[MilCom] Re: Navy News

[Greg Brazil]

> Listen for the fly off and squadrons coming home to Lemoore, North Island,
> Beaufort, Whidbey Island and NB Ventura County old NAS Pt. Mugu.
> Greg (SF Bay Area)
> 
>>                                   -USN-
>>
>> NNS050223-10. Lincoln CSG Returns Home from Southeast Asia
>>
>>> From U.S. 3rd Fleet Public Affairs
>>
>>
>> SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Carrier Strike Group
>> (ALCSG), including Abraham Lincoln and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, returns
>> home next week after an extended deployment to the Western Pacific and
>> Indian Ocean.
>> Lincoln will make a brief stop at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Pearl Harbor, 
>> Feb.
>> 23. CVW-2 aircraft will fly off Lincoln while off the coast of San Diego
>> Feb. 28.  Lincoln will pull into Naval Air Station (NAS) North Island 
>> on the
>> morning of March 1 to offload the rest of CVW-2. Lincoln will return to
>> Naval Station Everett, Wash., on the morning of March 4.
>>
>> As was the previous case for Lincoln, along with accompanying air wing 
>> and
>> ships, the current deployment turned out to be anything but typical. 
>> After a
>> port visit to Hong Kong over the Christmas holiday season, ALCSG 
>> immediately
>> responded to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in 
>> the wake
>> of the Indian Ocean tsunami in Southeast Asia.
>>
>> On New Year's Day, Sailors from the ALCSG began to deliver vital food, 
>> water
>> and medicine to help stabilize life-threatening situations, as well as
>> provide helicopter transportation for displaced persons. From first 
>> light to
>> sundown, helicopters from San Diego-based Helicopter Anti-submarine 
>> Squadron
>> (HS) 2 "Golden Falcons," Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light 
>> (HSL) 47
>> "Saberhawks" and Helicopter Combat Support Squadron (HC) 11 "Gunbearers"
>> carried out missions into Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, and 
>> along the
>> Sumatran coastline, rendered inaccessible due to the devastation 
>> caused by
>> the tsunami.
>>
>>> From Jan. 1 until Feb. 4, ALCSG aircraft flew 1,747 missions in 
>>> support of
>>
>> Operation Unified Assistance (OUA), carried 5,711,866 pounds of supplies,
>> including 16,308 gallons of water, and transported 3,043 passengers. Over
>> 1,200 crew members from the ship and air wing volunteered to go ashore 
>> and
>> assist. Medical personnel from Lincoln treated 259 people. Also, more 
>> than
>> 200 patients were medically evacuated for further treatment.
>> Besides OUA involvement, Lincoln made port calls to Hong Kong and 
>> Singapore,
>> and participated in six community relation projects with 125 
>> volunteers. The
>> ship also hosted dignitaries such as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore Frank
>> Lavin; U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, B. Lynn Pascoe; Dr. Paul Wolfowitz,
>> Deputy Secretary of Defense; and Commander, U.S. Pacific Command Adm. 
>> Thomas
>> Fargo.
>>
>> The ship's involvement attracted media locally from Southeast Asia, 
>> such as
>> Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as numerous other
>> national and international media outlets. In all, Lincoln hosted 111 
>> media
>> representatives aboard while off the coast of Sumatra, as well as held 
>> media
>> availability sessions in Hong Kong for 63 foreign and local press, and 19
>> local press members in Singapore.
>>
>> Lincoln's involvement in OUA highlighted the entire ALCSG surge 
>> deployment
>> under the Fleet Response Plan (FRP), as well as the Navy's sea-basing
>> concept of being able to undertake such a mission solely from the sea. 
>> Adm.
>> Walter Doran, commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, recently lauded the effort,
>> saying, "It showed the agility of naval forces. It showed our ability 
>> to get
>> there quickly."
>>
>> ALCSG is one of the first carrier strike groups to deploy under the 
>> Navy's
>> new FRP. The FRP, unveiled in 2003 by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern
>> Clark, redefines the manner that the Navy deploys its forces to more 
>> closely
>> match operational needs.
>> FRP deployments are hinged on the concept of "presence with a purpose" in
>> various strategic theaters worldwide. While deployed in the Western 
>> Pacific,
>> ALCSG supported the nation's defense and cooperative security commitments
>> overseas, such as a joint training exercises with Japanese Maritime Self
>> Defense Force ships.
>>
>> Capt. Kendall Card commands Lincoln. It is the flagship for the ALCSG,
>> commanded by Rear Adm. Doug Crowder.  Lincoln is also home to Destroyer
>> Squadron 9, commanded by Capt. Jon W. Kaufman, and CVW-2, commanded by 
>> Capt.
>> Lawrence D. Burt.
>>
>> The ALCSG consists of the guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) and
>> guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65), both homeported at 
>> NAVSTA San
>> Diego. Other ships include NAVSTA Everett-based guided-missile 
>> destroyer USS
>> Shoup (DDG 86) and NAVSTA Bremerton, Wash.-based fast-combat support ship
>> USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7). HC-11, Det. 2, assigned to Rainer, is based at 
>> NAS
>> North Island.
>>
>> CVW-2 consists of HS-2, HSL-47, and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 
>> (VRC)
>> 30, Det. 4 from NAS North Island; Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 2, 
>> VFA-137,
>> and VFA-151 from NAS Lemoore, Calif.; Carrier Airborne Early Warning
>> Squadron (VAW) 116 from NAS Point Mugu, Calif.; Electronic Attack 
>> Squadron
>> (VAQ) 131, from NAS Whidbey Island, Wash.; and VFA-82 from Marine 
>> Corps Air
>> Station, Beaufort, S.C.
>>
> 
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