12 April 2024 USS Gunston Hall Returns Home After NATO Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) returned home to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, April 11, following Steadfast Defender 2024, NATO’s largest exercise in decades...
21 March 2024 Bataan ARG, 26th MEU(SOC) Return from 8-month Deployment NORFOLK, Virginia - More than 4,000 Sailors and Marines assigned to the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU(SOC)) returned to Hampton Roads following an eight and a half-month deployment to the U.S. 2nd, 5th and 6th Fleet...
15 February 2023 The Iwo Experience: Investigating LHD-7’s Nuanced Approach for its Successful 16-Months in the Yards VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The article highlights only one portion of the “IWO Experience” - a dynamic, multi-faceted, innovative framework to thank Sailors for their hard work, build community on the ship, and keep spirits high while in the shipyard...
08 February 2023 Blue-Green Dream Team: Integrating Navy and Marine Forces Aboard BATARG for PMINT ATLANTIC OCEAN - Over the course of almost two weeks, the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BATARG) and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) successfully integrated with Amphibious Squadron 8 (PHIBRON 8) across the three ships Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), San Antonio-class...
13 October 2022 Kearsarge ARG Returns after Deployment in the High North and Baltic Sea NORFOLK, Va. - Sailors and Marines assigned to the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) returned home to Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia after completing a seven-month deployment in the Sixth Fleet area of operations, Oct. 13...
01 September 2022 USS Hershel “Woody” Williams Gold Crew awarded USCG Special Ops ribbon PORTSMOUTH, Va. – It was an April Fool’s Day for the ages and perhaps the signature moment for the USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) Gold Crew recently being awarded the United States Coast Guard Special Operations Service (SOS) Ribbon during a presentation last week by Coast Guard Vice Adm...
28 June 2022 SECNAV presides over ESG2 change of command NORFOLK, VA — By 1030 on June 24, USS Bataan’s (LHD 5) hangar bay was full of Marines in midnight blue coats and Sailors in white chokers. Most of them chatted amongst themselves in hopes it might help kill the 30 remaining minutes before show time. A smaller handful scurried about non-skid to sort...
09 July 2021 ESG2 achieves “Fully Operational Capable” Status Expeditionary Strike Group 2 completed a major landmark in operationalizing its staff when its commander, Rear Adm. Robert Katz, declared the Echelon IV Maritime Command Element “fully operationally capable” following the recent completion of the Baltic Operations Exercise 2021...