(NOTE: Navy guidance on the procedures for arranging return travel of eligible family members is included in NAVADMIN message 132/11. For further information, contact your service member, your respective Command Pass Coordinator (CPC) or other designated command representative to discuss your...

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) - The crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) and members of the Navy League Honolulu Council (NLHC) honored Sailors of the destroyer USS Sigsbee in a ceremony aboard Chung-Hoon's flight deck, April 14. The ceremony was held to pay respects to the 23 Sailors...

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan - On 14 April, 2011, the U.S. State Department lifted the voluntary departure order. At this time, Joint Support Force is working out the details and will announce specifics as soon as Department of Defense guidance is finalized. In the meantime, entitlements previously...

SASEBO, Japan (NNS) - The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) arrived in Sasebo, Japan April 14, completing a three-month deployment in the Western Pacific. Throughout the patrol, Essex Sailors, along with the embarked Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU),...

PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii- Guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) will depart Pearl Harbor April 15 for an independent deployment to the Western Pacific and U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. The crew of more than 275 Sailors will conduct Ballistic Missile Defense operations, as...

OKINAWA, Japan - The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) offloaded the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) April 12 at White Beach Naval Facility in Okinawa, Japan. Marines assigned to Essex combat cargo department coordinated the offload of more than 1,200 fellow Marines,...

SASEBO, Japan (NNS) - USS George Washington (CVN73) Sailors spent some of their liberty time in Sasebo, Japan, with residents of the Sakura Challenged Home for handicapped citizens, April 12. The volunteers cleaned the grounds of the facility, washed windows and watered plants. "This particular...

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) - The forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) is scheduled to visit U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo in Sasebo, Japan April 12 - the second time in two weeks. George Washington's return to Sasebo is for the continued transfer of personnel and supplies and...

CAMP SENDAI, Japan – Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan visited Camp Sendai to talk to U.S. service members and media, April 10. Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet and Joint Support Force, was also in attendance during the visit by the Prime Minister. Kan took time to visit the...

YOKOSUKA, Japan (April 11, 2011) – At sea and ashore, the men and women of the U.S. 7th Fleet observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m. Japan Standard Time today, marking one month since the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck northern Japan. The relief operation that followed was named...

YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) – USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), and embarked 7th Fleet staff from Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Pacific (FASTPAC) returned to Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, April 11, following a two-month patrol and support of Operation Tomodachi. Blue Ridge aided the Navy's...

PHILIPINNE SEA - With their final exercise events April 9, the U.S. and Indian navies drew Malabar to a close. Malabar is an annual bilateral naval field training exercise conducted to advance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues. The exercise helps enhance...

USS BLUE RIDGE, At Sea (April 8, 2011) - Residents of Oshima Island waved goodbye yesterday to the Marines of the 31st MEU and Sailors from USS Essex (LHD 2) after a 7-day effort of clearing debris from the shores of the Uranohama, Yogai and Komagata harbors, restoring access roads and cleaning out...

PACIFIC OCEAN – The Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) concluded its participation in Operation Tomodachi April 7 after conducting nearly three weeks of humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HADR) operations with the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF). One of the largest humanitarian operations in...

OSHIMA ISLAND, Japan – Marines and Sailors of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), departed Oshima Island, April 7, after completing the clean-up of Uranohama Port, and the surrounding areas, during Operation “Field Day.” The Marines and Sailors spent about six days moving cars, destroyed...

KAUAI, Hawaii - A group of Navy pilots and air crewmen who were training at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Barking Sands, responded to a call for help and rescued two women on Kauai's Kalalau Beach in Na Pali Coast Park this morning. At approximately 10:15 a.m. a local tour helicopter...

NAVAL AIR STATION LEMOORE, Calif. (April 7, 2011)- Lt. Matthew Ira Lowe, 33, and Lt. Nathan Hollingsworth Williams, 28, were killed Wednesday during a training mission when the F/A-18F Super Hornet they were flying crashed in an agricultural field near Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore. Lowe, from...

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) – The guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal (CG-73), along with 10 other surface ships and 18 submarines home ported in Hawaii, participated in the week long exercise Koa Kai in the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands, March 31-April 5. The Port Royal participated in Koa...

PACIFIC OCEAN (NNS) – Thirty-three USS George Washington (CVN 73) Sailors completed a Security Reaction Force Basic (SRFB) course aboard the ship, April 7. The three-week course trains Sailors to work in the Security department and is mandatory for all USS George Washington E-6 and below Sailors...

FANAFO, Vanuatu (NNS) - Navy Doctors from Pacific Partnership 2011's Advance Echelon (ADVON) team provided emergency care to two boys while conducting a site survey of the Fanafo Clinic, April 1. Lt. Cmdr. Scott Wenger and Lt. Scott Humphrey, a pair of U.S. Navy doctors with the ADVON, noticed a...