Commodore of Submarine Squadron 2 presents USS Providence Battle ‘E’

GROTON, Conn. - The commodore of Submarine Squadron 2 presented USS Providence (SSN 719) leadership and her crew with the Battle Efficiency "E" during an awards ceremony at Naval Submarine Base New London Jan. 13.

Captain Michael Holland's participation marked the last time he will present an award to a Submarine Squadron 2 assigned submarine. An official disestablishment is scheduled for the same day at the Shepherd of the Sea Chapel in Groton.

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First wave of allied assault hits Libya
20 March 2011 | 10:10:59 AM | Source: AAP
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The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Stout launches a Tomahawk missile in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn. (Getty)

US and British ships and submarines have launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defences, firing 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force.

In announcing the mission during a visit to Brazil, US President Barack Obama said he was reluctant to resort to force but was convinced it was necessary to save the lives of civilians. He reiterated that he would not send American ground troops to Libya.

"We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy," he said in Brasilia.

It was clear the US intended to limit its role in the Libya intervention, focusing first on disabling or otherwise silencing Libyan air defences, and then leaving it to European and perhaps Arab countries to enforce a no-fly zone over the North African nation.

Navy Vice Admiral William Gortney, director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, told reporters the cruise missile assault was the "leading edge" of a coalition campaign dubbed Operation Odyssey Dawn. Its aim: prevent Muammar Gaddafi's forces from inflicting more violence on civilians - particularly in and around the rebel stronghold of Benghazi - and degrading the Libyan military's ability to contest a no-fly zone.

A chief target of Saturday's cruise missile attack was Libya's SA-5 surface-to-air missiles, which are considered a moderate threat to some allied aircraft. Libya's overall air defences are based on older Soviet technology but Gortney called them capable and a potential threat to allied aircraft.

Also targeted: early warning radars and unspecified communications facilities, Gortney said. The US military has extensive recent experience in such combat missions; US Air Force and Navy aircraft repeatedly attacked Iraq's air defences during the 1990s while enforcing a no-fly zone over Iraq's Kurdish north.

Cruise missiles are the weapon of first choice in such campaigns; they do not put pilots at risk, and they use navigational technologies that provide good precision.

The first Tomahawk cruise missiles struck at 3pm EDT, Gortney said, after a one-hour flight from the US and British vessels on station in the Mediterranean.

The US has at least 11 naval vessels in the Mediterranean, including three submarines, two destroyers, two amphibious warfare ships and the USS Mount Whitney, a command-and-control vessel that is the flagship of the Navy's 6th Fleet. Also in the area are Navy P-3 and EP-3 surveillance aircraft, officials said.

Gortney said it would take as long as 12 hours to assess the effectiveness of Saturday's strikes. Then a high-altitude Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane would overfly the target areas to get a more precise view, the admiral said. He would not say how long the attacks on Libyan air defences would last, but he stressed that Saturday's assault with cruise missiles was the first phase of a multi-stage mission.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who was scheduled to fly to Russia on Saturday afternoon to begin a week-long overseas trip, postponed his departure for 24 hours. Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates decided he should remain in Washington to monitor developments in Libya at the outset of US strikes.

Gates had been sceptical of getting involved in Libya's civil war, telling Congress earlier this month that taking out Libya's air defences was tantamount to war. Others have worried that the mission could put the US on a slippery slope to deeper involvement in yet another Muslim country - on top of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hours after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton attended an international conference in Paris that endorsed military action against Gaddafi, the US and Britain kicked off their attacks.

At a news conference in Paris, Clinton said Gaddafi had left the world no choice but to intervene urgently and forcefully to protect further loss of civilian life.

"We have every reason to fear that, left unchecked, Gaddafi would commit unspeakable atrocities," she told reporters.

Clinton said there was no evidence that Gaddafi's forces were respecting an alleged ceasefire they proclaimed and the time for action was now.

"Our assessment is that the aggressive action by Gaddafi's forces continues in many parts of the country," she said. "We have seen no real effort on the part of the Gaddafi forces to abide by a ceasefire."

Among the US Navy ships in the Mediterranean were two guided-missile destroyers, the USS Barry and USS Stout, as well as two amphibious warships, the USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce, and a command-and-control ship, the USS Mount Whitney. The submarine USS Providence was also in the Mediterranean.



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