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Partnerships Developed, Personal Relationships Built in Black Sea

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS081207-14
Release Date: 12/7/2008 8:19:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Sylvia Nealy, USS Mount Whitney Public Affairs

USS MOUNT WHITNEY, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) departed her homeport of Gaeta, Italy Oct. 21 in support of the Black Sea Partnership Cruise. The ship visited several ports including Rhodes, Greece; Constanta, Romania; Sevastopol, Ukraine; and Varna, Bulgaria, Oct. 24-Nov. 17.

During the visit, Mount Whitney hosted receptions for the chief of naval operations of Romania and Ukraine and the U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria.

Military members from 10 countries -- Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine -- came aboard the 6th Fleet flagship Nov. 7 in Varna, Bulgaria, to further develop partnerships, enhance interoperability and promote regional maritime safety and security.

"The goal of the Black Sea Partnership Cruise was to further the relationships between the U.S. and the rest of the Black Sea countries by conducting classroom-at-sea training. I think it went perfect," said Capt. Owen P. Honors, commanding officer of Mount Whitney.

Sailors from Mount Whitney trained 70 Black Sea participants on basic damage control; helicopter operations; non-commissioned officer development; maritime security; oil spill preparedness; and visit, board, search and seizure tactics.

After hours of vigorous training, Mount Whitney hosted Jazz Week with Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe band providing entertainment for five consecutive nights and performed a variety of jazz, Dixieland, popular, classical, marches and ragtime music.

"It's always a good thing, and people appreciate what we do," said Musician 2nd Class Richard Bruns. "We don't get many opportunities to play for Navy Sailors, and it was a good feeling."'

As the ship proceeded to its final port visit in Varna, Bulgaria, Sailors from the Mount Whitney volunteered for a community relations project at the Secondary School Petko R. Slaveykov Nov. 17.

Capt. Mitko Petev, deputy commander of Varna Naval Base, and Tanya Petrova, the principal of the school, escorted Sailors to the classroom to meet the 5th grade students.

Mount Whitney Sailors and students exchanged stories about cultural backgrounds, personal interests and hobbies.

"I was very happy to have them become familiar with the students and the class," said Petrova.

"The project went very well, and I was very impressed with the enthusiasm of the students. It was pretty heartwarming to see how enthusiastic the large group of children was to have visitors, especially foreign ones," said Intelligence Systems Officer Lt. Daniel Berger.

"It's a good mission for the Mount Whitney," said Honors. Having all those personnel from other countries on board, "they seemed very friendly and appreciative of the time and efforts that all Sailors on the Mount Whitney took to help them in all the areas and understand the different missions of the ship."

Mount Whitney returned from its regularly scheduled second consecutive deployment to the Black Sea.

For more news from 6th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/naveur.