Cruiser Normandy's missions against ISIS amid 'epic' deployment

Continuing their trek weast, cruiser Normandy hit her first port visit of the cruise March 25 in Corfu, Greece, and then her second on March 30 in Koper, Slovenia, two days after leaving Corfu.  after just a two day underway in-between. 

"This was the poster child of, 'Join the Navy and see the world' to quote an older Navy slogan, eight port visits in, because we truly did," Capt. Scott Robertson, the ship's CO, said.  Port calls were made in every major fleet's area of responsibility starting with the 6th, 5th and 7th and finishing with the 3rd and 4th, before arriving home back in 2nd Fleet.

Though the cruise would have The crew racked up 11 total port visits to eightseven separate places. 

Koper, an ancient Adriatic port near the Italian border, was one of the favorites. it was this second stop that had the most impact for most of the crew, second only to Changi in Singapore. 

"It was an amazing little town in itself and very enjoyable to visit, the people were incredibly nice and the place was so very clean — you could see how much pride they had in their city," said Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class (SW) Judaya Foster [CQ]. "The other part was that it was very close to Venice and many of us also got a chance to head over there and see that place and it, too was amazing — in all."

Quartermaster Seaman (SW) Darius Young quartermaster Ringer, who had the young quartermaster with less than a month aboard when they entered Slovenia, also loved Koper. He spent less than a month onboard also found Slovenia interesting and spent time exploring as much of the city as he could and said it was his favorite port visit.

Koper was his favorite until he hit Changi, Singapore months later. Now he calls it a tie between the two cities. 

"Singapore was so exotic and more adventurous, like nothing I’d ever seen," he said. "Wherey you could get fish on pizza." 

One favorite spot was the historic His favorite of all was the restored historic district of Clarke Quay along the Singapore River, where restaurants and nightclubs overlook the Chinese junks floating in the river.It’s home to restored warehouses, resstaurants and nightclubs, Ringer said. Moored in the river are restored Chinese junks reworked into floating pubs, bars and restaurants, he added."

But It wasn’t just the time off the boat that made this a signature cruise, either. Some of the moments onboard were equally as memorable to Robertson and his crew. 

That meant the job of coordinating the usual shenanigans fell to the senior enlisted shellback in the crew, Senior Chief Electronic’s Technician (SW) Tom Hollingshead[CQ].

According to Robertson, Hollingshead is an avid chess player, so the idea was hatched to use the pollywogs as chess pieces and play some matches games using the square missile hatches of the forward missile tubes as a playing board.

An avid student of the naval battles of World War II, Another significant event Robertson pointed out was the fact that they escorted TRoosevelt through the Surigaou Strait in the Philippine Islands and into Leyte Gulf, the scene of one of the greatest sea battles of the World War II. 

Robertson encouraged the crew to come up and join in — if they wanted to write a message to send to the deep, now was their chance.

As Normandy pulled into Pearl Harbor on Nov.ember 15, as is the custom, the crew saluted the USS paid tribute by saluting the Arizona memorial, a tribute  a tomb for many crewmembers who perished in the Pearl Harbor attacks. The tribute was a poignant moment for those like Ringer who manned the rails. to the Dec. 7, 1941 attacks and all those who perished when the battleship Arizona blew up, a powerful moment for many like the young Ringer who manned the rails. 

SomeOthers, like Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Richard Bumgarner who didn’t render honors, made a point to visit the memorial during the port visit.

Though still out in the Pacific, It’s here that Normandy parted ways with the "Big Stick" — TR headed to its new homeport of San Diego, Normandy headed to its old homeport, by way of the canal that President Theodore Roosevelt helped build. as she headed to San Diego, while Normandy headed to the Panama Canal. 

For Ringer, the young quartermaster Ringer, the transit through the canal was eight hours and 48 miles of professional development as a part of the navigation team, navigator as part of the bridge team, taking bearings and plotting tracks.    

"He had a soft voice and it was hard to hear him speak," Cameron said. "But its as the way he would say things — his accent — that made it real interesting." 

A bulk of the cruise was spent in the Persian Gulf escorting the TRoosevelt and assisting in the strike group’s combat strikes against the Islamic State militants.

TR launched 1,81200 sorties against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, totaling 10,618 flight hours and dropped over one million pounds of ordnance employed through 1,085 guided munitions.

The cruise was also an operational success for Baseline 9. Sailors proved it could integrate with And as the first deploying Aegis ship with the Baseline 9 system that dovetailed with the first operational use of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye to greatly expand the strike group's command and control picture. It was the first ship to deploy with this system. where the cruise became an operational success for the ship and strike group as much as it was a personal success for the Normandy’s crew.  

Back in the Atlantic, the crew began to put the past nine months behind them, focusing on reuniting with their families and friends. But as the pier drew closer, the crew’s minds were already putting the past nine months, looking forward to the reunion with families they’d not seen much of for the past year and a half and leaving the shipyard. It’s something that gets even the saltiest sailors choked up.