USS Greeneville Departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam

USS Greeneville (SSN 772) departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a scheduled Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment, June 5.

Since returning from its last Western Pacific deployment in March 2011, Greeneville has undergone maintenance and conducted training in preparation for this deployment,

“We are fully ready to deploy and execute whatever tasking the operational commander requires,” said Cmdr. Martin Muckian, Greeneville commanding officer. “We expect to be busy conducting both real world operations in support of U.S. national objectives and exercises with other U.S. forces and our allies in the region.”

“Greeneville is in outstanding condition from a material, personnel and training standpoint,”said Muckian. “The crew is very excited for the deployment. They have worked extremely hard to prepare the submarine, and they are ready to execute a wide range of missions.”

This will be the first time deploying for many of Greeneville’s Sailors, according to Muckian.

“I really don’t know what to expect with this being my first deployment,” said Machinist’s Mate Fireman Robert Quinsenberry, from Olathe, Kan. “My goal is to further my training and become submarine qualified, and I know that I will succeed with the help of my fellow submariners.”

Measuring 362 feet-long, weighing 7,038 tons when submerged and with a crew size of 152, Greeneville is one of the Navy’s most technologically sophisticated submarines.

Greeneville is the 61st Los Angeles-class submarine. Commissioned in 1996, Greeneville is the first ship of the United States Navy to be named after a small town in eastern Tennessee.

Los Angeles-class submarines are ideally suited for covert surveillance, intelligence gathering and Special Forces missions. This stealth, when combined with the submarine’s Tomahawk cruise missiles, mines and torpedoes, provide the operational commander with an unseen force multiplier.

[mappress]
Naval Today Staff , June 7, 2012; Image: US Navy