US warship goes on ‘PATROL’ mode

From the Manila Standard Today (Jun 30): US warship goes on ‘PATROL’ mode

The United States has deployed a warship to patrol its area of responsibility in the Asia-Pacific region, according to  an article posted on the 7th Fleet website.

“The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard  completed embarkation of Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in support of joint force operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility, ” the website said in  its June 25 post.

USS Bonhomme Richard was loaded with “more than 100 vehicles and 300 pieces of equipment  after weeks of  preparations before it  left Sasebo, Japan, it said.

The warship deployed after American forces and Philippine troops began their annual military exercises in an area near the Scarborough Shoal, which China insists it owns.

The US presence in the Asia Pacific is very important, according to Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, speaking to reporters after a meeting with his Philippine counterpart Votaire Gazmin.

“The US presence is very important. We talked about rebalance strategy of United States but we did not talk about any in the future specific equipment of the US forces,” he said.

The two officials  discussed the possibility of a joint hosting of aerial exercises with the US MV-22 Osprey aircraft.

Gazmin said the government can possibly forge an agreement based on the Visiting Forces Agreement  to give greater access to military base and facilities of visiting American and Japanese forces.

USS Bonhomme Richard was loaded with   equipment and troops as well as logistics.

“This patrol will also feature MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265, embarked as part of the ACE for its first forward-deployed patrol with Bonhomme Richard,” the article said.

The former USS Guardian minesweeper that met its demise  on Tubbataha Reef in Sulu Sea, Palawan belonged to the naval fleet.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/06/30/us-warship-goes-on-patrol-mode/