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USS Patriot Completes ULTRA-S

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS091130-04
Release Date: 11/30/2009 12:21:00 AM

By Lt. j.g. Jalon D. Fonseca, USS Patriot Public Affairs

USS PATRIOT, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Patriot (MCM 7) completed the annual Unit Level Training and Readiness Assessment - Sustainment (ULTRA-S) inspection Nov. 19, after three days of high intensity drills and simulations designed to show the ship's ability to respond to the most severe casualties and attacks.

During the inspection, training teams encounterd a variety of scenarios including simulated Main Machinery Room fires, severe personnel casualties, man overboard recoveries and hostage situations.

The individual training teams' drills culminated in a Total Ship Survivability Exercise where Patriot's watchstanders successfully destroyed all attacking combatants while repairing an array of casualties.

"Our programs, watchstanders, and training teams are pretty resilient and it shows," said Chief Information Systems Technician Eric Turner, Patriot's Communications division officer. "We put our best foot forward despite the fact that our preparations were amidst INSURV, Fall Patrol and workups for Clear Horizon with less than a week in between each."

Inspectors from Afloat Training Group Western Pacific reviewed Patriot's capabilities in surface warfare, anti-terrorism, seamanship, engineering and damage control. Two days after the inspection the ship was en route to Chinhae, Korea for Clear Horizon 2009.

"We're always up for a good challenge," said Mineman 3rd Class J'myle Koretz. "It was good to see the crew come together and focus on completing the task at hand, and immediately afterward look ahead to commence tackling the next assignment."

Patriot is forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan, and serves Task Force 76, U.S. 7th Fleet's amphibious force. Operating in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, the U.S. 7th Fleet is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets covering 52 million square miles, with approximately 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors and Marines assigned at any given time.