Force Projection Exercise
The USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Carrier Strike Group began activities
August 7th in support of Joint Air and Sea Exercise (JASEX) 2005.
JASEX, now in its third year, is intended to demonstrate the U.S.
commitment in the western Pacific region by conducting joint
training of Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps assets.
“It’s a multiservice exercise in which we hope to
perfect the skills we’ll need to implement an operational
plan during a wartime situation,” said Lt. Cmdr. Keith Major,
Kitty Hawk’s electronic warfare officer.
The exercise will be conducted in the vicinity of Okinawa and
Guam. The naval forces participating include the Kitty Hawk Carrier
Strike Group, Destroyer Squadron 15, USS Boxer (LHD 4), USNS Dahl
(T-AKR 312), M/V CPL Louis J. Hauge Jr. (T-AK 3000) and forces
assigned to Patrol Reconnaissance Force, U.S. 7th Fleet.
On the Air Force side, the 18th Wing from Kadena Air Base in
Okinawa and the 5th Air Force from Guam will participate. The 1st
Marine Air Wing, forward deployed to Okinawa, will represent the
Marine Corps.
“Since we’re operating in a joint forces
environment, we will practice how to integrate all the different
parts into a combined team,” said Major.
It is the scale and complexity of JASEX that sets it apart from
other exercises the “Hawk/5/15” team conducts with
different parts of the armed forces, said Lt. Cmdr. William Gotten,
Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 assistant operations officer.
“JASEX will allow us to integrate in a larger joint
environment than we usually see,” said Gotten.
“We’ve worked with some of these Air Force and Marine
units before, but JASEX is much larger in scope than most other
exercises.”
During JASEX, the participants will leave no stone unturned in
practicing how to coordinate as a team, said Gotten.
“We’ll practice across the entire spectrum of joint
warfighting interoperability,” he said. “This is good
practice for the real thing.”
Above all, JASEX demonstrates the U.S. commitment to the
stability of the western Pacific region, said Capt. Ed McNamee,
Kitty Hawk’s commanding officer.
“JASEX is designed to show support to our regional allies,
and reinforce our commitment to peace and stability in this
important region of the world,” he said.
The Kitty Hawk Strike Group is the largest carrier strike group
in the Navy and is composed of the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, CVW
5, the guided-missile cruisers USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) and USS
Cowpens (CG 63), and Destroyer Squadron 15. (ANN thanks Journalist
3rd Class Christopher Koons, USS Kitty Hawk Public Affairs.)