Tag: NATO

NATO Announces Exercise Breeze 2019 a Week Late After Prodding from SeaWaves

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July 19, 2019 – After inquiring of Exercise Breeze 2019 July 18th, with their usual no response, NATO released this today one week after event began. Over 2,000 forces and 27 ships are taking part in exercise Breeze 2019 in the Black Sea. The Bulgarian-led maritime exercise, which began on 12 July, involves forces from 12 NATO Allies – Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States. The exercise aims to enhance interoperability among participating units and strengthen NATO’s readiness in the…

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Exercise Dynamic Mongoose 2019 Concludes

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July 16, 2019 – Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) composed by the U.S. flagship, the guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely, British frigate HMS Westminster, and Turkish frigate TCG Gokova concluded their participation in the annual Norwegian-led anti-submarine exercise Dynamic Mongoose (DYMON) 2019 on July 12, 2019. Under the command of Rear Admiral Edward Cashman (USA N) NATO units completed an intense and challenging training exercise with surface ships, maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and submarines in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Andenes, Norway. DYMON 2019 was designed to enhance…

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USS Carney Departs the Black Sea

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July 14, 2019 – USS Carney (DDG 64) began its southbound transit from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea July 14, 2019, after conducting maritime security operations and exercise Sea Breeze 2019. While in the Black Sea for Sea Breeze 2019, Carney was able to test interoperability with participating partner navies that included maritime interdiction operations, operational process training, surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and self-defense against small boat attacks. Sea Breeze 2019 is an annual multinational maritime exercise, with air, land, and amphibious components, and is co-hosted by Ukraine…

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Wave Knight Keeps Warships in Submarine Hunt

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July 12, 2019 – Tanker RFA Wave Knight has been keeping frigates and destroyers in the hunt during NATO’s second major anti-submarine exercise of the year. The two-week hunt in the Arctic – Exercise Dynamic Mongoose – sees a NATO task group, plus additional British and Norwegian ships and helicopters, searching for diesel and nuclear submarines off the coast of the Nordland and Troms districts. The war game mirrors one NATO runs in Sicily each year – but poses participants with different environmental challenges above and below the waves (sea…

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USS Carney Departs Odesa

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July 9, 2019 – USS Carney (DDG 64) departed Odesa, Ukraine, July 9, 2019, after completing a scheduled port visit as part of exercise Sea Breeze 2019. While in port, Sailors assigned to Carney were able to train alongside partner navies while taking part in visit, board, search, and seizure drills, and command and control simulations at the Ukrainian Naval Training Center where they participated in both fire-fighting and pipe-patching exercises in the Ukrainian Navy’s survivability training building. As part of a competitive team-building activity, they were also able to…

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Black Sea Fleet Monitors NATO Exercise Sea Breeze 2019

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July 5, 2019 (Google Translation) – In the course of carrying out the tasks, the grouping of Russian warships began to work out a number of planned combat training activities in the Black Sea. The exercise involved about 10 ships of the fleet. In particular, large landing ships “Azov” and “Caesar Kunikov”, small missile ships “Orekhovo-Zuyevo” and “Mirage”, missile boats “Ivanovets”, “Naberezhnye Chelny” and “R-60” and others. At the moment, the crews of the ships continue to work out the elements of joint navigation and combat maneuvering in sea polygons,…

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NATO Conducting Routine Patrol in the Black Sea

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July 3, 2019 – Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) arrived in the Black Sea yesterday to conduct a routine patrol to enhance interoperability with Allies and build on cooperation with NATO Partners. SNMG2 is led by Commodore Josée Kurtz of the Royal Canadian Navy from the Group’s flagship, Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Toronto. The group also includes Turkish frigate TCG Turgutreis and British frigate HMS Duncan, which transited into the Black Sea with HMCS Toronto. There they are joining with Romanian frigate ROS Regele Ferdinand as well. “Patrolling…

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Sea Breeze 2019 Partners Celebrate Navy Day in Ukraine

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July 9, 2019 – Ukranian President joined the Ukrainian Navy, military members from exercise Sea Breeze 2019, and the people of Ukraine to celebrate Navy Day in Odesa, Ukraine, July 7. While at the public event, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made remarks, presented medals to Ukrainian service members, visited with Ukrainians, toured foreign ships and attended several meetings and briefings. “As we strive for more than strong and well-equipped Navy forces, as we are heading to this goal, our allies are standing shoulder to shoulder with us,” said Zelenskyy during…

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Zierikzee Home From SNMCMG1 Deployment

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June 26, 2019 (Google Translation) – HNLMS Zierikzee returned to Den Helder today. The minehunter has participated for 2 months in the NATO mine-fighting flotilla, the Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 (SNMCMG 1). SNMCMG 1 has been used for Beneficial Cooperation, among other things. The Zierikzee destroyed 3 mines north of the Wadden Islands. During this operation, SNMCMG 1 destroyed a total of 10 explosives. They were discovered at the beginning of this year during the search for the containers that had been knocked overboard at MS Zoë north…

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BALTOPS 2019 Wraps Up in Kiel

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June 21, 2019 – The 47th annual Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2019 came to a close June 21 as ships and crewmembers from 18 nations returned to Kiel, Germany. BALTOPS is a joint, multinational maritime-focused exercise that includes air, maritime, and ground assets and provides a unique training opportunity designed to foster and sustain cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea-lanes and security of the Baltic region. This year’s BALTOPS was led by U.S. 2nd Fleet (C2F), commanded by Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, on behalf of Naval…

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Fort McHenry Concludes BALTOPS Operations

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June 26, 2019 – USS Fort McHenry concluded exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2019, June 21. BALTOPS, now in its 47th iteration, featured ships and aircraft from 18 nations, and is the largest maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic region. “BALTOPS 2019 was truly an impressive feat when you think about what we were able to accomplish,” said Cmdr. Steve Schmidt, commanding officer of Fort McHenry. “18 countries came together and displayed the diverse skills of professional mariners. I am proud to have commanded the Sailors and Marines aboard Fort McHenry during…

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Royal Welcome for HNLMS Evertsen

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June 24, 2019 (Google Translation) – HNLMS Evertsen returned to Den Helder today and received a royal reception. Queen Máxima came aboard the NH90 maritime combat helicopter shortly before entering the port. The air defense and command frigate participated in the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) in the Mediterranean during the past six months. It also had the task of being the flagship of the NATO fleet. Máxima christened Evertsen in 2003. Now she was received by commander captain-lieutenant Sjoerd Feenstra. She spoke with crew members about working and…

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BALTOPS 2019 Marks Milestone for ESG-2’s Re-designed MOC

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June 19, 2019 – Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) TWO Rear Adm. Brad Skillman and staff finished strong at the conclusion of exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2019. Unique for this exercise is Skillman’s command of a 21-ship multinational Amphibious Task Force Forward Deployed, assisted by staff operating in the newly modernized Maritime Operations Center (MOC) at ESG-2 headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. “We recently did the first renovation of ESG-2 headquarters in 29 years for the purpose of being able to operate Forward Deployed and stay fully operationally connected to the…

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