USS STOUT DDG 55 |
The Stout deployed for the first time with USS George Washington Battle Group January - July 1996 to Mediterranean and Persian Gulf in support of operations: Deny Flight, Sothern Watch and Joint Endeavor. USS Stout (DDG 55) completed NATO Exercise Distant Thunder with forces from Turkey, Denmark and Belgium in April 1996. In June 1996, USS Stout and Commander Destroyer Squadron 26 completed "Mid-Distant Operations 6-96," an Allied exercise held in the western Mediterranean Sea with maritime forces of the western European Union. The ship also completed in June PASSEX '96, in the western Mediterranean with French and American maritime forces practicing integrated air, surface and undersea warfare operations in an allied command environment. USS Stout once again headed to Persian Gulf November 1998, this time with USS Enterprise BG in support of operations Southern Watch and Desert Fox. The guided-missile destroyer returned home to Naval Station Norfolk May 6, 1999. USS Stout was part of the Enterprise Battle Group on Sept. 11. It did not however take part in Operation Enduring Freedom as it had left the area prior to Oct. 17 to return to homeport. December 16, 2003 DDG 55 returned to Norfolk after a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. The guided-missile destroyer departed June 16 as part of the USS Enterprise Carrier Strike Group. During the first three months of deployment in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Stout participated in the Standing Naval Forces Mediterranean (SNFM), a NATO Task Force made up of ships from the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. During Operation Active Endeavor, the ship tracked, located and identified more than 700 merchant vessels, conducting successful search and seizure operations on two of the ships. The last three months of the deployment were spent conducting intense anti-surface, anti-submarine and air defense exercises with various NATO allies in the western Mediterranean Sea. Liberty ports visited by Stout included Augusta Bay, Sicily; Souda Bay, Crete; Aksaz, Turkey; Antalya, Turkey; Valetta, Malta; Malaga, Spain; Barcelona, Spain; Genoa, Italy; Civitavecchia, Italy; Trieste, Italy; Taranto, Italy; and Gibraltar. April 25, 2005 USS Stout pulled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to participate in Fleet Week 2005. September 18, Naval Station Rota hosted the incoming crew of USS Stout during a four-day operation that began Sept. 10. The crew is en route to relieve the crew of USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), which is currently underway, as part of the Sea Swap initiative. Sea Swap is an initiative implemented by the Navy in order to maximize a ship's deployment time will retaining a six-month deployment for the ship's crew. The Sailors of Stout and Gonzalez, along with USS Laboon (DDG 58), will complete the three-phase deployment around March 2006. April 4, 2006 USS Stout, commanded by Cmdr. Thomas K. Kiss, departed Naval Station Norfolk for approximately two-month deployment, as part of USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group, to participate in the "Partnership of the Americas" in the Caribbean Sea. April 14, The destroyer recently departed Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, after a scheduled port call. April 17, USS Stout arrived in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for a port visit. May 11, The Stout assisted in counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Caribbean Venture during "Partnership of the Americas" May 1-7. Caribbean Venture is a multinational exercise in which several countries focus on working together to prevent drug running. May 15, USS Stout and members of the Nicaraguan navy spent two days interacting and training May 11-12 to strengthen relations between the two navies as part of a theater security cooperation exercise in the Caribbean Sea. During the first day, guided-missile destroyer anchored off the Nicaraguan coast and sent a small team to troubleshoot and repair a radar site aboard Nicaraguan Coast Guard Ship 203, Rio Grande de Matagalpa. May 15, DDG 55 recently pulled to Roatan, Honduras, for a goodwill port visit. May 24, USS Stout returned to homeport from the Partnership of the Americas training exercise. July 7, 2007 USS Stout departed Naval Station Norfolk for a scheduled deployment, with the USS Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, in support of the global war on terrorism. September 26, The Stout assisted with food, water and fuel to Tanzanian-flagged passenger ferry Spice Island when it ran out of fuel while transiting off the coast of Tanzania. October 6, 2008 The guided-missile destroyer is currently off the West Coast participating in a sinking exercise (SINKEX) of the ex-USS O'Bannon (DD 987). January 28, 2009 DDG 55 returned to Norfolk after successfully completing a Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPUTEX), with the Eisenhower (CVN 69) CSG from Jan. 8-26. March 6, USS Stout departed homeport for a scheduled deployment. April 20, The Stout recently visited Djibouti in support of Africa Partnership Station. May 2, The guided-missile destroyer pulled to Haifa, Israel, for a scheduled port visit. June 19, DDG 55 departed Bodrum, Turkey, after a three-day port call. July 8, The Stout pulled to Varna, Bulgaria, for its first port call in the Black Sea and to participate in a multinational naval exercise Breeze. July 14, USS Stout, commanded by Cmdr. Mark J. Oberley, anchored off the coast of Batumi, Georgia, for a joint military exercise. July 20, The Stout departed Poti, Georgia, after a scheduled port visit. July 22, DDG 55 arrived in Constanta, Romania, for another port call in the Black Sea. July 31, The guided-missile destroyer pulled to Souda Bay, Crete, Greece, for a routine port call. August 13, USS Stout arrived in Aksaz, Turkey, to participate in a trilateral maritime search and rescue exercise Reliant Mermaid 2009. September 5, USS Stout returned to Norfolk after a six-month underway period in the 6th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR). November 9, The Stout is currently off the East Coast as part of the opposition force for the USS Nassau ARG and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CSG Composite Unit Training Exercise (COMPTUEX). July 27, 2010 DDG 55 is currently conducting routine trainings off the coast of Virginia. August 12, USS Stout departed homeport for a Friends and Family Day Cruise. |