{"id":44584,"date":"2016-03-15T20:32:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T20:32:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/03\/15\/cruiser-normandy-s-missions-against-isis-amid-epic-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:53:16","slug":"cruiser-normandy-s-missions-against-isis-amid-epic-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/03\/15\/cruiser-normandy-s-missions-against-isis-amid-epic-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"Cruiser Normandy&#8217;s missions against ISIS amid &#8216;epic&#8217; deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Continuing their trek\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">w<\/span>east, cruiser\u00a0Normandy hit her first port visit\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">of the cruise\u00a0<\/span>March 25 in Corfu, Greece, and then\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">her second on March 30\u00a0<\/span>in Koper, Slovenia, two days after leaving Corfu. \u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">after just a two day underway in-between.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This was the poster child of, &#8216;Join the Navy and see the world&#8217;\u00a0to quote an older Navy slogan, eight port visits in,\u00a0because we truly did,&#8221; Capt. Scott Robertson, the ship&#8217;s CO, said.\u00a0\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Port calls were made in every major fleet&#8217;s area of responsibility starting with the 6th, 5th and 7th and finishing with the 3rd and 4th, before arriving home back in 2nd Fleet.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Though the cruise would have\u00a0<\/span>The crew racked up 11 total port visits to eight<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">seven<\/span>\u00a0separate places.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"googlemaps\" frameborder=\"0\" id=\"googlemaps\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=zTrGH0w0xSXc.klD3rBRkVXCQ&amp;hl=en_US\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>Koper, an ancient Adriatic port near the Italian border,\u00a0was one of the favorites.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0it was this second stop that had the most impact for most of the crew, second only to Changi in Singapore.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It was an amazing little town in itself and very enjoyable to visit, the people were incredibly nice and the place was so very clean \u2014 you could see how much pride they had in their city,&#8221; said Gunner\u2019s Mate 3rd Class (SW) Judaya Foster\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">[CQ]<\/span>.\u00a0&#8220;The other part was that it was very close to Venice and many of us also got a chance to head over there and see that place and it, too was amazing<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0\u2014 in all<\/span>.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>Quartermaster Seaman (SW) Darius <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Young quartermaster\u00a0<\/span>Ringer, who had <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the young quartermaster with <\/span>less than a month aboard when they entered Slovenia, also loved Koper. He spent\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">less than a month onboard also found Slovenia interesting and spent\u00a0<\/span>time exploring as much of the city as he could<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0and said\u00a0it was his favorite port visit<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;What I remember the most is being in the marina with all the vessels and watching the sunset, it was all very beautiful,&#8221; Ringer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Koper was his favorite until he hit Changi, Singapore months later. Now he calls it a tie<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0between the two cities<\/span>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Singapore was so exotic and more adventurous, like nothing I\u2019d ever seen,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Where<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">y<\/span>\u00a0you could get fish on pizza.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One favorite spot was the historic\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">His favorite of all was the restored historic\u00a0<\/span>district of Clarke Quay along the Singapore River, where restaurants and nightclubs overlook the Chinese junks floating in the river.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">It\u2019s home to restored warehouses, resstaurants and nightclubs, Ringer said. Moored in the river are restored Chinese junks reworked into floating pubs, bars and restaurants, he added.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"3789\" height=\"2699\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318252143445-nav-normandy-cruise-10jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-80915\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318252143445-nav-normandy-cruise-10jpg.jpg 3789w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318252143445-nav-normandy-cruise-10jpg.jpg?resize=300,214 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318252143445-nav-normandy-cruise-10jpg.jpg?resize=768,547 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318252143445-nav-normandy-cruise-10jpg.jpg?resize=1024,729 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318252143445-nav-normandy-cruise-10jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1094 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318252143445-nav-normandy-cruise-10jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1459 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 3789px) 100vw, 3789px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Aboard the USS Normandy  (Dec. 11, 2015) The guided-missile cruiser Normandy gets a final drink of fuel from the supply ship Arctic duing the the cruiser&#8217;s final underway replenishment a day out of Norfolk, on the final leg of their epic around the world cruise. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>The cruiser Normandy gets a final drink of fuel from the supply ship Arctic during the last leg of its 9-month deployment.