Roughly 30 ships from NATO and other allies are off the coast for FLEETEX.
This is likely a first for the Atlantic, says Adm. Doug Perry, head of 2nd Fleet.
“Just a few weeks ago some of these warships were in real world operations in the northern Atlantic, and so we are in this exercise honing our skills of operating together,” he said.
On Tuesday, Perry toured the French LHD Dixmude, which was retrieving sailors and equipment from Onslow Beach after exercising with the Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C.. The ship’s well deck opened to the sea to retrieve a French EDA-R, a twin-hulled landing craft large enough to carry several trucks.
“An amphibious warship that is doing well deck operations, landing aircraft, it is one of the most complex things you can do at sea,” Perry said.
The U.S Navy believes this is the largest collection of military ships in Hampton Roads since the 1970s. Many will head to New York for the 4th of July.
Every other year, the Navy runs RIMPAC, a large exercise that stretches from California to Hawaii. This is the first time the Navy has tried a similar operation on the East Coast, Perry said.
Roughly 10,000 sailors and Marines from Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East and South America are participating. The exercise includes Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Turkey, the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago.
Most of these nations train with U.S. forces. The 250th anniversary of the United States helped bring the armada together at the same time.
It will likely be four or five years before the Navy attempts to do this again in the Atlantic, Perry said.
“We share some common challenges, and we have to be ready to work together, and that is what we are doing now during FLEETEX,” said French Commander Jocelyn Delrieu, captain of the Dixmude.
The French ship also hosted 160 midshipmen from several countries, who were training to be officers.
While they were retrieving their sailors from the shore, the French and Spanish ships coordinated with each other and USS Kearsarge to simulate a mass casualty event at sea. French sailors moved below decks from the flight deck.
