Military Sealift Command (MSC) fleet replenishment oiler USNS Yukon (T-AO 202) and dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) have concluded their support of the Pacific portion of the U.S. Navy’s Large Scale Exercise 2021.
Over the course of the two week exercise, Yukon and Chambers conducted a combined 19 underway replenishments, delivering 488 pallets of dry food, as well as machine parts and equipment aviation fuel, bunker fuel, dry food, and nearly 2.5 million gallons of diesel ship fuel, and nearly 1.5 million gallons of JP5 aviation fuel to the U.S. Navy ships exercising in the region.
LSE 2021 was made-up of hypothetical scenarios, based on scenarios the Navy and Marine Corps team is likely to face in the future, and was designed to test participants in a contested environment. MSC’s ability to replenish ships at-sea, allowed Navy ships to stay on station, by providing all the items needed to sustain the ships at sea, and enabled them to stay in the area of operation longer, and without the need to come into port for supplies.
Onboard Yukon, Capt. Dan Glazier, Yukon’s civil service master, credits his ship’s successful logistics support, to his crew’s knowledge base and dedication to the mission.
“I am fortunate to have such a great crew working here, on Yukon,” said Glazier. “This crew has a vast amount of knowledge and experience with providing logistics support and delivery at sea, as well as pride and professionalism in the jobs that they do. That combination equals an outstanding group to work with, and successful mission.”
Chambers and Yukon were just one part of Military Sealift Command Pacific’s (MSCPAC) support to LSE 2021. In addition to ships at sea, Navy Reservists from the Military Sealift Command Headquarters Unit, Military Sealift Command Pacific Headquarters Unit and Military Sealift Command Far East provided watch standing and logistics support through scheduling and coordinating replenishment at sea events. The MSCPAC staff also provided support by manning watches, and coordinating operations from shoreside.
“LSE 2021 is a critical exercise that allows the Navy to focus on naval integration in preparation of major combat operations against an adversary,” said Captain Kendall Bridgewater, Commander, MSCPAC. “By including MSC ships in the operational planning and execution, valuable lessons can be applied in future operations that will enable MSS to be prepared to support the fleet missions in a wide variety of scenarios.”
LSE 2021 is a globally integrated exercise designed to test advanced warfare concepts across the full-range of maritime and amphibious operations under Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO). LSE 2021 will take place Aug. 3-16, 2021, in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. Fleet Forces, and U.S. Naval Forces Europe areas of operation.
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