USS Rodney M. Davis returns from final deployment

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Johndro | Family members of a Sailors assigned to the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) hold up signs pier side while the ship prepares to moor. Rodney M. Davis returned from its final deployment to the western Pacific and Indian Ocean to its home port at Naval Station Everett Dec. 19 and will prepare to decommission in 2015. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin A. Johndro/RELEASED)  

NAVAL STATION EVERETT, WA, UNITED STATES

12.19.2014

Courtesy Story

Navy Public Affairs Support Element, Det. Northwest

By Commander, U.S. Third Fleet Public Affairs;
USS Rodney M. Davis Public Affairs

EVERETT, Wash. – The Navy frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) returned from its final deployment to the western Pacific and Indian Oceans Dec. 19.

During the six-month deployment, the ship and crew of more than 200 Sailors, based at Naval Station Everett and assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) Nine, conducted presence operations and theater security cooperation with partner nations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

“I am fortunate to serve with an awesome crew. Rodney M. Davis Sailors executed complex mission tasking at sea and performed superbly as fleet ambassadors ashore,” said Cmdr. Todd Whalen, the ship’s commanding officer.

The ship left Everett June 12 to join 48 ships from 22 countries for Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2014, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. Following RIMPAC, the ship embarked a U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Team and performed compliant boarding operations in the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in support of the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative.

Subsequently, the ship conducted extensive theater security cooperation in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility, including an Indian Ocean patrol and port visits to Japan, Singapore, the Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei. As the first U.S. warship to visit to the Maldives in four years, Rodney M. Davis hosted the Maldives National Defense Force chief of defense (MNDF), conducted boarding exercises with the MNDF coast guard, and performed community service at a local orphanage. During its visit to Medan, Indonesia, the ship hosted the secretary of the Navy and Rodney M. Davis Sailors took part in cultural exchanges with over 800 students at Medan universities and high schools. In Brunei, the ship participated in the 20th year of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), including training events afloat and ashore with the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.

Over the course of deployment, Rodney M. Davis transited more than 37,000 nautical miles, conducted 13 underway replenishments and nearly 300 hours of flight operations.

Rodney M. Davis is named for Marine Corps Sgt. Rodney Maxwell Davis, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam. The ship was built by Todd Pacific Shipyards in San Pedro, California, and commissioned May 9, 1987. Following its return to Everett, the ship will prepare to decommission in March 2015.

For more information on USS Rodney M. Davis, visit the ship’s website at http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ffg60/Pages/default.aspx

Photo of USS Rodney M. Davis:
http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=185685

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https://www.facebook.com/USSRodneyMDavis

For more news from Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/c3f/.

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• Date Taken: 12.19.2014
• Date Posted: 12.19.2014 17:58
• Story ID: 150821
• Location: NAVAL STATION EVERETT, WA, US