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Photo Credit: Mark D. Faram\/Staff<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The deep<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">But\u00a0<\/span>It wasn\u2019t just the time off the boat that made this a signature cruise<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, either<\/span>.\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Some of the moments onboard were equally as memorable to Robertson and his crew.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When the ship crossed the Equator on Oct. 15 in the Indian Ocean, along with the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, both ships stopped to celebrate the age-old\u00a0nautical tradition of initiating pollywogs into realm of King Neptune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Of a crew that&#8217;s nearly 400 strong, 313 of us were &#8216;wogs,&#8221; Command Master Chief (SW) Gregory\u00a0Carlson said. &#8220;And that included both the ship&#8217;s master chiefs \u2014 myself included.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That meant the job of coordinating the usual shenanigans fell to the senior enlisted shellback<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0in the crew<\/span>, Senior Chief Electronic\u2019s Technician (SW) Tom Hollingshead<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">[CQ]<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Robertson, Hollingshead is an avid chess player, so the idea was hatched to use the pollywogs as chess pieces and play some matches\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">games\u00a0<\/span>using the square missile\u00a0hatches\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">of the forward missile tubes\u00a0<\/span>as a playing board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The crew really go into it \u2014 we had the white team who won their t-shirts and a black team who wore garbage bags to set them apart,&#8221; Robertson said. &#8220;It was highly competitive and we must have played five or six games of this pollywog chess.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">An avid student of the naval battles of World War II,\u00a0<\/span>Another significant event\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Robertson pointed out\u00a0<\/span>was the fact\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">that\u00a0<\/span>they escorted TR<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">oosevelt<\/span>\u00a0through the Surigao<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">u<\/span>\u00a0Strait in the Philippine Islands and into Leyte Gulf, the scene of one of the greatest sea battles of the World War II.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;We went through the straits at night and it was a powerful transit, to be with an aircraft carrier through there. Given the history,\u00a0I was on the bridge for every moment of that, seeing the silhouetted islands pass by, thinking about what it must have been like in World War II \u2014 it was a very powerful time for me to reflect on part of Navy history.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few hours later, Normandy would cross the deepest part of the ocean during their transit \u2014 where the Asian continental shelf ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I got on the 1MC \u2014 and told the crew that in a few minutes, we were going to pass over the deepest part of our transit,&#8221; Robertson said. &#8220;I told them it would be five and half miles down. My plan, I told them, was to take a ship&#8217;s coin up on the bow and and throw it over \u2014 and that it would take seven hours for that coin to get down to the bottom of the ocean.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robertson encouraged the crew to come up and join in \u2014 if they wanted to write a message to\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">send to\u00a0<\/span>the deep, now was their chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Almost the entire crew came up, it was amazing,&#8221; Robertson said. &#8220;Some just for fun, to throw a quarter over, but some people took that as a very serious moment and that they were putting something behind them by writing something or a name on a piece of metal and sending it along \u2014 it became a very great moment of reflection for many of us as we passed over a very deep part of the ocean.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Normandy pulled into Pearl Harbor on\u00a0Nov.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ember<\/span>\u00a015, as is the custom, the crew saluted the USS\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">paid tribute by saluting the\u00a0<\/span>Arizona memorial,<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0a tribute<\/span>\u00a0 a tomb for many crewmembers who perished in the Pearl Harbor attacks. The tribute was a poignant moment for those like Ringer who manned the rails.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0to the Dec. 7, 1941 attacks and all those who perished when the battleship Arizona blew up, a powerful moment for many like the young Ringer who manned the rails.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Others<\/span>, like Gunner\u2019s Mate 2nd Class Richard Bumgarner<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0who didn\u2019t render honors<\/span>, made a point to visit the memorial during the port visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though still out in the Pacific, It\u2019s here that Normandy parted ways with the &#8220;Big Stick&#8221;\u00a0\u2014 TR headed to its new homeport of San Diego, Normandy headed to its old homeport, by way of the canal that President Theodore\u00a0Roosevelt helped build.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0as she headed to San Diego, while Normandy headed to the Panama Canal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Ringer, the young quartermaster<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0Ringer<\/span>, the transit through the canal was eight hours and 48 miles of professional development as a part of the navigation team,\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">navigator as part of the bridge team,\u00a0<\/span>taking bearings and plotting tracks. