As part of its preparations for a new Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) in the Atlantic, the U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush began a new deployment roughly 80 miles off the U.S. East Coast alongside its escort, aiming to refine planning and coordination among the different assets that will take part in the training. According to official channels, this marked the first time Carrier Strike Group TEN (CSG 10) had all of its individual units fully integrated into the force, making it a key opportunity to evaluate performance in a complex training environment.
Providing additional details, the U.S. Navy stated that a range of diverse missions was executed to strengthen command-level planning capabilities, as well as the various maneuvers the crew will need to conduct during COMPTUEX. Among these, the service highlighted an air-defense exercise that required synchronizing all sensors across the participating ships, as well as coordinating their air-defense weapons to generate a unified response.
The strike group also completed a maneuver called a Strait Transit, which tested its ability to navigate geographically constrained environments. In addition, two replenishment-at-sea evolutions involving Arleigh Burke-class destroyers were carried out, not only training the crews in procedures that are critical for deploying a force of this kind, but also allowing first-time embarked personnel to become thoroughly familiar with them.
Citing remarks from Commander Schenk, who serves as the commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Gonzalez (DDG 66): “This was the first opportunity for the carrier strike group to employ and fully integrate all its components, from the surface ships and the air wing to the embarked staffs. These activities allowed us to practice the planning, briefing, execution, and debrief process as an integrated team during ongoing operations.”
Assets involved in the activities, with a Spanish guest of honor
As one of the points most emphasized by the U.S. Navy during these activities, it is useful to review the list of ships deployed alongside USS George H. W. Bush. Specifically, these were the destroyers USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), USS Mason (DDG 87), USS Ross (DDG 71), and USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), all of them Arleigh Burke-class ships.
Looking ahead to COMPTUEX, it is also worth noting that the Spanish Navy deployed its frigate Blas de Lezo (an F-100 class ship) with the aim of integrating it into the aforementioned force, giving it the opportunity to take part in this type of exercise for the second time. According to the Spanish service, the main objective is to keep the ship and its crew involved in a continuous training and evaluation process, while also using the opportunity to strengthen ties and interoperability with its U.S. Navy ally.
Image credits: U.S. Navy
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