USS Farragut Pays Visit to Montenegro

The guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut (DDG 99) visited Bar, Montenegro, for a port visit March 11-14.

Sailors had the opportunity to experience Montenegro’s culture and spend time engaging with the community, including sporting events with Montenegrin sailors, tours of the towns of Perast, Kotor and Skadar Lake, and a tour of Montenegro’s vineyards.

“Montenegro is a beautiful country,” said Seaman Christian Riendeau. “The towns were full of old architecture, and the mountains were amazing. It really gave me a sense of serenity.”

Farragut also sent several of their Sailors to observe a boarding exercise with Montenegrin sailors.

“I was extremely impressed by the professionalism and training displayed by the Montenegrin navy,” said Farragut’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Glen B. Quast. “I look forward to conducting more joint operations in the future.”

Farragut Sailors planted trees in two community engagement projects while in Bar, one event was held in a sporting complex and the other at a local elementary school. Both projects were joint efforts between the U.S. and Montenegrin navies.

Over the three-day port visit, Sailors provided shipboard tours for the U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro, the Honorable Sue K. Brown and ambassadors from Hungary, Romania and Slovenia, as well as Montenegrin military and civilians. The tours provided visitors the opportunity to explore the ship with Sailors while learning about the U.S. Navy.

Farragut, homeported out of Mayport, Fla., is on a scheduled deployment supporting maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility.

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Naval Today Staff, March 19, 2013; Image: US Navy