I’ve been meaning to mention this for a while. I was talking to a friend of mine here on FOB Hunter. I tell pretty much everyone that I am a US Navy sailor serving in the Army under duress as a result of draconian Navy up or out policies. My friend, SPC Chin with 1-9 CAV then mentioned that his sister is in the Navy. He went on to tell me that her ship – I don’t remember the name – is part of an anti-piracy task force off the coast of Africa.
“The problem of piracy is and continues to be a problem that begins ashore and is an international problem that requires an international solution,” Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of the Combined Maritime Forces, said in a news release from the Fifth Fleet in Manama, Bahrain. “We believe the establishment of CTF-151 is a significant step in the right direction.”
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It is cool to see the US Navy involved in real freedom of the seas missions, keeping the sea lanes open. Over the past six years the Navy has felt somewhat forgotten and left out, with all the attention going to ground wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fighting piracy in off the coast of Africa is the truest of Navy missions. As a sailor, I think it would be interesting and exciting to be going after these modern day pirates in an area of the world that has a long history of association with pirates and naval battles.
I am often in the right place but seldom at the right time.