COMDESRON 24 Arrives in Scotland for Neptune Warrior
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS060615-16
Release Date: 6/15/2006 3:37:00 PM
By Lt. Lesley Lykins, Fleet Public Affairs Center Atlantic
FASLANE, Scotland (NNS) -- Commander, Destroyer Squadron (COMDESRON) 24, embarked aboard USS Monterey (CG 61) arrived here June 15 with USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) and USS Boone (FFG 28) in anticipation of the upcoming Neptune Warrior Course to begin June 19.
Capt. Robert Kapcio, commander, DESRON 24 and his staff will use this opportunity to evaluate the three ships, certifying them ready for deployment.
Neptune Warrior, a course designed and led by the Joint Maritime Operational Training Staff (JMOTS) Northwood in the United Kingdom, is designed to improve interoperability between allied navies, as well as to prepare the participants for a role in a Coalition Joint Task Force during upcoming deployments. Neptune Warrior is the United Kingdom’s advanced certification course and is on par with a U.S. Joint Task Force Exercise, which normally certifies U.S. ships.
“It will be a great learning environment,” said Kapcio. “All three ships are in a certification process for their deployments. COMDESRON 24 is a certifying agent for [U.S.] 2nd Fleet, so in that endeavor, we will have people on board monitoring and watching.”
During this 10-day course the ships will operate in Combined Task Groups, with Kapcio commanding one side’s maritime component that will include ships from the United Kingdom and Spain, as well as Monterey and Boone. The Sullivans will participate on the opposing side, which will be commanded by an embarked staff aboard HMS Albion, an assault ship from the United Kingdom.
“There will be a lot of exercises conducted in a short time period that will increase the ships’ training and operational readiness throughout different warfare areas,” said Kapcio.
The ships will face small boat attacks, exercise air defense and anti-submarine warfare, and respond appropriately to simulated intelligence and media reports. Cmdr. Anthony J. Parisi, The Sullivans’ commanding officer, has specific goals he hopes the crew will achieve during this course.
“What I would like the crew to take away from Neptune Warrior 06-02 is first to get certified for deployment, secondly to achieve pinpoint accuracy with our 5 inch gun against land targets, and thirdly to refine our ASW (anti-submarine warfare) and anti-air warfare skills,” he said.
Working with various allied navies will inevitably add a new element of challenge into the training. The ships’ commanding officers expect to observe various differences in tactics and trainings.
Neptune Warrior is normally held three times a year and is open to allied navies with assets available to participate. This month’s Neptune Warrior course is expected to last 10 days and will include more than 95 air, ground and sea assets from various countries.
“We do things a little bit differently in our Navy, so it is a challenge for our Sailors to re-focus and familiarize ourselves with the way our allies do business,” said Kapcio. “This is a great opportunity for these ships before they deploy, especially those that will be operating specifically as part of a coalition task force later this year, to get ready for those deployments.”
Monterey is one of the ships that will become a part of a coalition task force later this year, and Capt. Robert Oldani, Monterey’s commanding officer, is appreciative of this training opportunity.
“Monterey is getting an excellent opportunity to operate with an embarked staff and NATO forces," Oldani said. "This will improve our readiness for deployment later this year under a NATO flag.”
Boone’s Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Marc Dalton, also understands the importance of training with allied navies, and will use this opportunity to familiarize his crew with NATO policies and strategies that will benefit them later this summer.
“Frigates have been conducting ‘independent deployer’ operations,” said Dalton, "deploying independently for counter-narcotics operations primarily in the Caribbean, working with other countries’ navies in South America primarily during UNITAS, or with the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organizations) Response Force in Europe.”
The staff and ships will spend this weekend meeting with the other participants and enjoying the sites and people of Faslane, Helensburgh and Glasgow. The Scottish coastline, with its lochs and islands, offers many hiding places for small boats and that will make their detection difficult. Thus, the geography and environment will be an obstacle for the American ships to cope with, and very different from most of the coastlines they have worked along in the United States.
“Even though you have to go across the Atlantic, for ships on the east coast, this is probably the closest you can go to get this level of training and exercise in a coalition environment,” said Kapcio.
For related news, visit the Destroyer Squadron 24 Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/desron24/.
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