Mesa Verde Completes Anti-Terrorism Certification with Perfect Score
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS080227-18
Release Date: 2/27/2008 8:31:00 PM
By Ensign Peter Downes, USS Mesa Verde
NORFOLK (NNS) -- USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) passed her first biannual force protection exercise (FPEX) with a perfect score, achieving a major milestone in the process of becoming a fully certified and deployable warship.
Mesa Verde was the only ship out of six that participated in this exercise to achieve a perfect score, and the fourth out of the 161 recently tested ships to do so. Mesa Verde is now certified to travel overseas and protect herself in foreign ports.
FPEX, conducted over a two-day period, is an exercise that tests a crew's ability to defend the ship from various challenges while in port.
Specialists from 2nd Fleet simulated over a dozen attacks, ranging from waterborne to landward assaults, to simulate what ships may encounter outside of U.S. waters. The crew had to be prepared for any threat at any time, day or night and they had to rely on their training and knowledge of defensive responses to successfully complete the exercise.
The exercise was the culmination of a training process that began even before Mesa Verde was commissioned. While under construction in Pascagoula, Miss. the crew ran multiple drills every day, which enhanced each watchstander's skills and laid the groundwork for a perfect performance in FPEX.
"The crew really made this happen for us," said Chief Warrant Officer Tony Thompson, Mesa Verde's force protection officer. "They trained hard, worked on their skills, and when the time came they stepped up and knocked it out of the park. I'm proud of them."
Mesa Verde Sailors will continue training in the coming months with combat systems ship qualification trials and unit level training.
For more news from Mesa Verde, visit www.navy.mil/local/mesa/.
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