“These are not just BMD ships,” says Aiken. “They are multimission surface combatants that have to train, exercise and certify to meet their 22 mission areas.”
In addition to the shipboard BMD capability, Aiken says that the Aegis Ashore installations in Romania and Poland leverage the capability and skill sets of the U.S. Navy and its sailors. “It’s amazing how much responsibility our young sailors have.”
According to Cmdr. Chuck Hampton, commanding officer of USS Donald Cook (DDG 75), the deployments have been fast paced and interesting. “We’ve been here a year and we’ve already been to the Black Sea twice, and operated with the Romanians both in port and at sea. We have also operated with the Bulgarians both in port and at sea.
“We’ve also had the opportunity to operate with the Turkish Navy while in the Black sea. They’ve proven to be not only very professional but very proficient. We enjoyed an exercise with them in December. They always welcome us to the Black Sea, and bid us farewell when we leave,” Hampton says.
“As a ship’s captain, I’m always concerned about the weather. There’s only so many places you can run to get away from the weather while operating in the Black Sea. It makes it quite challenging in January dodging heavy weather. We pulled into Varna, Bulgaria on the heels of a Black Sea snowstorm, with winds blowing 40 to 50 knots and whiteout snow conditions.” The crew performed brilliantly and was well prepared for our operations in such cold latitudes.”
Cmdr. Tadd Gorman, commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross, explains the combat information center to Vice Adm. Serhiy Hayduk, Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian navy, during exercise Sea Breeze 2014. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Herman
And he adds that it’s certainly a dynamic area given what’s going on in the area with Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.
The Russian navy is watching what the Americans are doing. “This is their backyard, so anytime that we declare a northern or a southern transit of the Turkish Straits, which is required by the Montreux Convention, they know it. So normally when we exit the north side of the straits, they’re there waiting on us. They’re very professional. Every country we have operated with in Med or Black sea has been very professional,” Hampton says.
“We’ve also had the opportunity to operate with the Turkish Navy while in the Black sea. They’ve proven to be not only very professional but very proficient. We enjoyed an exercise with them in December. They always welcome us to the Black Sea, and bid us farewell when we leave,” Hampton says.
“We have been treated very well in both Romania and Bulgaria, and not just by the military contingent but also by the local community. A transiting ship that may deploy to the Med for seven months, might make one trip to the Black Sea and then they’re out. The host countries may not see that ship again for two and a half years, if ever. So I think we’re really going a distance with relationship-building. It’s only going to get better once Porter and Carney get over here. As an XO, then CO, you might go to the Black Sea eight or nine times during your tour.”
Hampton says the continuity is paying dividends. For many ships, returning from deployment means stand down and crew transfers, followed by maintenance, then training and workups to get the ship ready to deploy again. “We don’t have that schedule here. We’re pretty much constant. We’re operational, and our operational proficiency is much higher, simply due to our underway time.”