The crew of the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105) received the 2018 Spokane Trophy during a ceremony aboard the ship, Sept. 26.

Ivan Urnovitz, president of the Spokane Navy League, spoke of his excitement to come from the Pacific Northwest to present the Spokane Award, which is presented annually to the U.S. Pacific Fleet surface combatant ship considered to be the most proficient in overall combat systems readiness and warfare operations. The award recognizes a ship’s ability to conduct sustained simultaneous and coordinated Air Warfare (AW), Surface Warfare (SUW) and Undersea Warfare (USW) operations with all installed equipment.

The Spokane Trophy was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt to recognize naval warfighting proficiency. The trophy is kept on permanent display at the Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet headquarters building in San Diego.

Dewey is a first-time winner of the honored Spokane Award sponsored by the Spokane, Washington Council of the Navy League of the United States.

Rear Admiral Pyle, who traveled from Bremerton, Wash. to attend the ceremony, said the men and women of USS Dewey proved themselves worthy of receiving this award, citing their accomplishments during 2018 including Dewey’s training for the US Navy fleet, and multi-national exercises to improve joint interoperability. Dewey partnered with Japan and the Republic of Korea and won all seven of their Surface Action Group vs. Surface Action Group engagements, conducting more than 20 hours of active anti-submarine warfare tracking during the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group Sustainment Exercise.

As the Air and Missile Defense Commander for Expeditionary Strike Group 3, Dewey was part of the Joint Strike Fighter integration, assisting in developing techniques and procedures in support of future operations. Dewey was hand selected to test fire hyper velocity projectiles, Nulka decoys and Tomahawk Cruise Missiles.

Pyle concluded that “while systems we use are continuously modernized and become more complex, success in warfare will always be based on the Sailors to prepare, plan, operate, and maintain our ships and warfighting systems.”

Dewey is a member of Carrier Strike Group 1 and is also a winner of the 2018 Battle Excellence Award. Commissioned in Seal Beach, California in 2010, USS Dewey is the third ship named after Admiral George Dewey, who was regarded as the hero of the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.

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