Rear Adm. Kathleen Creighton, director for Command, Control, Communications and Cyber, U.S. Pacific Command, visited Military Sealift Command oceanographic survey ship USNS Pathfinder (T-AGS 60) in Pearl City, Hawaii, Dec. 7, on the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor.

Pathfinder was berthed alongside several other naval vessels throughout the week's commemoration festivities. Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) Sailors and civilian personnel provided the admiral and other visitors with a brief explanation of the ship's oceanographic, hydrographic, and bathymetric capabilities, as well as additional platforms used by NAVOCEANO to collect data on the world's oceans. The data collected and analyzed by NAVOCEANO provides the warfighter the best available knowledge of the maritime battlespace.

"Pathfinder's port visit was an exciting and rare opportunity to have one of our military survey ships in the U.S.," said NAVOCEANO Commanding Officer Capt. Greg Ireton. "We were pleased to host a fellow information warfare flag officer, Rear Admiral Creighton, and others outside of the naval oceanography and meteorology community. NAVOCEANO was privileged to have the opportunity to highlight our capabilities and what that means to the defense of our country at this event."

Pathfinder is operationally controlled by an all-civilian crew contracted by Military Sealift Command and manned by a military and civilian survey detachment from NAVOCEANO, based at Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi.

Pathfinder's Master, Capt. Melvin Santos, also provided Creighton with a tour of the bridge and explained the inner workings unique to T-AGS-class ships which aid in data collection efforts.

Pathfinder is the oldest of the six T-AGS, or Pathfinder class ships, and is named for Matthew Fontaine Maury, "Pathfinder of the Seas" and "Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology." The ship was delivered to the Navy October 1994, and has since completed more than 200 survey missions.

NAVOCEANO, comprised of approximately 800 military, civilian, and contractor personnel, uses a variety of platforms including ships, aircraft, satellite sensors, buoys, and unmanned underwater vehicles to collect oceanographic and hydrographic data from the world's oceans.

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