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seaman Shane Cameron stood watch on the bridge as the lee helm, taking orders from the Panamanian pilot who conned the ship through the canal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;He had a soft voice and it was hard to hear him speak,&#8221; Cameron said. &#8220;But its\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">as\u00a0<\/span>the way he would say things \u2014 his accent \u2014 that made it real interesting.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Doing it right<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A bulk of the cruise was spent in the Persian Gulf escorting the TR<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">oosevelt<\/span>\u00a0and assisting in the\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">strike group\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>combat strikes against the Islamic State militants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>TR\u00a0launched 1,812<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">00<\/span>\u00a0sorties against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, totaling 10,618 flight hours and dropped over one million pounds of ordnance<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0employed through 1,085 guided munitions<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cruise\u00a0was also an operational success for Baseline 9. Sailors proved it could integrate with\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">And as the first deploying Aegis ship with the Baseline 9 system that dovetailed with the first operational use of\u00a0<\/span>the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye to greatly expand the strike group&#8217;s\u00a0command and control picture. It was the first ship to deploy with this system.\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">where the cruise became an operational success for the ship and strike group as much as it was a personal success for the Normandy\u2019s crew. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2654\" height=\"3784\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318238727187-nav-normandy-cruise-6jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-76746\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318238727187-nav-normandy-cruise-6jpg.jpg 2654w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318238727187-nav-normandy-cruise-6jpg.jpg?resize=210,300 210w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318238727187-nav-normandy-cruise-6jpg.jpg?resize=768,1095 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318238727187-nav-normandy-cruise-6jpg.jpg?resize=718,1024 718w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318238727187-nav-normandy-cruise-6jpg.jpg?resize=1077,1536 1077w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635931318238727187-nav-normandy-cruise-6jpg.jpg?resize=1436,2048 1436w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2654px) 100vw, 2654px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Aboard the USS Normandy Dec. 10, 2015) Capt. Scott Robertson, commanding officer of the guided-missile cruiser Normandy observes a live-fire exercise off the starboard side of the cruiser Normandy as it steams up the Atlantic Coast and home from the around the world cruise. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Capt. Scott Robertson has earned a reputation as a sailor&#8217;s sailor. He joined the Navy in 1986 as a non-designated seaman and was selected for BOOST, earning a four-year ROTC scholarship. He also has a soft spot for coffee, giving up his personal galley on the ship to be a popular MWR latte shop for the crew.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Photo Credit: Mark D. Faram\/Staff<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think we have absolutely quantified how to be an air defense missile commander for a strike group and how to operate in the Arabian Gulf,&#8221; Robertson said. &#8220;I think we have re-written the playbook on how to execute that unique function.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the new system was only part of the picture according to Robertson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The capability was certainly an enabler, but the talent we have on board here and the desire to do better than anyone else has done before was there,&#8221; he added. &#8220;So you add those three components together, that&#8217;s pretty powerful stuff \u2014 we got the validation via a number of different ways,\u00a0that Normandy did it right over there.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the Atlantic, the crew began to put the past nine months behind them, focusing on reuniting with their families and friends.\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">But as the pier drew closer, the crew\u2019s minds were already putting the past nine months, looking forward to the reunion with families they\u2019d not seen much of for the past year and a half and leaving the shipyard.<\/span>\u00a0It\u2019s something that gets even the saltiest sailors choked up.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve been on six deployments, but this is my first with kids,&#8221; said Fire Controlman 1st Class (SW) Joseph Rollins as he was manning the rails in his dress blues on the way into Norfolk. &#8220;I can&#8217;t wait to see how much they&#8217;ve grown.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Mediterranean ports, the Normandy sailed to 5th Fleet for missions against the Islamic State group. Part II of II.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":80908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3087],"class_list":["post-44584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"THMUJZTYHBCE3GQFUPKM2GZU5E","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/03\/15\/cruiser-normandy-s-missions-against-isis-amid-epic-deployment\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cruiser Normandy&#039;s missions against ISIS amid &#039;epic&#039; deployment - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After Mediterranean ports, the Normandy sailed to 5th Fleet for missions against the Islamic State group. 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