Sailing Back To NS Mayport

O'Bannon Completes Dual-Sea Deployment

By Lt.j.g. Ligia Cohen - COMUSNAVSO Public Affairs

After steaming more than 45,000 miles in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean and transiting the Panama Canal 2 times, USS O’Bannon (DD 987), and its embarked Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 46 Detachment 5, returns July 18 to its homeport of Mayport, Fla.

While deployed to the U.S. Naval Southern Command (USNAVSO) area of responsibility, O’Bannon’s primary mission was deterring, detecting, and intercepting vessels engaged in narco-trafficking, the smuggling of illegal narcotics. In conjunction with Law Enforcement Detachment Teams (LEDETs) 101 and 104 who were embarked onboard, O’Bannon successfully boarded one drug trafficking vessel and four drug trafficking refueling vessels.

In addition to its counter drug mission, O’Bannon, a Commander Naval Surface Group Two ship assigned to Destroyer Squadron 14, contributed to the nation’s coalition building and cooperation efforts in South America and the Caribbean by participating in several multinational exercises along with naval forces from Colombia, Chile, Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, France, Peru and Venezuela.

- Photo by PH2(AW) Chantel M. Chapman Lt. Mike Davis greets his daughter Sarah, after completing a six-month deployment on board USS O'Bannon (DD-987). The O'Bannon performed counter drug missions in the Carribean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Sea.

“Multinational operations allow our navies to be proficient in vital combined fleet operations,” said Electronics Technician First Class Gerald Hagdorn, leading petty officer, combat systems division. “With recent events in the world, it’s important for all military forces to be able to work in concert in order to carry out the mission.”

With that philosophy in mind, O’Bannon served as the flagship of an eight-ship and one-submarine multinational force during UNITAS 44-03 Caribbean Phase. During this two-week exercise, the multinational force completed more than 150 training events including refueling at sea, gunnery exercises, quick reaction and communications drills, maritime interdiction operations, torpedo and missile launches and undersea warfare exercises.

One of the busiest times on O’Bannon’s bridge was while conducting tactical maneuvers during UNITAS. During these types of events, the ships position in close formation to conduct a variety of operations including evasive maneuvers, search and rescue, and air defense.

“Tactical maneuvers are like synchronized swimming,” said GMC(SW) Ralph Moore, a conning officer. “You have to know at all times where you are and where the other ships are. It takes a lot of coordination and a concerted team effort.”

In early June, O’Bannon joined Peruvian naval forces and a French frigate for Silent Forces Exercise (SIFOREX), an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) intensive exercise hosted by Peru. SIFOREX provided U.S. Sailors an exceptional opportunity to refine their skills against three type 209 diesel submarines, which are considered the hardest subsurface target to track.

- Photo by Paige Gnann BM1 John Flint of USS O'Bannon and wife, Karla, celebrate their eighth anniversary with his return from deployment Friday.

“Working alongside surface ships from other countries gave us the opportunity to coordinate precise tracking and prosecution of submarines,” said Lt. j.g. William Hubbard, anti-submarine warfare officer. “I feel the unique training opportunities with South American ships have greatly broadened our tactical prowess as both an ASW platform and command and control platform.”

Right after SIFOREX, O’Bannon headed to participate in Teamwork South, a naval training exercise hosted by Chile and designed to improve interoperability in surface, subsurface and air operations and logistics. Some of the evaluations conducted during Team Work South included maritime interception operations, and missile, drone and surface gunnery exercises.

“The entire deployment afforded every member of the crew the opportunity to excel at something, making everyone feel equally important,” said ST2(SW) Kristy Finley.

Besides excelling at the training opportunities, O’Bannon Sailors also experienced the rich South America culture and enjoyed the sights of many ports in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Chile and St. Lucia.

“I went on tours and had the chance to see and learn things that I would have never had the opportunity to do, without O’Bannon, that is,” added Finley.

Every place they went, O’Bannon Sailors strived to make a positive contribution to the communities they visited. With the sponsorship of USNAVSO, O’Bannon conducted community relations projects and delivered Project Handclasp donations at schools and orphanages in South America.

“My most rewarding experiences during this deployment were doing the community relations projects in St. Lucia and Manta, Ecuador,” said Tor pedoman First Class (SW) Calvin D. Price, leading petty officer for combat acoustics division. “It’s always good to give back to the community and share our blessings.”

With their return to Mayport, O’Bannon Sailors complete a six-month deployment that offered many opportunities to learn, build up proficiency and serve their nation, and finally, the O’Bannon crew is ready to enjoy the best reward of all: coming home.