ANNUALEX 19G concludes
USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) and seven other ships of the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Carrier Strike Group completed ANNUALEX 19G, an annual bilateral exercise with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) in the Philippine Sea, Nov. 16.
ANNUALEX 19G is the maritime component of Keen Sword 08, a joint/bilateral field exercise conducted with the JMSDF. It is the largest U.S. Navy-JMSDF bilateral exercise held each year and is designed to increase interoperability and to enhance regional security.
According to Cmdr. Daniel P. Dusek, Commanding Officer of USS Fitzgerald, “Bilateral exercises cement critical bonds with our coalition partners and really adds to our interoperability.”
“On the whole, ANNUALEX 19G was great,” said Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class (SW) Clay Lenssen. “We not only improve each other’s proficiency, but we also improve our communication and ability to cooperatively engage in anti-submarine warfare.”
Throughout the week-long exercise Fitzgerald participated in simulated surface warfare, air warfare, and anti-submarine warfare with their Japanese counterparts.
Fitzgerald is currently underway on regularly scheduled deployment. It is assigned to Destroyer Squadron 15 and is forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. U.S. 7th Fleet is the largest of the U.S. fleets, with approximately 50 ships, 120 aircraft and 20,000 Sailors and Marines assigned at any given time.
You must be logged in to post a comment.