Tag Archives: USS Ponce

What’s on the horizon for 2013? Plenty!

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Editor’s note: At press time, the continuing budget resolution and sequestration issues had not been resolved. Some subjects below may be subject to rapid change.

As big Navy’s trust in MSC grows, so does our involvement in missions around the world. We play a critical role in Africa Partnership Station and Southern Partnership Station, building cooperative relationships with allies and neighbors. We also carry a message of hope and good will to people in need of medical and civic assistance in both hemispheres during Continuing Promise and Pacific Partnership missions.

MINDELO, Cape Verde, (Jan. 11, 2013) Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Nicholas Heidingsfelder, a maritime civil affairs instructor, observes Cape Verdian Coast Guard Cpl. Gil Lima practicing field tactical movement during boarding team operations training aboard the High-Speed Vessel Swift (HSV 2) as part of Africa Partnership Station (APS). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Felicito Rustique/Released)

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MSC: Worldwide and mission ready

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Every day, nearly ten thousand dedicated men and women of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command deliver critical supplies and conduct missions across the world’s oceans. Here’s what we’ve been up to Jan. 4-10.

Faces of USS Ponce

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Since it deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility in June 2012, USS Ponce (AFSB(I) 15) has accomplished a lot. It is the U.S. Navy’s first Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim), providing unique capabilities to support warfighters in the region. Under the command of Navy Capt. Jon P. Rodgers, Ponce’s combined crew of Military Sealift Command civil service mariners and uniformed Sailors successfully brought the ship into service and on station. Ponce recently supported International Mine Countermeasures Exercise 2012, demonstrating its ability to stage people and equipment, and providing support to surface ship and mine countermeasures operations. Ponce has also embarked, launched and recovered helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and small craft. Ponce’s crew even rescued seven Bahraini fishermen foundering in their boats amid a hailstorm in late October. Here are some of the crew members – Navy and civilian – who make Ponce work.

MSC Delivers: Service Support #Warfighting Support

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October is #WARFIGHTING month, and Military Sealift Command works 24/7 to operate the ships that sustain our warfighting forces worldwide. The following post is the fourth in a series highlighting each of MSC’s five ship programs and their vital missions.

 MSC’s 15 Service Support Program ships provide the Navy with a broad range of capabilities that support warfighters. These ships do jobs that others just can’t; towing a decommissioned aircraft carrier, serving as a stable platform for Navy divers and even providing U.S. 6th Fleet an effective command and control flagship, which comes in handy for operations like Odyssey Dawn in Libya. And, MSC’s two hospital ships have been beacons of hope for tens of thousands of people around the globe.

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Ponce crew awarded for service; new CIVMAR command-at-sea pins unveiled

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Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby, commander, Military Sealift Command, honored 89 members of USS Ponce’s (AFSB(I) 15) crew during an Oct. 7 ceremony highlighting accomplishments associated with bringing Ponce into service and on station.

MINA SALMAN, Bahrain (Sept. 20 2012) Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) Interim (I) USS Ponce departs Mina Salman, Bahrain for phase two of the Intenational Mine Countermeasures Exercise. IMCMEX 12 includes navies from more than 30 countries focusing to promote regional security through mine countermeasures operatins in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Lewis Hunsaker/Released)

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