A Pearl Harbor admiral will take charge of the military's latest fighting experiment, which will combine Marine Corps amphibious ships with Navy cruisers, destroyers and submarines. Pearl Harbor admiral
to take command
of strike group
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comThe Pentagon announced yesterday that Rear Adm. Robert Conway, who now heads Navy Region Hawaii, will take over the U.S. Pacific Fleet's Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) this spring. The ESG could be used in lieu of a Marine Corps amphibious ready group.
Currently, each amphibious ready group is made up of an amphibious assault ship with a Marine expeditionary unit, a dock landing ship and an amphibious transport dock ship. An aircraft carrier battle group provides reconnaissance and fire power.
The ESG will contain the same vessels and Marines found in an amphibious ready group but is supplemented by an Aegis cruiser, Aegis destroyer and a nuclear attack submarine. The new mix is expected to allow Navy and Marine Corps forces to launch Marines and landing craft while warships and submarines strike inland targets with missiles and shells.
Conway will be part of an experiment to determine the best way to implement this concept.
On the Atlantic Coast, the ESG will be commanded by a Navy captain who normally heads an amphibious ready group.
Conway's flagship will be the USS Peleliu, which will deploy in November from San Diego with six other vessels detached from a carrier and will including the Pearl Harbor-based cruiser USS Port Royal and nuclear attack submarine USS Topeka.
Conway will have a staff of 12 to 15 and said he believes that one of the benefits of his type of operation is that it will be centralized.
He said he sees the strike group as being "self-contained with the ability to strike deep and at the same time sustain itself without having to depend on fixed land bases."
