By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW) Cynthia Clark, Commander, Submarine Force Public Affairs
PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- USS Bremerton (SSN 698) returned to Naval Station Pearl Harbor from a six-month Western Pacific deployment, Jan. 29.
"My crew is an amazing bunch of guys," said Cmdr. Howard Warner, USS Bremerton commanding officer. "I'm very, very proud of the guys, they prepared long and hard for the deployment and performed absolutely stupendously on cruise and I think the deployment results will definitely speak for themselves."
Since departing Pearl Harbor on July 29 of last year, USS Bremerton conducted many exercises with foreign navies and performed tasking from the Commander, 7th Fleet operational commander. Bremerton also visited Guam, Okinawa and Yokosuka, Japan and Singapore.
As Lt. j.g. Blake Hlavaty, assistant operations officer, received the 'first kiss' from his wife Ashley, said his first deployment was "everything I thought it would be."
"We performed very well on all of our missions," he continued. "I couldn't be more proud of my fellow officers and Sailors. There were some exciting times, along with some challenges; overall it was an amazing experience and the adventure of a lifetime."
Bremerton, the 10th ship of the Los Angeles-class of submarines, was commissioned March 28, 1981. With a crew of more than 120 enlisted and 10 officers, she is 360-feet long and has the capability to carry Tomahawk missiles and MK-48 torpedoes.
