USS Rodney M. Davis Returns from Final Deployment

From Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet/USS Rodney M. Davis Public Affairs

EVERETT, Wash. (NNS) -- The Navy frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) returned from its final deployment to the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans Dec. 19.

During the six-month deployment, the ship and crew of more than 200 Sailors, based at Naval Station Everett and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 9, conducted presence operations and theater security cooperation with partner nations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

"I am fortunate to serve with an awesome crew," said Cmdr. Todd Whalen, the ship's commanding officer. "Rodney M. Davis Sailors executed complex mission tasking at sea and performed superbly as fleet ambassadors ashore."

The ship left Everett June 12 to join 48 ships from 22 countries for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014, the world's largest international maritime exercise. Following RIMPAC, a U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Team embarked the ship and performed compliant boarding operations in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in support of the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative.

Subsequently, the ship conducted extensive theater security cooperation in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility, including an Indian Ocean patrol and port visits to Japan, Singapore, the Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei. As the first U.S. warship to visit to the Maldives in four years, Rodney M. Davis hosted the Maldives National Defense Force Chief of Defense (MNDF), conducted boarding exercises with the MNDF Coast Guard, and performed community service at a local orphanage.

During its visit to Medan, Indonesia, the ship hosted the secretary of the Navy, and Rodney M. Davis Sailors took part in cultural exchanges with more than 800 students at Medan universities and high schools. In Brunei, the ship participated in the 20th year of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), including training events afloat and ashore with the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.

Over the course of deployment, Rodney M. Davis transited more than 37,000 nautical miles, conducted 13 underway replenishments and nearly 300 hours of flight operations.

Rodney M. Davis is named for Marine Corps Sgt. Rodney Maxwell Davis, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam. The ship was built by Todd Pacific Shipyards in San Pedro, California, and commissioned May 9, 1987. Following her return to Everett, the ship will prepare to decommission in March.