Christopher D. Thayer, U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) director, ship management, visited the U.S. 6th Fleet (C6F) Blue Ridge-class command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) in Gaeta, Italy, Sept. 19, 2019.
"We are delighted and honored to have Mr. Thayer aboard Mount Whitney," said civil service mariner Jean Marien, chief mate aboard Mount Whitney. "It gives us, as a crew, the chance to show him the capabilities of our platform and the exceptional work we do on a daily basis."
During the visit, Thayer held an office call with Mount Whitney Commanding Officer Capt. Cassidy Norman, toured the ship, attended a meeting with MSC leadership, and conducted an all-hands call with Mount Whitney’s MSC personnel.
"The officers and crew greatly appreciated Mr. Thayer's visit," said Marien. "He really demonstrated the commitment of our top leaders to address the issues important to all civil service mariners."
Mount Whitney, forward deployed to Gaeta, Italy, operates with a combined crew of U.S. Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners in the C6F area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests.
C6F, headquartered in Naples, Italy, oversees joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national security interest and security and stability in Europe and Africa.