in each others ships," added Talaga. "This partnership has the potential to pay huge dividends in the event that we are required to respond unilaterally to any contingency.”

The exercise will include personnel exchange, communication drills, tactical maneuvers, and landing craft air cushion (LCAC) operations between the two transport ships. Unlike other bilateral exercises held by the U.S. Navy and JMSDF, this exercise emphasizes the humanitarian partnership between the two Navies in the event of a natural disaster or relief operation.

“This exercise will help our ability to operate and work together as a team in responding to natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, and typhoons,” said Capt. Yoshinari Ishikado, commander, 1st Transport Unit. “This training will save many lives.”

To kick-off the exercise Sailors from Fort McHenry and Ohsumi will exchange ship plaques, conduct ship familiarization tours, inport training sessions and an “icebreaker” social to build camaraderie and esprit de corps.

Ohsumi and Fort McHenry also conducted the first bilateral transport exercise off the coast of Kure, Japan July 1999.

Fort McHenry alone delivered more than 1.2 million pounds of water, food items and clothes to tsunami victims of Southeast Asia out of the combined six million pounds of relief supplies with USS Essex (LHD 2). In addition, Fort McHenry also delivered more than 2,000 pounds of relief supplies collected by the communities within Fleet Activities Sasebo.

The first of its class in the Japanese Transportation Force, Ohsumi is a landing ship transport (LST) that has similar capabilities as Fort McHenry. The 8,900 ton LST can carry up to two LCACs, two CH-47 Chinook helicopters, two SH-60J patrol helicopters and in the event of a humanitarian mission can accommodate more than 1,000 civilians.

Fort McHenry is a dock landing ship forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan, as part of the Forward Deployed Amphibious Ready Group. Task Force 76 is the Navy’s only forward-deployed amphibious force and is headquartered at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, with an operating detachment in Sasebo, Japan.