By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Trevor Welsh,
Task Force 70 Public Affairs
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, At Sea (NNS) -- In the midst of the
year's largest U.S. military exercise, Asia's forward-deployed destroyer
squadron is taking steps to ensure surface warfare readiness by leading the
Navy in the development of tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) that are on
the 'leading edge' of emerging technology.
Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, working closely with Surface
Tactical Development Group (STDG), Task Force (CTF) 70 and the newly stood-up
Navy Surface Warfare Development Command in San Diego, has reinstituted the
Surface Readiness Effectiveness Measurement (SURFREM) and is taking its first
new steps during exercise Valiant Shield 2014.
"Reestablishing the SURFREM program will help focus
DESRON 15 as the forward-deployed naval force in critical TTPs, as well as
improve our performance at sea and mission accomplishment," said Capt.
Shan Byrne, commodore, DESRON 15. "Although this benefits DESRON 15, it
ultimately benefits the entire surface Navy. It's an area that we need to focus
on, and since we have added so many new technologies to our arsenal, we now need
to explore how to best utilize them to maximize our performance."
The program was initially implemented in early 2000s, but
was discontinued due to budget cuts. The renewed interest in tactical
development for surface ships has fueled DESRON 15's initiative to bring the
program back to life.
"We saw an opportunity, and I knew intuitively that we
needed to delve deeper into our surface tactics," said Byrne. "While
we were preparing for Valiant Shield, we pitched the idea to our higher
headquarters, Task Force 70 and Surface Forces Pacific, with the hopes that we
could take advantage of the opportunities that Valiant Shield presented with
the live weapons firing to reinitiate the program."
The basis of the program relies on data, collected over
time, through a series of tests, mission sets and real-world procedural
analysis.
"The program is a derivative of SHAREM (shipboard
anti-submarine warfare readiness and effectiveness measurement), which exists
for the [anti-submarine warfare] community," said Lt. Cmdr. Patrick
Chapman, DESRON 15, Valiant Shield 2014 lead planner. "The basis of the
program is having tactical and technical experts come out observe very narrowly
focused procedures on ships. Doing enough of these over time results in a
compilation of data that enables us to improve upon existing technologies,
prove and disprove theories, and develop new tactics and procedures. All of
these improvements have happened over an extended period of time [in SHAREM]
and we would like to replicate that in the surface warfare realm by
reestablishing SURFREM."
Analyzing the training continuum and testing and retesting
procedural standards allows for experts in existing and emerging technology to
implement the newest TTPs in the surface fleet.
"SURFREM is an initiative to improve the assessment of
surface warfare technologies," said Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, commander,
Battle Force 7th Fleet. "Additionally it provides an opportunity to test
TTPs with surface warfare systems. Because of technological development, it is
likely that over the next few years, better systems will be developed and
delivered to the fleet. Because of the development of TTPs, it's likely that
we'll know how to use those systems better. Overall it should increase the
combat readiness of DESRON 15, more broadly CTF 70, and eventually naval forces
in other areas."
Valiant Shield is a U.S. exercise integrating an estimated
18,000 U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps personnel, more than 200
aircraft and 19 surface ships, offering real-world joint operational experience
to develop capabilities that provide a full range of options to defend U.S.
interests and those of its allies and partners. This arena provides the perfect
vehicle to initiate SURFREM and allow for maximum data collection and analysis.
"Specific to what we did in Valiant Shield, we had
observers from STDG embark three destroyers, a cruiser and George Washington to
watch how we executed the (sinking exercise)," said Chapman. "The
ships employed some new techniques, tactics and procedures in a realistic scenario
that might be found in a wartime environment. After the exercise is complete,
STDG will take all the data they've collected, look at the results and see what
can be improved upon in the future when executing these procedures."
"The initial feedback we got from STDG, which was a
quick analysis of our tactical engagements, was positive; a very successful
event," said Byrne. "There is more data that needs to be extracted
before we get a formal response, and we expect to see that within the next
couple of months. That report will give us exact feedback so we can take that
information and fold it into our TTPs."
The data collected during Valiant Shield will not only help
improve the processes aboard the ships involved, but the rest of DESRON 15 and
eventually the entire surface force.
"I am really excited about getting SUFREM back up and
running," said Byrne. "Although it's great that DESRON 15 was able to
participate in SURFREM 2014, it's not just about us, it's about the entire
surface Navy and becoming efficient in the technologies we have invested
in."
Valiant Shield operations intend to achieve an unprecedented
level of joint integration at the service level with the goal of developing
pre-integrated joint forces. It seeks to improve integration of air, land,
maritime, space, and cyberspace forces in order to provide combatant commanders
enhanced combinations of military capabilities necessary to deter and, if
necessary, defeat an adversary employing sophisticated capabilities.
"Valiant Shield 2014 is the largest joint military
exercise in the Pacific this year," said Montgomery. "It combines a
series of vignettes to test our operational and tactical capabilities against
high-end adversaries along with operations that allow us to asses and improve our
interoperability between joint forces. It gives a series of experimentation
events to test some of the newest developmental systems. We are very excited
for the opportunities this presents and we look forward to improving the
war-fighting proficiency of CTF 70."
DESRON 15 is a collection of seven permanently
forward-deployed Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers providing a
combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interests
of the U.S. and its allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
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