The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group (CSG) completed an undersea warfare exercise (USWEX) off the coast of Hawaii, Jan. 14.

The 96-hour USWEX involved aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112).

"USWEX provided Carl Vinson and the rest of our strike group the opportunity to participate in a robust, relevant training against an extremely capable adversary," said Cmdr. John Schiaffino, Carl Vinson operations officer. "Due to the mission demands placed on our submarine fleet, we don't often have the chance to train against multiple live subs simultaneously, but USWEX offered a capstone training event where we could practice our tactics, techniques, and procedures."

USWEX is an advanced anti-submarine warfare exercise conducted by CSGs and expeditionary strike groups (ESG) while in transit from the west coast of the United States to the western Pacific Ocean.

"The undersea warfare exercise is an important training event to ensure our team can seamlessly integrate with all the assets of the carrier strike group," said Cmdr. Robert A. Heely Jr., Michael Murphy commanding officer. "Understanding the undersea environment and managing resources within this mission area are challenging. This combat team performed very well and stands ready to operate within the Indo-Asia-Pacific region."

The overall purpose of USWEX was for the Carl Vinson Strike Group to hone and enhance the interoperability of the strike group to protect the carrier from sub-surface warfare threats while engaged in numerous warfare tasks. A few different warfare tasks the CSG is responsible for include air warfare, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and ballistic missile defense.

The CSG provides the combatant commander with a responsive, flexible capability for sustained maritime power projection and combat survivability to shape the operational environment, respond to crises, and protect the United States and allied interests in any threat environment.

"The ocean is a vast land of underwater mountains and plains," said Lt. Alexander Snazin, anti-submarine warfare officer aboard Michael Murphy. "We are trying to find submarines that are at home in the challenging landscape, and they don't want to be found. It is a monumental task, but the USWEX helped the Michael Murphy team hone their undersea warfare skills."

USWEX is a combination of training events which results in a sea control, power projection fleet exercise which is required in order to meet training objectives for a deploying or deployable CSG and ESG. The exercise allowed the Carl Vinson CSG Sailors to familiarize themselves with the high-tech sonar capabilities of the ships, as well as gain a greater understanding of submarines.

"The USWEX allowed us to show just how proficient we are at performing our jobs, no matter what environment we're operating in," said Operations Specialist 1st Class Steve Windle, combat watch supervisor aboard Michael Murphy. "We always look forward to working alongside the carrier, because it is a perfect opportunity for us to 'lead the fight.'"

The Carl Vinson CSG is on a regularly scheduled western Pacific deployment as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet-led initiative to extend the command and control functions of U.S. 3rd Fleet.

U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike groups have patrolled the Indo-Asia-Pacific regularly and routinely for more than 70 years, and will continue to do so. Carl Vinson has deployed to the region several times, starting with a deployment to the western Pacific in 1983 one year after commissioning. Most recently in 2015, Carl Vinson conducted port visits and exercises with regional navies in the South China Sea.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), visit www.navy.mil/.