The Whidbey Island-class dock touchdown ship USS Gunston Corridor (LSD 44) returned house to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, April 11, following Steadfast Defender 2024, NATO’s largest train in many years. Gunston Corridor is without doubt one of the 50 NATO naval property, 80 air platforms, 1,100 fight autos and 90,000 forces that participated in Steadfast Defender 2024.

This yr marks the seventy fifth anniversary of the NATO Alliance, and this train being the most important NATO train in many years, showcased the alliance’s sheer power and dominance.

Steadfast Defender 2024 demonstrated NATO’s means to deploy forces quickly from North America and different components of the Alliance to bolster the protection of Europe. The train additionally confirmed that NATO can conduct and maintain complicated multi-domain operations over a number of months in any circumstances, throughout hundreds of kilometers, from the Excessive North to Central and Jap Europe.

“Our participation in Steadfast Defender demonstrated our Navy’s means to work alongside and defend our allies,” stated Cmdr. Christopher W. Van Loenen, commanding officer, USS Gunston Corridor. “The Gunston Corridor crew pushed the ship to her full capabilities to be able to obtain the train targets, and we did simply that. I couldn’t be extra happy with what we achieved collectively.”

Gunston Corridor departed Virginia late January this yr. She sailed straight to Portsmouth, United Kingdom to embark a part of the touchdown pressure, a platoon of French marines and 6 fight inflexible raiding craft. As soon as embarked, Gunston Corridor and her troops achieved a number of amphibious coaching workouts within the English Channel to construct proficiency and familiarity earlier than the extra sophisticated subsequent part. Subsequently, Gunston Corridor sailed straight north into the cruel local weather of the Arctic Circle to work alongside Italian Touchdown Assault Helicopter Ship Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian amphibious transport dock San Giorgio, and French Navy Aquitaine-class frigate Normandie.

As soon as moored in Harstad, Norway, Gunston Corridor embarked Swedish and Finnish marines together with two CB-90 quick assault crafts to finish the touchdown pressure. For the next two weeks, she operated within the Excessive North finishing up 5 amphibious workouts and 19 properly deck operations.

The U.S. Navy continues to construct integration and relationships with its Allies and companions by taking part in workouts like Steadfast Defender to be able to protect a free and affluent maritime area.

U.S. 2nd Fleet, reestablished in 2018 in response to the altering world safety setting, develops and employs maritime forces able to struggle throughout a number of domains within the Atlantic and Arctic to make sure entry, deter aggression, and defend U.S., allied, and companion pursuits.

U.S. Navy photographs and b-roll can be found on DVIDS. For extra data, contact c2f_pao@us.navy.mil.