"Bulkeley is incredibly eager to participate in Northern Coast 2025 with our NATO allies. It’s a unique opportunity to strengthen our maritime relationships with our Baltic allies while demonstrating U.S. resolve,” said Cmdr. Mike Schelcher, commanding officer of Bulkeley. “Our interoperability with NATO allies strengthens the region, ensuring that vital sea lanes remain open and unthreatened by deterring any adversary who would disrupt the region."

An estimated 14 nations are gearing up to participate in Northern Coast 2025 (NoCo25), a multinational German led exercise in the Baltic with as many as 40 ships involved and around 2,700 personnel.

This exercise was first launched by the German Navy in 2007 and is part of the larger Quadriga 2025 exercise series that will model realistic threat scenarios on land, sea and in the air.

While in port Rostock, the ship’s leadership will meet with local and military leadership, while the crew will participate in a community relations through a guided ship tour and cultural exchange.

"The interoperability planning and training we do alongside the Baltic navies is invaluable,” said Cmdr. Anthony LaVopa, Executive Officer of Bulkeley. “We learn from them, they learn from us, and in the end, we become a more cohesive team. It's a real-world demonstration that we are stronger together".

As NATO Allies, the U.S. and German Navy routinely operate together to build combined maritime interoperability. Bulkeley is deployed to the European theater of operations and is assigned to Commander U.S. Sixth Fleet. The ship participates in a range of maritime activities in support of U.S. Sixth Fleet and NATO Allies.

The ship is named after Vice Admiral John D. Bulkeley, a Medal of Honor recipient from World War II and commissioned Dec. 8, 2001. The assigned squadron embarked on Bulkeley is Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 79, the “Griffins”.

Commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allies, international partners, and other U.S. government departments and agencies to advance U.S. national interests, security, and stability in Europe and Africa.