BELLVILLE NATIVE RETURNS FROM 10-MONTH DEPLOYMENT COMMANDING USS STERETT

  

SAN DIEGO - A 1997 Bellville High School graduate and Bellville, Texas, native recently returned home marking the end of a more than 10-month deployment aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operations.

Cmdr. Andrew Koy is Sterett’s commanding officer. As the captain of the ship, he is responsible for the safety, training, combat readiness and operational employment of a $1.5 billion Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and 320 sailors.

“Sterett provided defense of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group and conducted missions to escort high interest shipping through the most contested and threatened waterways in the world,” said Koy.

“During deployment, this warship steamed nearly 90,000 nautical miles, providing a credible deterrent to our adversaries and provided confidence and reassurance to our allies and partners.”

With more than 90 percent of all trade traveling by sea, and 95 percent of the world’s international phone and internet traffic carried through fiber optic cables lying on the ocean floor, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity and security of the United States is directly linked to a strong and ready Navy.

(COURTESY: Carrier Strike Group 11 Public Affairs; full press release can be seen here)