Expeditionary Strike Group 2

Navy Removes Two East Coast Ship Commanders Over Performance Concerns

USS Carney (DDG-64) departs Naval Station Rota, Spain, in 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy removed the commanding officers of a guided-missile destroyer and an amphibious warship on Wednesday, the sea service announced Thursday.

Both commanders were not accused of misconduct and were removed from command for performance issues, a Navy official told USNI News on Thursday.

Capt. Michael Nordeen was removed as the commanding officer of amphibious warship USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19), by Expeditionary Strike...

https://news.usni.org/2023/01/19/navy-removes-two-east-coast-ship-commanders-over-performance-concerns

Navy Decommissions USS Whidbey Island

USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41) transiting the Bosphorus Strait on July 21, 2016. Turkishnavy.net Photo used with Permission

The favorite cereal among the crew of USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41) was Captain Crunch.

So beloved was the cereal that its arrival onto the ship following a port visit was announced.

“Captain Crunch, arriving,” recalled retired Capt. Patrick Muldoon, the first commanding officer of Whidbey Island.

Muldoon, along with other plankowners and former crew of Whidbey Island – including...

https://news.usni.org/2022/07/22/navy-decommissions-uss-whidbey-island

Navy Relieves Amphibious Construction Battalion Two Command Triad

Then-Cmdr. Jeffrey Lengkeek during his change of command ceremony on Camp Shields in Okinawa, Japan in 2016. US Navy Photo

The Navy relieved the command triad for Amphibious Construction Battalion Two, citing a loss of confidence in the team’s abilities, the service announced Friday.

Commanding Officer Capt. Jeffrey Lengkeek, Executive Officer Cmdr. Michael Jarosz and Command Master Chief Matthew Turner were relieved Thursday by Rear Adm. John Menoni, the commander of Expeditionary Strike Group...

https://news.usni.org/2022/02/07/navy-relieves-amphibious-construction-battalion-two-command-triad

USS Iwo Jima Arrives in New Homeport at Naval Station Norfolk

The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) departs Naval Station Mayport, Florida, to execute a homeport shift from Mayport to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, Dec. 10. US Navy Photo

USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) will now call Norfolk, Va., home as part of a planned shift in homeports.


Iwo Jima arrived in its new homeport Monday afternoon and was pier-side as of 1:15 p.m., although it had not yet thrown its ropes over, said Lt. Cmdr. Paul Newell, Expeditionary Strike Group Two (ESG-2)...

https://news.usni.org/2021/12/13/uss-iwo-jima-arrives-in-new-homeport-at-naval-station-norfolk

IKE Carrier Strike Group Commands SEALs, Marine Missile Teams in First-of-a-Kind, Large-Scale Drill

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 3rd Class Trevor Sollenberger, from Richmond, Va., conducts flight operations aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). Feb. 11, 2021. US Navy Photo

A Navy carrier strike group got a first glimpse at what future operations could look like, with SEALs providing forward targeting data and Marines on expeditionary bases providing another missile strike option to supplement the strike group’s aircraft- and surface ship-based...

https://news.usni.org/2021/02/17/ike-carrier-strike-group-commands-seals-marine-missile-teams-in-first-of-a-kind-large-scale-drill

Expeditionary Strike Group 2 Admiral Removed from Command

Rear Adm. Erik Ross, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Two (ESG-2). US Navy Photo

The commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 2 has been removed from command due to a loss of confidence by the commander of U.S. 2nd Fleet, service officials told USNI News.

“Rear Adm. Erik Ross, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Two (ESG-2), was relieved of his duties by Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet (C2F), due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” reads a statement from...

https://news.usni.org/2019/09/27/expeditionary-strike-group-2-admiral-removed-from-command

New High-End Amphibious Warfare Tactics Tested at BALTOPS 2019

Marines assigned to 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22 MEU) establish communications with the Polish Lubin-class mine layer-landing ship ORP Gniezno during exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2019 on June 16, 2019. US Navy Photo

ABOARD USS MOUNT WHITNEY, IN THE BALTIC SEA – Amphibious forces in BALTOPS 2019 tested out new, high-end tactics for the first time in a live exercise, working in a less-rigid structure that allows enablers like air-defense or anti-submarine ships, mine clearance teams...

https://news.usni.org/2019/06/25/new-high-end-amphibious-warfare-tactics-tested-at-baltops-2019

USNI News Video: High North Exercise Tests Cold-Weather Skills of Navy, Marine Corps

US Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are in Iceland preparing for NATO’s Exercise Trident Juncture 2018. The main phase of Trident Juncture will start in Norway on October 25. US Marine Corps Photo

ABOARD USS IWO JIMA, OFF THE COAST OF ICELAND – Today’s sailors and Marines have grown proficient at operating in the heat and sands of the Middle East, but the bitter cold and jagged lava rocks of Iceland in October is a new challenge to most of them.

The U.S. military has placed a...

https://news.usni.org/2018/10/23/usni-news-video-high-north-exercise-tests-cold-weather-skills-navy-marine-corps