Commander of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (Ike CSG) Rear Adm. Jim Malloy visited guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG 94), Dec. 12.

Malloy, embarked aboard aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) (Ike), toured the ship, met with the Chiefs Mess and the ship's officers, and held an all hands call, where he answered questions from the crew.

"I really cannot say enough about the accolades that have flown in regarding Nitze," said Malloy. "You guys are kind of a sure thing now. It doesn't matter what you're tasked to do, whatever you're going to do, you're going to do it as well as any ship can."

Malloy went on to praise the hard work the crew has put forward to exhibit lethal, capable and effective excellence every single day in order to answer any and all tasking given. He also stressed his four main focus areas: the mission, the safety of the crew, investing in the ship and working for yourself.

"I thought that in a good way, it was very emotional," said Petty Officer 1st Class Laura Rolfes of Malloy's all hand's call. "It really gave me the motivation I needed to power through this little bit of deployment that we have left and not get complacent."

While touring the ship, Malloy met with Sailors individually to talk about their career goals and learn about all the bells and whistles that help make the ship run each day.

"I think the admiral's visit showed that the strike group's upper chain of command really cares for the individual Sailors," said Seaman Cody Busby, a quartermaster. "It's nice to be shown that we matter and the hard work we put in each day means something."

Nitze departed its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia, June 1 for a scheduled deployment as part of the Ike CSG and is conducting naval operations in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe.

Ike CSG is comprised of the staff of CSG-10, the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), the embarked squadrons and staff of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 26 staff, guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto (CG 56) and USS Monterey (CG 61), and the guided-missile destroyers USS Stout (DDG 55), Roosevelt, USS Mason (DDG 87) and USS Nitze (DDG 94).

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