Hands across the Pacific

Sea Power, Dec 1998

In the Pacific as in the Atlantic, there is a synergistic benefit accruing to the U.S. Navy, the navies of U.S. allies, and the Navy League itself, from the efforts of councils "homeported" in CONUS (the continental United States) and the forward-deployed NLUS councils in Guam, in Japan, and elsewhere throughout the Pacific. Programs sponsored by the Seattle Council and the Commodore Perry Council in Tokyo serve as a case in point.

In Japan, Rear Adm. Albert H. Konetzni Jr., commander, Submarine Group Seven, invited members of the Tokyo Council to participate last April in the command's annual formal submarine ball. The principal speaker the following month was Rear Adm. C.W. Moore, commander Carrier Group 5 and commander Task Force 70, who discussed the situation in Iraq and his experiences in the Gulf area. Many of the council's programs also support U.S. ships and personnel homeported in Japan, or on deployment to the Western Pacific.

On the CONUS side of the Pacific, the Seattle Council greeted five ships and 1,200 Japanese sailors of the Japanese Navy's Escort Flotilla One (homeported in Yokosuka) during the flotilla's visit to Seattle. The ships hosted almost 12,000 visitors during the port call.