Sirius wraps up extended 'Med' deployment
Sirius deployed well beyond the normal six-month tour as the ship remained in theater due to commitments related to Operation Enduring Freedom.
Aircraft carriers USS Harry S. Truman, USS Theodore Roosevelt, and amphibious assault ships USS Kearsarge, and USS Bataan are just a few of the ship's 'customers' in the Med.
For the skipper and crew of MSC's combat logistics force ship-which provide vital supplies like food, spare parts and fuel to U.S. Navy combat ships at sea-underway replenishment, as the ship's motto reads, is 'Sirius' business!
Over the deployment, Sirius conducted no less than 150 replenishment operations, transferring over 8,000 pallets of cargo worth over seven million dollars. During 62 total flight operations, Sirius' workhorse helicopter, the commercial "Pumas," transferred 6,217 pallets of cargo totaling more than 200 flight hours.
Last July, the Puma lifted an EC-2 "Hawkeye" T-56 main engine from USS Enterprise, when a CH-46 "Sea Knight" helicopter could not handle the weight of the engine. Sirius even supported the U.S. Coast Guard during the deployment, resupplying the U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Legare.
Supporting the U.S. State Department around the Mediterranean, Sirius also resupplied U.S. embassies and consulates in Tunisia, Cyprus, and Malta, "marking flexibility and unwavering support in this heightened state of readiness," said Navy Vice Adm. Scott Fry, commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet, in a personal message to the ship.
Playing a diplomatic role itself, Sirius hosted the U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, and defense attaché's from eight other countries, including Russia and China, last August.
"Take the time to savor your remarkable accomplishments," Fry said. USNS Sirius is one of MSCs six combat stores ship.
The British-built Sirius, which once operated with Britain's Royal Fleet Auxiliary, their equivalent to Military Sealift Command, is 524 ft. in length and weighs over 16,000 long tons.
(FROM MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
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