Rear Adm. Richard A. Brown, commander, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 11, visited Sailors aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86) Aug. 11 to congratulate them for their achievements during the 2016 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise.

The visit occurred during a group sail from Hawaii to San Diego involving CSG 11 ships USS Howard (DDG 83), USS Pinckney (DDG 91) and USS Princeton (CG 59) following the conclusion of RIMPAC.

Brown's time aboard Shoup was spent meeting with the crew during a tour and addressing midshipman currently embarked. Shoup also held a live-fire exercise, which Brown watched from the bridge while the ship's MK 45 5-inch gun was fired.

"Shoup absolutely knocked it out of the park with RIMPAC," said Brown. "I really appreciate all of your hard work; it's really great to see and I couldn't be more proud of you. The ship looks great inside and out."

Brown also mentioned the short and long term goals for Shoup and the strike group.

"Shoup has done a great job of preparing for deployment," Brown said. "We need to keep pushing qualifications and get the highest amount of watchstanders that we can for when it comes time to go out and do our job."

Many Sailors appreciate the admiral taking the time to give them a big picture-view behind why it is important for them to be at sea conducting operations.

"Having worked for admirals before, I know how busy they can be," said Yeoman 2nd Class Darryl Grant. "For the admiral to take the time out of his day and work that hard to make sure that he addressed the crew shows just how much he cares."

Shoup is currently underway conducting routine operations in the Pacific Ocean.

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