Makin Island Wins 2023 Battle "E" Award

SAN DIEGO, CA, UNITED STATES

04.12.2024

Courtesy Story

USS Makin Island (LHD 8)

The crew of amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) was awarded the 2023 Battle Efficiency (“E”) on April 12, 2024.
Makin Island was awarded the BATTLE "E" for sustained superior performance in an operational environment, and sustained continuous readiness through the Optimized Fleet Response Plan in 2023.
“We have a great diversity of hard-working folks onboard this ship,” said Makin Island’s Command Master Chief Jorrel Reich. “Every single team here onboard were huge contributors to our achievements of BATTLE “E”.
The BATTLE “E” is awarded every year to units that demonstrate maximum condition readiness over a year-long evaluation and their capability to perform wartime tasks. The BATTLE “E” represents a commands ability and readiness to carry out its assigned mission and tasking.
“I believe some factors that contributed to Makin Island being recognized as one of the best ships are our immediate superior in command input, warfighting readiness and training performance,” Stated Makin Island’s Operation Officer Lt. Cmdr. Cordaress Chambers. “We maintained a high operational tempo for almost five years. Makin Island stood ready to answer the nation's call after undergoing a compressed basic phase.”
Ships that are awarded BATTLE “E” exhibited superior performance in at least four of the following six excellence categories: Maritime Warfare (Black “E”), Engineering and Survivability (Red “E”), Command and Control (Green “E”), Logistics Management (Blue “E”), Commander Naval Surface Force Safety Award (Yellow “E”) and Efficiency Excellence Award (Purple “E”).
“Makin Island can earn back to back BATTLE "E" awards if we maintain our training and programs at a high state throughout the yard period,” Said Chambers.
The Makin Island crew is in high spirits and proud of their efforts accomplished. They are enthusiastic, determined, and looking forward to future achievements.
“We are going to keep training like we fight,” said Reich. “Now is the time for people with their expertise to properly train their reliefs, and keep the party going.”

• Date Taken: 04.12.2024
• Date Posted: 04.19.2024 13:43
• Story ID: 468937
• Location: SAN DIEGO, CA, US