The Silent Service Gets Underway

I have mentioned before how much I really do like Rhumb Lines by CHINFO. This was Rhumb Lines on December 6th, the monthly "Executing the Maritime Strategy" edition.

Executing the Maritime Strategy

"365 days a year, 24/7, Navy Installations Command provides the right shore services to support the fleet, fighter and family. More than 50% of the Navy's fleet and 16% of Navy personnel are either deployed or on an IA, and the holiday season can add to that stress. Whether supporting the deployed Sailor worldwide or families at home, Navy Installations Command is always ready to do what's needed.”

- Vice Adm. Michael C. Vitale, Commander, Navy Installations Command

Around the world, the Navy is executing the core capabilities of the Maritime Strategy - some examples from throughout the fleet in the month of November were:

Forward Presence

• The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) flew 1,571 sorties for 4,001.5 hours of flight time supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn; the Harry S. Truman CSG completed 480 combat sorties and 2863.3 flight hours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
• USS Ponce (LPD 15) and Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26 MEU) participated in exercise Edged Mallet with Kenyan military forces in Manda Bay, Kenya. Edged Mallet '10 is a two-week, bilateral military exercise designed to refine operational skills while enhancing collaboration and strengthening military-to-military relationships.

Deterrence

• USS George Washington (CVN 73), with embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, along with guided-missile ships USS Cowpens (CG 63), USS Lassen (DDG 82), USS Stethem (DDG 63), and USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), participated in a combined military exercise with the Republic of Korea (ROK).
• Ballistic-missile submarine USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN 730) completed its 75th Trident deterrent patrol, becoming the first Ohio-class SSBN to accomplish the milestone.

Maritime Security

• USS Momsen (DDG 92) conducted bilateral maritime domain awareness training with the Maldivian coast guard. The Government of the Maldives invited the U.S. Navy to work with the Maldivian coast guard to improve maritime domain awareness capabilities within the island nation’s exclusive economic zone.

Humanitarian Assistance / Disaster Response

• USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) provided assistance to Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor, which went dead-in- the-water after it suffered propulsion failure in the Pacific Ocean about 150 nautical miles south of San Diego. Reagan facilitated the delivery of more than 4,500 pounds of food and goods.
• USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), along with Seabees attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 7, concluded Continuing Promise 2010 (CP10). CP10 provided humanitarian and civic assistance, including veterinary, medical, dental and civil engineering support to eight partner nations.

Building Maritime Partnerships

• Military Sealift Command High Speed Vessel (HSV) 2 Swift conducted Southern Partnership Station 2011 (SPS 11) in Haiti and Chile. SPS 11 is an annual deployment in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility designed to engage the U.S military sea services with partner nations’ defense forces, police departments and coast guards.

At the bottom of Rhumb Lines this was offered as of December 1:

Ships, Submarines & Aircraft
Total deployable ships/subs 288
Ships underway 148 (51%)
Attack subs underway 25(46%)
Ships deployed 108 (38%)
Subs deployed 20 (37%)
Expeditionary forces on mission 85 (45%)
Total operational aircraft 3,700+

One of the blogs very clever readers put together an interesting chart with a trend worth following:

Date ......ships underway .....attack subs underway
Nov30 .............. 45% ................ 46%
Dec01 .............. 51% ................ 46%
Dec02 .............. 52% ................ 46%
Dec03 .............. 53% ................ 46%
Dec06 .............. 55% ................ 63%
Dec07 .............. 55% ................ 63%

According to the Status of the Navy website that 63% is made up of 34 subs. 34 / x = 0.63. x ~= 54. The previous attack subs underway was 46%. 54 * 0.46 ~= 25.

34 - 25 = 9.

So nine subs got under way over the weekend, 2 of those on official deployment. Actually the number is 10 over the period of the last week, because USS Jacksonville (SSN 699) just returned from deployment last week and USS Charlotte (SSN 766) deployed the next day. Worth remembering, ~60% of the submarines in US Navy inventory are in the Pacific.

I'm sure this activity is completely unrelated to recent events on the Korean Peninsula. Or not.