ASSOCIATED PRESS / U.S. NAVY
The USS Greeneville will be part of an experimental seven-vessel Navy strike group capable of unloading nearly 2,000 Marines on any shore or firing long-range Tomahawk missiles.
2 Pearl vessels
join test groupThe experimental flotilla can
unload Marines and includes
supporting firepower
When the Pearl Harbor-based nuclear attack submarine USS Greeneville and the cruiser USS Port Royal leave this month, it will be as part of a Navy experiment designed to meet the ever-changing face of terrorism.
The Greeneville and the Port Royal will be part of a seven-vessel flotilla capable of unloading nearly 2,000 Marines on any shore or firing long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Called the Expeditionary Strike Group-1, the Navy unit includes the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu, dock landing ship USS Germantown, transport dock ship USS Ogden, destroyer USS Decatur and frigate USS Jarrett.
For the Greeneville, the next eight months at sea may allow it to use the Navy's newest minisub, which it has been testing for nearly a year. Cmdr. Lee Hankins, skipper of the 360-foot Greeneville, and his crew of 140 have been running tests on the Navy's Advanced SEAL Delivery System -- a 65-foot minisub designed to carry a crew of two and as many as 16 special-forces SEALs.
While all fast-attack submarines can carry SEALs, said Capt. Cecil Haney, commander of Submarine Force 1, the Greeneville and the USS Charlotte were modified to carry the minisubs.
The minisub is mounted on the deck of a submarine, and Navy SEALs enter the vessel through a connecting hatch. With a range of 125 miles, the battery-operated minisub can be launched far from shore.
Because of the problems in the world, his crew knows that it will be gone for several months beyond a normal six-month deployment, said Hankins, a 23-year Navy veteran who assumed command of the Greeneville in October 2001.
Chief Petty Officer Michael Merino, Greeneville's administrative officer, said the length of the deployment bothers his wife.
"She's kind of sad because it will be so long," said Merino, who graduated from Kalani High School in 1987. "But she understands, and she wants us to come back safely."
Merino, 37, said he will miss his sixth wedding anniversary and his daughter's 11th birthday. "I had to go out and buy her some videos and clothes so we could celebrate her birthday early."
Petty Officer Lolito Dela Cruz, an engineering laboratory technician on the Greeneville, said he approaches his first deployment with "mixed feelings."
"I am not sure what to expect, but I am excited about pulling into foreign ports," said Dela Cruz, a 2000 Waipahu High School graduate. "That's why I joined the Navy."
The Peleliu and the other five San Diego-based warships are expected to make a brief stop at Pearl Harbor this weekend on its maiden voyage.
The Peleliu serves as the flotilla's flagship and carries its air power, ranging from six Harrier jets to four Cobra helicopter gunships and transport helicopters.
The Navy believes that an expeditionary strike group will give it the ability to land Marines while at the same time supporting them with Tomahawk missiles, anti-aircraft rockets and cannons.
In the past, Marine expeditionary units and amphibious readiness groups had to rely on the firepower of an aircraft carrier battle group to support and protect the Marines, who lived aboard the transports for six months waiting to be sent into humanitarian, combat or peacekeeping missions. But with the addition of the frigate, destroyers, cruiser and attack submarine, it can both defend itself and launch offensive strikes, said Rear Adm. Robert Conway, ESG-1 commander, in a Navy release.
