UNDISCLOSED LOCATION -- This week key leaders and staff from Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (TF 51/5) embarked on the USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3) to practice command and control (C2) from the sea.
About 40 members of TF 51/5’s primary staff directorates, as well as members of its Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System (ERSS), and Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team Central Command (FASTCENT) were embarked. Leaders from TF 51/5’s Manpower, Intelligence, Operations, Logistics, Communications, Medical, Legal, Chaplain and Public Affairs sections spent the week learning and refining processes for enabling C2 from a U.S. Navy ship.
“The learning that occurred across our team has definitely made us more effective,” said Col. Josh Smith, Director of Operations for TF 51/5. “It’s extremely important for us to keep these kinds of skills fresh. Working from a ship while underway creates a different set of challenges than working from home base – from how we communicate, what systems we use, and what staff procedures we have in place, to the simple things like knowing how a ship operates and learning how to coordinate effectively with the ship’s crew.”
One of TF 51/5’s primary missions is to provide C2 in an amphibious environment. TF 51/5 is capable of forming a Joint Task Force for crisis response on short notice and provides the commander for United States Central Command (CENTCOM) a means by which to project power at sea, from the sea and ashore.
“Doing training events like this one is exactly how we stay sharp and ready in this theater, both to deter adversaries and remain prepared to support our partners” said Brig. Gen. Matthew S. Reid, Commanding General of TF 51/5. “Not only that, but it’s a demonstration of how Task Force 51/5 embodies what the Commandant’s Planning Guidance and Tri-Service Maritime Strategy tell us we should be doing in terms of returning to our naval roots. “Every single day our Marines and Sailors live the concept of naval integration, and our time on board the USS Lewis B. Puller was an even better way to put that concept into practice.”
Other events that occurred this week gave the TF 51/5 an opportunity to refine how information sharing takes place across the staff. Ship security operations, as well as a simulated mass-casualty incident, gave further training opportunities for 51/5’s staff.
The USS Puller is forward deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet (C5F) area of operations to extend U.S. Naval Forces Central Command’s maritime reach. The USS Puller supports counter-piracy operations, maritime security operations, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and crisis response operations. During steady-state operations, the Puller falls under tactical control of TF 51/5.
TF 51/5 is a Joint Task Force-Capable (JTF-C) Headquarters, responds to crises and contingencies; coordinates, plans, and executes operations; conducts theater security cooperation; and advances emerging Naval concepts at sea, from the sea, and ashore in support of CENTCOM, Fifth Fleet and Marine Forces Central Command theater objectives.