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PACIFIC OCEAN -- Sailors aboard
the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) completed the
Ship Anti-Submarine Warfare Readiness and Evaluation Measurement (SHAREM)
163 exercise Dec. 7, off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.
Fitzgerald; joined by Destroyer Squadron 15 (DESRON) guided-missile
destroyers USS Curtis D. Wilbur (DDG 54) and USS Lassen (DDG 82);
Seawolf class submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22); Japan Maritime
Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyers JDS Inazuma (DD 105), JDS
Samidare (DD 106), and JDS Sazanami (DD 113); and Oyashio submarine
SS600 Mochishio; used the bilateral exercise to focus on developing
and evaluating antisubmarine warfare (ASW) tactics and watchstander
proficiency, and build on the relationship between the JMSDF and the
United States.
Chief Sonar Technician-Surface (SW/IUSS) Patrick Bright, a
Versailles, Ky. native and Fitzgerald’s CA division LCPO, explained
the many opportunities the exercise provided.
“It’s an ASW intensive exercise. It gives us the opportunity to test
tactics and plans, and get a sample of the environment we can
conduct ASW tracking exercises in, so we can get a good picture of
what’s going on,” said Bright.
The exercise also provided the opportunity for the U.S. and JMSDF to
observe and learn about the two services’ ASW methods. Three JMSDF
Sailors from JDS Atago (DDG 177) boarded Fitzgerald to cross-train
with Fitzgerald’s Sailors.
JMSDF Petty Officer 2nd Class Yukihiro Nakaume, a sonarman aboard
Atago, expressed his appreciation to see the exercise from a
different perspective.
“It is a great honor to be aboard. I have never been on a United
States ship, and it’s very interesting for me. The crew is very
friendly and kind,” Nakaume said. “Our ships have similar systems,
but we have different tactics and watch rotations. I would like to
learn how to operate many different sonar systems.”
The exercise commenced Dec. 3 with a “convergence zone” event, which
challenged the watchstanders’ abilities to successfully track an
undersea target with a known course and speed while maintaining a
standoff distance. Four “freeplay” events placed the ships in a
wargame setting, tasking the Sailors with searching for submarines
or tracking high-value units. A series of structured events focused
on the mechanics of ASW, with identifying, tracking, losing, and
relocating the undersea targets, and an “opposed refueling at sea”
exercise provided the opportunity for Sailors to protect a
high-value target in the form of Military Sealift Command dry
cargo/ammunition ship USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7) as it refueled
the participants.
Ensign Matthew Hottle, a Seattle native and Fitzgerald’s
antisubmarine warfare officer, explained the importance of being
able to work with real targets and with the JMSDF.
“These events are great training for our people. There’s so much we
don’t get to do on a regular basis, and this is the one exercise
that’s entirely focused on ASW, and provides us with a lot of rare
opportunities,” said Hottle. ”It’s always great to work with the
Japanese, and the riders have been very helpful when it comes to
communicating and learning about the way they do business.”
Fitzgerald is one of seven Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile
destroyers assigned to DESRON 15, and is permanently
forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.
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