USS Fort McHenry redeployed directly from the Persian Gulf to take part in BALTOPS 2019.
From aboard the ship able to carry 750 personnel, marines staged landing operations on the Baltic shores in Lithuania.
After BALTOPS, USS McHenry will depart to its homepart in the US, after spending over six months on previous deployment.
Following Russia’s assertive actions in the region, as well as the emerging “great power competition,” in the words of the then US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis, the 2nd Fleet was reestablished on August 24, 2018.
The fleet’s appearance in the Baltics this year is aimed at both sending a signal to Russia, but also continuing NATO’s approach to improving military mobility and reinforcement lines from across the Atlantic.
On Saturday and Sunday, NATO allies from Spain, Romania, Poland, UK and other contingents joined the amphibious landing operation.
LRT accepted travel and accommodation reimbursement from the US embassy in Vilnius; it had no effect on content.
