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Exercise Dogu Akdeniz 2013 Comes to an End

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS131115-08
Release Date: 11/15/2013 11:10:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Amanda Gray, USS Stout Public Affairs

AKSAZ, Turkey (NNS) -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stout (DDG 55) returned to Aksaz Naval Base after completing Exercise Dogu Akdeniz 2013, Nov. 14.

Dogu Akdeniz is an annual event which allows the Turkish Navy and foreign allies to participate in training designed to increase maritime security operations capability and interoperability. This year, the German Frigate FGS Sachsen (F 219), Spanish Frigate Alvaro de Bazan (F 101), Stout, and 19 Turkish vessels participated in the event.

'The exercise as a whole went across the entire spectrum of naval electronic warfare, surface warfare, air warfare, and sub-surface warfare,' said Lt.j.g. Luqman Haskett. 'The first half focused mainly on those individual events. The final exercise for the first half involved integrated operations in a multi-threat environment, where the ships worked together to locate a submarine. I think the training received from each part of the exercise was very valuable for everyone involved.'

The second half of the exercise included two scenarios, where the ships were given specific territories to protect and missions to execute. Stout's first mission was tracking and preventing a submarine from entering a territory.

'We had quite a bit of contact time tracking the submarine and did well preventing them from entering the harbor,' said Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class William Kirby. 'We received some great training out of this scenario. We rotated the watch standers around so they could each experience tracking submarines from different stations.'

The final mission for Dogu Akdeniz included a scenario where Stout was responsible for escorting a high value unit, the Turkish oiler TCG Akar (A-580), into port. In the scenario, the shipping lanes were closed, so it was the responsibility of the other ships to stop Stout and Akar from passing. The ships utilized a variety of high speed maneuvers to complete their mission. During the event, Stout successfully protected Akar from several ships of the opposing force by utilizing high speed maneuvers at a close distance.

'The crew did a great job,' said Cmdr. Andrew Fitzpatrick, Stout's executive officer. 'They were able to improve their skills with multi-mission warfare.' This exercise brought four countries together in a huge interoperability effort. Not only did we build camaraderie by successfully completing a variety of naval exercises, we also participated in soccer games between ships, a reception, and tours of the different vessels.'

According to Haskett, the goal of Dogu Akdeniz was achieved in all respects, and the countries were able to walk away with more knowledge and training. The exercise will wrap up with an exercise debrief, a reception on the bridge of Stout, and a port call for the crews.

Stout, homeported in Norfolk, is on a scheduled deployment supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations.