ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam -- A P-8A Poseidon aircraft from the “Fighting Tigers” of Patrol Squadron (VP) 8 recently participated in Ship Anti-Submarine Warfare Readiness and Evaluation Measurement (SHAREM) 199, a coordinated Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) exercise off the southern coast of Guam, July 5-10.

A P-8A from Patrol Squadron Five (VP-5) and USS Milius (DDG 69) also participated in the exercise, which was designed to simulate the escalating hostilities between friendly and opposing forces in the surface and subsurface environments.

The six-day long exercise provided Surface Warfare and Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA) communities the opportunity to utilize their respective ASW equipment in order to practice and refine their coordinated submarine hunting tactical proficiency.

P-8A’s from VP-5 and VP-8 were able to successfully locate and pass subsurface contact to each other and to surface assets, all while continuously maintaining the ability to conduct subsurface attacks. This exercise afforded the ability of the crews in the air and on the surface to demonstrate and promote operational excellence and Navy lethality.

Each day involved a preplanned scenario requiring USS Milius and a MPRA asset to search, localize, track, and conduct simulated attacks on an opposing force (OPFOR) submarine. A series of mini simulated wars were executed during the last day of the exercise.

“We aren’t often afforded these opportunities to work with other ASW platforms besides other P-8s, so this week has been such a valuable experience for our crew,” said Lt. Danielle Tatchio, VP-8 Tactical Coordinator.

The “Fighting Tigers”, based out of Jacksonville, Florida, are deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet (C7F) area of operations conducting maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations in support of Commander, Task Force 72, C7F, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command objectives throughout the Indo-Pacific region..