How do you ensure stability and predictability in the maintenance cycle?

We have a great relationship with Navantia, the Spanish company that performs our maintenance. We have a very close relationship with them, and we cultivate that. They understand the ships, they know the ships, they’re here with us, and that helps. We all want to return the ship in great condition. And selfishly, we want our young sailors and young officers that go to these ships be able to tell the rest of the fleet about what they accomplished here in Sixth Fleet. I would tell the same thing when I was a CO out in Japan. I would say, “Okay, NOW go back and show ‘em all the things you learned here.” I want our junior officers to tell their classmates about the real world missions they performed and how often they pulled in and out of port, and how many times they did it unassisted, and how many times they took a celestial navigation fix at night, and how many times they operated in EMCON. We have a ship right now doing an operation in a silent EMCON posture, all the way up to their start point early this morning.

That’s the kind of stuff that we need to practice and be able to do – and we’re doing it. We’re paying attention to those little things that maybe we’ve gotten away from.

We don’t want to do something so we can get the qualification, and then not practice it again. That’s why we’re stressing them on a regular basis. That’s why we’re shutting all our links down and practicing our ability to talk using different and redundant communication paths. Here, I’ll have a ship that has to communicate with the French, and in a few hours might have to do that with the Italians, then maybe a German ship. So we bring them into the link, and open up a maritime operation picture.

 

If it’s NATO, it’s a standard.

Even if it’s a NATO ship, you have to practice. Our ships are doing that – repetition, repetition, repetition – so they understand how to work with partners, within NATO and with other nations. Every time they’re under way they’re working with somebody out there. It’s an amazing place to learn. They’re also going to have all this great equipment that we’re speeding up and getting to the fleet because it’s needed. That’s a testament to our folks in the resource community at N96 and all those folks who are getting these things out here so our ships can do their mission.

 

What about the ASW threat?

This is an ASW theater. I have these guys who laughed at me because when I first arrived in 2013 I wanted to have the ships practice ASW. At the time ASW was not the primary focus for the ships, I was told ASW was a skill set they’re not going to need. Well, look who’s laughing now. The ships are doing real world ASW – out of the box within hours of leaving port! Our young officers and enlisted sailors are experiencing it first-hand. We’re doing well.

 

The Surface Navy has been focused on distributed lethality, and going on the offensive. How does that affect your mentality here in Sixth Fleet?

When we say ‘go on the offensive,’ it’s not it’s not about being antagonistic. But if somebody wants to deny us access because they’ve got weapons like the Stooge or the Yakhont missiles, which go out pretty far, are we NOT able to go into those areas? No. We’re ABLE to go into those areas. I don’t think that’s being offensive. It’s being smart. We’re not ceding that battle space. Having the SeaRAM is a capability to defend ourselves. We’re not just able to defend ourselves. We can fight. We have the equipment, the manning, and now we’re getting those officers trained to think about those types of engagements.

 

How does that change your thinking when you have a ship that has Sea RAM AND CIWS as opposed to not having the Sea RAM?

CIWS is such a capable weapon. Couple that with Aegis, and you can feel much safer. With SeaRAM it’s even better. The PK (probability of kill) with Sea RAM against the Yakhont missile is fantastic. So it’s a comfort factor. We’re not rocking back on our heels. We’re always on our toes going forward. And it’s nice to know that you’ve got the ability to go in there and know that if something did escalate, you can protect yourself. I’m not going to debate the firepower of the DDG with anybody. It’s a great platform. And now we have and even better capability. And I will always then defer to the brain and the heart of the American sailor, and anybody in the military. That’s our real secret weapon right there.

 

So if you have a wish list – something you didn’t have on your ships out here now, but would like, what would it be?

Can I ask for more ships? I’d love 5 or 10 more ships. Two would be nice. One would be great. Just give it to me on a rotational basis.

 

Is there any discussion about augmenting the four ships?

I can’t get into the details of what’s actually being asked or what we’re looking for, but I think if you want a wish list, it’s continue sending those great sailors out and continue sending us some of the new systems and technology. Continue sending us WTIs, the warfare tactics instructors. The Naval Research Lab provided us with the Transportable Electronic Warfare Module (TEWM) system that helps us identify those left-of-launch capabilities. It will alert us if it sees something coming in. It enhances the ship’s ability to fight another day. Our ships can take it with them when they’re on patrol.