BY MASS COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS GERALD DUDLEY REYNOLDS, NAVY PUBLIC AFFAIRS SUPPORT ELEMENT WEST Reserve Sailors assigned to 5th Navy Expeditionary Logistics Group (NAVELSG) conducted a two-week training exercise and Battle “E” ceremony in the Alameda, California area in July 2015. More than 500 Sailors assigned to Navy Cargo Handling Battalion FOURTEEN (NCHB-14) in partnership with NCHB-5 and Airmen from Travis Air Force Base participated in the training. The Joint exercise is an operational framework and focuses on the completion of NAVELSG unit-level training requirements that include team training, unit-level exercises, unit inspections, assessments and certifications. NAVELSG Battalions are responsible for providing trained, manned, and equipped forces to support Commander Navy Expeditionary Logistics Group missions. “These exercises play an important part for these Reservists,” said Capt. Ed Moninger, commander FIFTH Navy Expeditionary Logistics Regiment. “The service members can perform in teams and with shipmates from other battalions.” NAVELSG is a part of Maritime Prepositioning Forces, Joint Logistics Over The Shore operations, and maritime forces ashore providing expeditionary cargo handling services for surface, air, and terminal operations, tactical fueling, and ordnance handling/reporting in support of worldwide naval, Joint, interagency, and combined forces/organization. It is the first time that this training has happened outside of an assessment environment in which both NCHB-14 and NCHB-5 trained together in the same environment. “The training platform on the West Coast is exceptional for them to perform the mission and exercises in realistic environments,” said Moninger. The Battle “E” ceremony was held on the flight deck of the USS Hornet Museum. Rear Adm. Keith Jones, commander NAVELSG, presented NCHB-5 with the first battle “E” that a Navy Combat Handling Battalion has received from a type commander. NCHB-5 earned the battle “E” for fiscal year 2014 after performing all challenges and exercises as a commissioned unit including the mobilization to Afghanistan to perform special logistics missions. “It is great to share this history with my fellow shipmates,” said Jones. “The hard work and dedication the Sailors show on a daily basis is the reason why this award was won.” NAVELSG is homeported in Williamsburg, Va., with an active battalion located at Cheatham Annex; with forward-deployed detachments and Reserve battalions located across the United States. NAVELSG provides Sailors with the knowledge and skills needed to support the Fleet's surface and air-handling mission. More than 100 Sailors and civilians work hand-in-hand with the Fleet and are dedicated to ensuring training is current and well executed on behalf of 2,800 active duty and Reserve Sailors in the administration, logistics and training of their active and Reserve components’.
September/October 2015