USS Porter departs Naval Station Rota for exercises in Europe, Africa
Jan. 14 (UPI) — The USS Porter departed Spain’s Naval Station Rota on its ninth Forward-Deployed Naval Forces-Europe this week.
According to the Navy, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is scheduled to work alongside regional partners in various training exercises and conduct maritime security operations in support of U.S. interests in Europe and Africa.
“Porter is more than ready to make this patrol a success,” said Cmdr. Thomas Ralston, commanding officer of Porter. “No matter where the mission takes us, we will be ready.”
Porter’s eighth patrol spanned from April to July of 2020 and included at-sea training with the Romanian Navy in the Black Sea, joint interoperability exercises with the Italian and French navies in the Mediterranean Sea, operations within a Surface Action Group with the Royal Navy in the High North and Barents Sea and passing exercises (PASSEXes) with the Tunisian Navy.
The tour also included exercise Sea Breeze 2020 with Ukrainian, Romanian, Turkish, Georgian, Bulgarian, and Spanish Navies — and a Black Sea protection operation with NATO and other partners that focused on both Joint and NATO interoperability.
The Porter is one of four U.S. Navy destroyers based in Rota, Spain. It’s assigned to Commander, Task Force 65 in support of NATO’s Integrated Air Missile Defense architecture.
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