Neptune Warrior Prepares USS Monterey's CIC for Multinational Operations
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS060626-03
Release Date: 6/26/2006 9:16:00 AM
By Journalist 3rd Class Brandon Shelander, USS Monterey Public Affairs
USS MONTEREY, At Sea (NNS) -- The Neptune Warrior Course was in full swing June 25 as various scenarios tested USS Monterey (CG 61) in its ability to deal with threats from the sea and air.
Neptune Warrior helps North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies work together in various maritime combat and diplomatic scenarios in the North Atlantic. Ships from the various NATO countries take part in the course and are divided into several teams to represent fictional countries.
USS Monterey (CG 61) is the flagship for one of these sides during Neptune Warrior.
During these mock engagements, Sailors who operate in Monterey’s Combat Information Center (CIC) gain valuable experience in dealing with foreign navies.
“We have to work together,” explained Master Chief Operations Specialist (SW/AW) David Blair, Operations Department Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO), “because we do things differently but our goals are the same.”
Blair has been LCPO for Monterey’s CIC for two years now and has experience with courses like Neptune Warrior.
“I was lucky enough to take part in an exercise like this two years ago off this coast,” Blair said. “This is great preparation and training for us to deploy Monterey.”
While Neptune Warrior hones the entire crew’s ability to deal with various encounters at sea, the CIC gains valuable experience by becoming the battle-ready eyes and ears of Monterey as it takes the role of flagship for one of the task groups in Neptune Warrior’s scenarios.
The CIC is where all the different capabilities of a ship come together and are guided. Weapons systems, navigation, and communications are all fed through the CIC, which makes the experience of working with ships from different countries invaluable for future maritime operations.
Operations Specialist 3rd Class Daniel Dickinson came to Monterey fresh out of boot camp and said the CIC is a rewarding place to work during the Neptune Warrior Course.
“Everything comes together in there,” said Dickinson. “Everybody works for combat in one way or another - you’ve got guns, you’ve got missiles, communications, radar, you’ve got everything, and it all goes through CIC.”
Those abilities to tie in the different assets of Monterey through a single command room are magnified when the CIC acts as the command center for a group of ships as Monterey does during Neptune Warrior.
“The team-building exercises that we do in port or just on our regular underways don’t have this level of complexity to them,” said Fire Controlman 3rd Class Adam Kramer. “We can build a training simulation, but it doesn’t compare to having as many live training assets as this,” he added.
The complexity of working with many different ships from different countries adds the quality of training that Sailors who participate in Neptune Warrior can experience.
“It’s actually making you think,” said Dickinson. “We come over here and we’re working with other countries and they’re learning from us and we’re learning from them. We’re all clicking together. So if anything does happen, we’ll work together much more efficiently.”
For related news, visit the Destroyer Squadron 24 Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/desron24/.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
