What Happened April 25, 2011 in the US Navy?

On April 25, 2011:

Sailor Painting by Jan Olav Forberg

• 329,900 active duty officers, Sailors and midshipmen; 66,205 selected reserve Sailors, with 6,275 reserves mobilized; and 192,652 civilians are serving in the Department of the Navy.
• 286 active ships are in service. 157 (55%), including four carriers and seven large-deck, amphibious ships are underway.
• 11,005 Individual Augmentees, 5,673 of which are mobilized Reserves, were deployed on the ground around the world in support of overseas contingency operations.
• Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead speaks at the 2010 Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), Civil Engineering Corps (CEC) and Seabee Anniversary Ball in Arlington, Va., praising the Navy’s premier construction force for its current contributions to the Maritime Strategy and illustrious history – 168 years for NAVFAC, 143 for CEC and 68 for the Seabees, respectively.
• Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort arrives at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., before returning to homeport in Baltimore, Md., following a seven-week deployment to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility to provide medical care in Haiti as part of Joint Task Force Haiti’s disaster relief operations in support of Operation Unified Response.
• USS Bataan (LHD 5) hosts members of the Sri Lankan Army for a capabilities tour of the ship. The Sri Lankan Army has been working side-by-side with the embarked 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, providing disaster relief support to Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake.
• USNS Henson (T-AGS 63) completes Oceanographic-Southern Partnership Station 2010 with the Colombian navy.
• USS Vicksburg (CG 69) is in port Trondheim, Norway, after conducting an exercise in the Norwegian Sea with Norwegian maritime forces.
• USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) supports Africa Partnership Station (APS) West in Port Sekondi, Ghana, providing training on a variety of naval and security topics.
• Sixty-seven students from Benin, Nigeria and Ghana are taking part in classroom and practical training with instructors from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, and other nations, to enhance maritime safety and security in West and Central Africa
  

  US Warship

• Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7 construct a boat ramp and pier for the Liberian military. They will also provide specific technical training and construction project planning and management training.
• Riverine Squadron 3 Detachment 2 conducts joint waterway patrols in Iraq with the 3/52nd Iraqi Army. Detachment 2 is also participating in joint live-fire small arms training with their Iraqi counterparts at Camp Sa’ad in Iraq.
• Aerographer’s Mates assigned to Naval Special Warfare Support Activity 1 provide tactical environmental forecasts directly impacting Special Operating Forces battle-space mission planning and operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Philippine Islands.
• USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) is in Chinhae, Korea, supporting the 7th Fleet staff as it participates in combined military exercise Key Resolve with the Republic of Korea armed forces.
• USS Essex (LHD 2), USS Shiloh (CG 67), USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) and USS Denver (LPD 9) participate in Balikatan 2010, an annual Republic of the Philippines-U.S. bilateral military humanitarian assistance and training exercise in the Republic of the Philippines.
• Sailors from all over Japan enjoy the 215th Supply Corps Anniversary Ball at the New Sanno Hotel, Tokyo. Rear Adm. Mark Heinrich, Commander, Fleet and Industrial Supply Center, is the guest of honor and provides remarks.
• USS Ohio (SSGN 726) is en route Stirling, Australia, where it will conduct training with Royal Australian Navy submarine and special operations forces.
• USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 cross the International Date Line and experience March 13 twice, marking the completion of two months operating in 7th Fleet and a transition to 3rd Fleet.
• Vice Adm. Richard Hunt, Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, and Deputy Prime Minster of Singapore Teo Chee Hean observe the final anti-submarine warfare exercise of the Peace Triton Program, a shipboard integration phase of bilateral training with the U.S. Navy and the Republic of Singapore Air Force and Navy.
• More than 22,000 objects and 1,000 spacecraft traveling at speeds in excess of 17,000 mph vie for position above the maritime domain. At U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Functional Component Command for Space and the Naval Satellite Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., 40 Sailors and Marines provide order to this chaos and ensure the fleet continues to reap the benefits of space-based communications; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; navigation; and environmental and missile warning signals.
• Rear Adm. Garry Bonelli, Deputy Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command, joins more than 100 demobilized Sailors and their families at the Returning Warrior Workshop in Denver. This national program supports the ongoing effort to honor and educate those who have mobilized or deployed supporting overseas contingency operations.
• The Naval Weapons Station Charleston, S.C., Fleet and Family Support Center and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Center sponsor a Fun Family Day at the Charleston Children’s Museum for more than 50 friends and family members of deployed and Individual Augmentee personnel.
• Naval Base San Diego’s green initiatives such as artificial turf, xeriscaping and smart irrigation controllers save 17,725 gallons of water today.
• The Blue Angels conduct their first performance of the 2010 season at Naval Air Facility El Centro, drawing more than 36,000 guests to the installation.
• Tampa Bay Navy Week, the first of 20 Navy Weeks to be held across the nation this year, gets underway as hundreds of kids swim with Navy divers at Tampa’s Adventure Island water park. Sailors from USS Florida (SSGN 728), members of the Leap Frogs Navy Parachute Team and Navy Band Southeast march in the Tampa St. Patrick’s Day parade.
• Seaman Matt Monroe, a member of the Ceremonial Guard, and 185 other fans, chime in and post a response to the U.S. Navy’s Facebook page post, “Today marks our monthly ‘Day in the Navy’. We gather information on U.S. Navy operations around the globe, and we would love to include our Navy Fans. What are you doing today?” Seaman Monroe writes: “Guardsman from the Ceremonial Guard here – I had the day off! So I’m preparing my uniforms for three funerals at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday.”

To see more or share what you’re doing, visit www.facebook.com/USNavy.

Jacqui Murray

https://jacquimurray.net