USS Halyburton Returns To Naval Station Mayport In Florida
The USS Halyburton (FFG 40), its two Fire Scout unmanned aerial
vehicles and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 42, Det. 2,
returned to Naval Station Mayport in northeast
FL Wednesday, completing a seven-month deployment. "Every
Halyburton Sailor can be proud of our accomplishments during this
deployment; the work was hard, the hours were long and the mission
was challenging and worthwhile," said Cmdr. John Schmidt, former
commanding officer of Halyburton. Schmidt turned command of
Halyburton over to Cmdr. Bertram Hodge during a change of command
ceremony Aug. 2.
During its deployment, Halyburton operated under Combined Task
Force 508 along with with USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) and other partner
nations in both the 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. The
Halyburton team crew performed tasks under NATO Maritime Group 2,
conducted numerous counter-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden
and conducted intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR)
missions in support of Operation Unified Protector, employing the
MQ-8B Fire Scouts. "It was a great opportunity to bring Fire Scout
out to the fleet and see how it performs in real world operations,"
said Lt. Cmdr. Curtis Webster, HSL-42 Det. 2 officer-in-charge.
The Halyburton/HSL-42 Det. 2 team also assisted in the rescue of
13 hostages aboard the pirated vessel SL Irene, assisted a Yemeni
dhow that had been adrift for several days in late January and,
while in the Mediterranean Sea, enforced United Nations-sanctioned
resolutions ensuring illegal weapons did not enter Libya. HSL-42
Det. 2 simultaneously operated SH-60 Seahawk helicopters and
unmanned MQ-8B flight operations during Halyburton's transits
through the straits of Hormuz and Bab Al Mandeb.
MQ-8B operators pushed the unmanned helicopter to its
operational limits, setting records for maximum altitude, range,
and endurance. More than one thousand deployment flight hours were
recorded, with 438 hours flown by Fire Scout. "The success of this
deployment has given leverage to the Fire Scout program as a viable
platform to conduct ISR operations in a maritime environment," said
Schmidt.
"Fire Scout's outstanding performance is greatly attributed to
personnel aboard the Halyburton," said Capt. Patrick Smith, Fire
Scout program manager at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD. "The
respective commands recognized the importance of their contribution
to operating the Fire Scout system and the immediate impact it has
the warfighter."