USS Greeneville Departs for Western Pacific Deployment

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ronald Gutridge, Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Greeneville (SSN 772) departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific region Sept. 10.

"This will be our first deployment since 2007 and a first for the majority of the crew. Therefore, we are all very excited and eager to get this submarine underway and support the national theater tasking," said Cmdr. Anthony Carullo, USS Greeneville's commanding officer. "They've all worked extremely hard getting the ship and themselves ready for this deployment and regaining operational proficiency of all mission areas. I am very proud of each and every one of them."

"I have never traveled outside the United States so I am very excited and really looking forward to this deployment," said Machinist Mate 2nd Class Kyle Bittner, from Portland, Ore. "This will be my first deployment and my first real chance to employ my submarine training."

Greeneville underwent a 13-month depot modernization period at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, that included upgrades in all of her electronic systems in support of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. An overhaul of all machinery systems and a full external refurbishing was also completed. During that time, Greeneville accomplished numerous sea trials before conducting an inter-fleet transfer back to Naval Station Pearl Harbor in June 2009.

Greeneville is the 61st Los Angeles-class submarine and the 22nd improved Los Angeles-class attack submarine. Los Angeles-class submarines are ideally suited for covert surveillance, intelligence gathering and special forces missions. This stealth, when combined with the submarine's Tomahawk cruise missiles and torpedoes, provide the operational commander with an unseen force multiplier.