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PACIFIC OCEAN - As the flagship of Commander, Carrier Strike
Group (CSG) 5, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George
Washington (CVN 73) is the hub of communication and control, making
it a high-value unit (HVU).
What makes George Washington the
most valuable ship in the strike group is not only its command and
control capabilities but also the strike capability its air wing
brings.
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Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73)
deployed in the Mediterranean Sea on November 27, 2002. (U.S. Navy
courtesy photo)
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“It's the largest ship in the strike group with more than
5,000 Sailors and more than 60 aircraft,” said Lt. Cmdr.
Patrick Chapman, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 Valiant
Shield 2014 lead planner. “The strike aircraft aboard are
major assets, capable of striking multiple targets both on
land and at sea, in areas where there are no friendly
airfields available. This is a capability which can only
function if the carrier is around to launch and recover
aircraft.”
A carrier's main line of defense is its
screening surface combatants, both in the exercises and in
real-life situations.
“While cruisers and destroyers
are capital assets, capable of shooting missiles at long
range, they are smaller and there are a greater number of
them throughout the Navy,” said Chapman. “They're also more
maneuverable and have a range of defensive systems because
part of their job is to help protect the aircraft carrier so
that it can continue to serve as a mobile airfield.”
There are many potential threats to HVUs that must be
defended against in operations, and trained to in exercises.
“The submarine threat is present during most of the
Valiant Shield events,” said Lt. Geoffrey Biegel, Destroyer
Squadron (DESRON) 15. “We have imposed some exercise
limitations to get the most benefits from both the air and
anti-submarine warfare portions of the exercise. Because in
reality, the submarine threat would be present regardless of
whatever else we are doing.”
Defenses are in place to
protect the HVU from submarine attacks, first and foremost
being the ability to detect them.
“We have destroyers
that are equipped with passive and active sonar,” said
Chapman. “We have MH-60R helicopters that are equipped with
active dipping sonar. We also have shore support from the
P-3 and P-8 aircraft. The torpedoes the cruiser and
destroyers have can serve as an attack or self defense
weapon.”
The main purpose of these events isn't to
test the George Washington Carrier Strike Group in a
discrete and planned environment, but rather it's meant to
test how well they can flex levels of command and control
and tactical decision making in a free-play scenario.
“What these events do is stress our planning,
development and execution efforts through executing,
assessing and getting lessons learned to improve our
planning processes,” said Montgomery. “It's our
vulnerability periods that exercise our capability against
adversary submarine and air forces that serve to stress our
operational planning environment. This means that while we
are simultaneously conducting significant planned
evolutions, we separately have to account for an adversary
force structure that is applied against us.”
Valiant
Shield is a U.S.-only exercise integrating Navy, Air Force,
Army and Marine Corps assets in a blue-water environment
aimed at refining the military's ability to present a
seamless joint force and respond to any contingencies in a
timely manner.
Even though Valiant Shield is a
U.S.-only exercise, its scope and location demonstrates
commitment to the peace and stability of the Pacific. Such
high-level, sophisticated training among multiservice forces
ensures the U.S. military remains the preeminent military
power in the region, capable of honoring its commitments to
allies, partners and friends.
By U.S. Navy Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Everett Allen
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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