NewsMilitary

Actions

USS Mahan departs Naval Station Norfolk on deployment to the Middle East

Posted at 10:50 AM, Aug 08, 2014
and last updated 2014-08-11 17:26:14-04

Norfolk, Va. (WTKR) - The guided-missile destroyer USS Mahan (DDG-72) departed Naval Station Norfolk on Monday, August 11th on a five-month deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.

The Navy says that after transiting the Mediterranean Sea, the USS Mahan will enter the Persian Gulf and surrounding waters to conduct maritime operations and strengthen partner nations' maritime capabilities.

The deployment comes as the U.S. conducts airstrikes in Iraq.

"As we know, that area is always in play and always interesting things happening over there. We watch the news and our training leaves us in great preparation for anything we may encounter," Commanding Officer Cmdr. Zoah Scheneman told NewsChannel 3's Todd Corillo Monday before deployment.

This is the first deployment for the USS Mahan since the shooting death of Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Mark Mayo aboard the ship in March.

"Our crew is very resilient, very professional. I’m very proud of them. They take – while that was a major lesson- they take all their lessons in training and in the real world – they fuse those," Cmdr. Scheneman said.

The USS Mahan is scheduled to be deployed for 5-months.