by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Steve Owsley, Naval Submarine Support Center, New London
GROTON, Conn. -- The nuclear-powered, Los Angeles class, fast-attack submarine, USS Hartford’s (SSN 768) leadership and crew were presented with the Commander, Submarine Squadron 12 (CSS-12) Battle E Award on Friday, Jan 19.
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Capt. Ollie Lewis presents the Battle E Award to Cmdr.
Matt Fanning, Commanding Officer, USS Hartford during
award ceremony.
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Hartford Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Matt Fanning accepted the award from Commander, Submarine Squadron 12 Commodore, Capt. Ollie Lewis.
Fanning credited Hartford’s success to the power of positive thinking and a willingness to accept help from inside and outside of the ship. “The crew is open to learning and actively seeks ways to improve their performance. Primarily my Sailors look to each other and to their chiefs, but what has been most impressive is their willingness to accept feedback from outside the command. This means that every inspection or visit is an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and ability, obtain guidance and get better.”
Earning the CSS-12 Battle E means that Hartford demonstrated the most overall operational readiness of a crew to carry out its assigned warfighting tasks and best implemented and executed the Design of Undersea Warfare in day-to-day performance and battle readiness within the squadron.
Lewis said choosing a top boat in the squadron was a tough decision.
“With five boats in the squadron that deployed in 2017, it truly came down to a razor thin margin of distinguishing performance,” said Lewis. “The strength of Hartford’s performance across all facets of submarine operations was compelling—topped off by a near flawless Tactical Readiness Evaluation that was assessed as the best seen in several years based on individual graded areas.”
The Battle Efficiency competition is an annual event that’s conducted to strengthen and evaluate both command and overall force warfighting readiness and to recognize outstanding command performance. Submarine commands are evaluated on their year-long performance and readiness in the following fields: Engineering, Weapons, Strategic, Navigation/Operations, Communications/Cyber, Supply, Personnel, Medical and Repair.
Lewis credits Hartford’s success to the training and team building within the crew. “The training and team building efforts onboard Hartford pulled them together to meet challenges that under other circumstances would have set commands back. The difference is in their attitude and recognition that each of them contribute something important; pulling them together toward a common goal of operational excellence and success.
- - posted by Rick Burke, Navy Office of Community Outreach Public Affairs
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