YOKOSUKA, Japan - Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet hosted regional participants at a fleet scheduling conference on Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, May 21-23.
More than 70 personnel from commands in U.S. 7th Fleet attended the conference to focus on operational schedules for the Navy's largest forward-deployed fleet. This is the third conference of its kind since November 2017, all of which placed readiness at the forefront of deliberate, operational scheduling.
"Our priority is to build capacity and readiness by investing in our units and supporting the foundational development of our warfighters," said Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet. "These are the keys to ensuring we are ready to meet our mission."
The three-day conference also provided schedulers a productive venue to interact with counterparts and coordinate a broad range of missions. Each 7th Fleet task force was represented as well as III Marine Expeditionary Force.
"By the end of the conference we want a clear path for deliberate planning next year, and in 2020," said Cmdr. Tony Then, operations officer at U.S. 7th Fleet.
This reflects one of several ongoing efforts to implement recommendations identified in the Strategic Readiness and Comprehensive Reviews. The Navy, through oversight provided by the Readiness Reform Oversight Council (RROC), has made significant progress in implementing recommendations from the SRR and CR with the ultimate purpose of improving Fleet readiness thus ensuring the Navy remains a lethal global maneuver force ready to execute the National Defense Strategy (NDS).
7th Fleet, which celebrates its 75th year in 2018, spans more than 124 million square kilometers, stretching from the International Date Line to the India/Pakistan border; and from the Kuril Islands in the North to the Antarctic in the South. 7th Fleet's area of operation encompasses 36 maritime countries and 50 percent of the world’s population with between 50-70 U.S. ships and submarines, 140 aircraft, and approximately 20,000 Sailors in the 7th Fleet.