Ship's Captains Gather

U.S. 5th Fleet hosted a breakfast for the commanding officers of U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard ships forward-deployed to Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, Feb. 20.

Commanding officers of Avenger-class mine countermeasures (MCM) ships, Cyclone-class coastal patrol (PC) ships and U.S. Coast Guard Island-class patrol boats (WPB) serve in early command jobs.

“I wanted an opportunity for all of our command-at-sea commanding officers to have a chance to sit down and talk, outside of the normal hustle-and-bustle of daily operations.” said Vice Adm. Malloy, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), U.S. 5th Fleet, and the Combined Maritime Forces. “They are incredibly talented mariners and leaders, and the relationships they form here will have a lasting impact as they assume future command positions, leading our Navy into the future.”

Malloy welcomed the commanding officers, expressing the importance of networking and camaraderie, not just in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, but worldwide.

Of the three classes of ships, there are 20 forward-deployed to Bahrain. Task Force 52 oversees the operations of four Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships. Task Force 55 is responsible for ten Cyclone-class coastal patrol ships and six U.S. Coast Guard Island-class patrol boats.

Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Wolf, commanding officer of USS Gladiator (MCM 11), was thankful for the opportunity to share a meal with the fleet commander and her fellow waterfront skippers.

"Building and fostering our network of Bahrain-based commanding officers in this type of environment allows us to share experiences and hone in our skills," said Lt. Cmdr. Rebecca Wolf, commanding officer of the mine countermeasures ship USS Gladiator (MCM 11). "This breakfast provided a unique type of access to the 5th Fleet commander where he was able to reinforce his support, not only as the numbered fleet commander, but also as the senior surface warfare officer and mentor in Bahrain."

The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses nearly 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. The region is comprised of 20 countries and includes three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab-al-Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen.