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[rabutcher (Robert)]

Staff report
Posted : Tuesday Mar 10, 2009 17:28:00 EDT

A destroyer and two cruisers are in the waters off the Bahamas and Jacksonville, Fla., to conduct irregular warfare training, a new twist for the fleet.

Crews from the destroyer Porter and cruisers Anzio and Philippine Sea will undergo a week of high stress training from March 9 to 16.

According to a 2nd Fleet news release, the crews will be confronted with a simultaneous array of dicey scenarios from fending off submarines to thwarting pirates and handling hostage situations.

In July, the Navy stood up an office devoted solely to irregular warfare. IW is defined by the Defense Department as any “indirect or asymmetric” tactics, as well as conventional military and “other capacities” intended to “erode an adversary’s power influence and will.”

The IW office is headed by Rear Adm. Mark Kenny, a submariner. It’s not clear if his office is involved in the ongoing exercise.

In the release, Vice Adm. Mel Williams Jr., commander of 2nd Fleet, said that while normal pre-deployment training will persist, “we will also ensure that individual units have the preparedness to operate alone in complex environments.”