John C. Stennis Hosts Indian Naval Liaison Officer

20 June 2016

From Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Jonathan Jiang

PHILIPPINE SEA -- USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Sailors hosted a naval liaison officer (LNO) from the Indian navy during Malabar 2016, June 17.

A trilateral maritime exercise, Malabar is designed to enhance dynamic cooperation between the Indian navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and U.S. Navy forces in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.

Lt. Cmdr. Himanshu-Kumar Singh, a surgeon and submarine nuclear medicine specialist currently serving as principal medical officer aboard Indian navy Deepak-class fleet tanker INS Shakti (A57), toured John C. Stennis' medical department and observed shipboard operations during a group sail exercise with the ships of John C. Stennis Strike Group, the Indian navy and JMSDF.

"Everyone is so friendly," said Singh. "I mainly visited the medical department, and it was as good as a traditional hospital."

Singh is the first foreign medical officer to visit John C. Stennis as a LNO this deployment.

"This has been a great opportunity for our whole department to be able to have him come and see what we do and share his experiences," said Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Burkhart, John C. Stennis' senior medical officer from Plano, Texas.

During Malabar, the three navies trained together in areas such as maritime patrol and reconnaissance operations, surface and anti-submarine warfare, medical and visit, board, search, and seizure operations.

"It's a really fruitful exercise," said Singh. "We get to know about the culture and working philosophy of different navies."

Providing a ready force supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, John C. Stennis is operating as part of the Great Green Fleet on a regularly scheduled 7th Fleet deployment.

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