{"id":45870,"date":"2018-11-22T18:01:09","date_gmt":"2018-11-22T18:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/22\/on-this-thanksgiving-cno-thankful-for-carrier-dynamic-force-employment-success\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:46:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:46:33","slug":"on-this-thanksgiving-cno-thankful-for-carrier-dynamic-force-employment-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/11\/22\/on-this-thanksgiving-cno-thankful-for-carrier-dynamic-force-employment-success\/","title":{"rendered":"CNO thankful for carrier dynamic force employment success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Navy\u2019s highest ranking officer and his top enlisted sailor spent their Thanksgiving aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, sailing the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their take: The Truman Carrier Strike Group\u2019s ongoing Dynamic Force Employment <\/a>experiment has been a great success, assuring allies that they\u2019ll show up to defend them and teaching potential foes that the Navy can show up suddenly with dominant firepower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI gotta say, from my perspective, this is going magnificently,\u201d said Adm. John Richardson<\/a>, the Chief of Naval Operations, during a Thanksgiving conference call with Navy Times and the U.S. Naval Institute. \u201cWe laid out some very challenging goals for ourselves in terms of this deployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d say that the Navy, by its nature, is predisposed to being dynamic and moving around. And it\u2019s really good to kinda get back into that game a little bit in response to changes in the dynamics of great power competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Andrew Malusky, assigned to the \u201cProud Warriors\u201d of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 72, inspects an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter before flight operations aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman on Wednesday. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Victoria Granado\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Truman Carrier Strike Group has been in the spotlight because Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis wanted unpredictable flattop deployments and the retired Marine four-star general is getting his wish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven-month carrier tours had become routine but the Truman mixed that up. The strike group departed Norfolk on April 11, just a year and nine months after returning from a record-setting deployment<\/a> bombing the Islamic State in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Truman and its escorts the guided-missile cruiser Normandy and destroyers Arleigh Burke and Forrest Sherman returned to Virginia on July 21<\/a> for what officials cautioned families was an \u201cextended port visit,\u201d not a homecoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They left on Aug. 28 for a rendezvous in the Atlantic with sister carrier Abraham Lincoln before continuing on to NATO\u2019s massive Trident Juncture exercises, a show of force that reminded Russia that America and its allies can put troops ashore and munitions on target if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flanked by Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russell L. Smith<\/a>, Carrier Strike Group commander Rear Adm. Gene Black<\/a> and Capt. Nicholas J. Dienna<\/a>, the skipper of the Truman, Richardson said that they achieved \u201cevery goal\u201d for a cruise that operated from the North Atlantic to above the Arctic Circle and across the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warships practiced hunting submarines, interdicting enemy aircraft and patrolling alongside friends from Europe and North Africa, sometimes in tough conditions. It was the first time in a quarter-century since a carrier strike group roamed inside the Arctic Circle, officials added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worth noting that in almost two months in heavy seas, I had no sailors injured by equipment or anything like that,\u201d said Rear Adm. Black. \u201cAnd that talks to the quality of the leadership, from the junior officers and the chief petty officers all the way down who checked and double-checked and bought into the challenges that came with operating in such a dynamic environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an operator\u2019s dream,\u201d added Black. \u201cYou get to show up and you get to do things with NATO partners and allies that we haven\u2019t been able to do at the high end, to the same extent. It\u2019s an absolute thrill and I see far more opportunities than challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The guided-missile destroyerArleigh Burke sails alongside the dry cargo and ammunition ship Medgar Evers during a replenishment-at-sea in the Mediterranean on Nov. 12. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Yarborough\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To Adm. Richardson, who has raised concerns about the increasing Russian presence in the North Atlantic, the new tours are all \u201cback to the future.\u201d When he chatted with previous CNOs about returning to the unpredictable style of Cold War deployments, they told him, \u201c\u2018Well, what else have you been doing? This is what we do in the Navy,'” he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operating in cold weather and heavy sea states, arranging for logistics in Arctic waters \u2014 those are old lessons that younger officers and their crews must relearn, Richardson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capt. Dienna pointed to an old Navy Arctic operations manual his crew discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a list of snow and ice removal equipment that each ship should be equipped with,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd No. 1 on that list was \u201948 baseball bats.’ So we outfitted ourselves with 48 Louisville Sluggers and some additional equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While few sailors on the carrier might\u2019ve had direct experience with sailing in northern waters, Dienna said they still could draw on a massive body of knowledge and a wide range of expertise within the Navy itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of recapturing those lessons, continuing to learn rapidly and relevantly and moving forward,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think that was one of our greatest successes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNO Richardson said pledged to provide the fuel, equipment and everything else necessary to keep the strike group is \u201cup on our game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
“If you talk too much, this man may die.” Poster issued in 1942 by the Office of War Information (no. 1942-0-482161). Poster by Valentino Sarra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But to MCPON Smith, the wealth of knowledge available to sailors today with a few clicks on a keyboard is helpful, but the same networked and global reach of technology can ruin the element of surprise if sailors and their families aren\u2019t careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 1991, we didn\u2019t have the information ubiquity that we have now with the internet,” said Smith. “Everyone is talking OPSEC<\/a>, which meant a lot to us in World War II \u2014 think about the posters with \u2018Loose Lips Sink Ships\u2019 that now could be \u2018Loose Tweets Sink Fleets.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStrike groups must have the ability to maintain some sort of disguise as far as what they\u2019re doing and where they\u2019re going and how we\u2019re telegraphing our moves \u2014 that can be an even more challenging environment. And getting our sailors on board is going to be one of the bigger challenges we face.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rear Adm. Black agreed, pointing to an \u201cOPSEC stand down\u201d that rehearsed how sailors and their families wouldn\u2019t broadcast carrier operations. But that sort of secrecy won\u2019t drape the return of the warships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis time we\u2019ll have the whole homecoming, with Santa Claus and the band and the radio station and all the good stuff that comes with that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in keeping with the new dynamic deployment rotations, the toil of the more than 7,000 sailors in the strike group doesn\u2019t end in Norfolk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rear Adm. Black said that the group will enter their sustainment phase \u2014 maintenance, exercises at sea and staying ready to deploy quickly if CNO alerts them to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\t