“Phoenix and America’s Navy: A Global Force for Good”
By Rear Adm. Barry L. Bruner
Commander, Submarine Group 10
March 29, 2010
From March 22 through March 29, the Navy showcased its people and its capabilities during Phoenix Navy Week.  Scheduled coincident with Major League Baseball’s Cactus League spring training, Phoenix Navy Week was designed to show Americans the investment they have made in their Navy.

Phoenix Navy Week featured the Leap Frogs Navy Parachute Team, Navy Band Southwest, Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians and their gear, and many of the Sailors who call Phoenix home.  Dozens of demonstrations, performances, presentations and appearances were conducted across the region throughout Phoenix Navy Week.

Why were Phoenix and the Navy proud to partner in this way?  Because more than 100,000 citizens from Arizona are currently serving or have served in America’s Navy.  Currently, more than 48,000 active and reserve Sailors hail from Arizona, and more than 56,000 retired Sailors are currently living and working in Arizona.  And your Navy is a global force for good, our nation’s global engagement force.

As we celebrated Phoenix Navy Week, the U.S. Navy – your Navy – was and remains engaged around the world.  More than 140 ships and submarines and more than 40,000 Sailors are deployed, executing the entire spectrum of naval operations, from warfighting to deterrence, from maritime security to disaster relief.  This worldwide engagement is what makes the Navy relevant to American security.  Our engagement communicates our nation’s will and commitment.  And our engagement forges and sustains relationships and supports shared goals.  Here are some examples:

America’s Navy projects power.  During the month of February, operating in the North Arabian Sea, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower launched more than 640 combat sorties and flew more than 5,100 flight hours in support of troops on the ground in Afghanistan.  Ashore, more than 7,000 Navy personnel are on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, performing critical jobs that continue to enhance both countries’ security, stability and infrastructure.  Navy SEALs are executing special operations.  Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams are disabling improvised explosive devices.  Riverine forces are securing key waterways.  Civil Construction Battalions are building critical infrastructure. 

America’s Navy provides a visible and powerful forward presence.  In the Western Pacific, amphibious ships with U.S. Marines embarked, surface combatants and submarines are on patrol, deterring aggression and participating in exercises with our allies in the region.

America’s Navy protects the global maritime environment, enhancing maritime security and securing freedom of navigation for all nations.  Operating with the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy ships and Sailors are monitoring and deterring illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the Central and Western Pacific and intercepting narcotics shipments in the Caribbean.  Together with the international community, they are engaged in counter-piracy operations, patrolling more than 1.1 million square miles of open ocean in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and Red Sea. 

And America’s Navy provides humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.  Sailors and Marines have recently provided critical support to the United Nations and the Government of Haiti as part of Operation Unified Response.  The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group transported more than 1,000 pallets of relief supplies and has provided medical assistance to more than 500 Haitians in need of care. Medical personnel aboard hospital ship USNS Comfort treated nearly 1,000 patients and performed more than 830 major surgeries.  Aircraft from aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson flew more than 2,200 sorties, delivering more than 38,700 pounds of medical supplies, 89,000 gallons of water, 166 tons of food, and conducting 476 medical evacuation missions.

During Phoenix Navy Week, area residents had the opportunity to interact with Sailors, watch the Leap Frogs perform their precision parachute jumps, learn how the Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians deal with all manner of explosive threats and listen to one of our fine Navy bands.  But the real show was and still is happening over the horizon, in the Western Pacific, off the coast of Somalia, on Middle East waters, and on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq.  And it’s happening around the clock, every day. 

Rear Admiral Barry L. Bruner is Commander of Submarine Group 10, based in Kings Bay, Ga., and served as the Navy’s Flag Officer host for Phoenix Navy Week.