SASEBO, Japan – The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America received the 2023 Battle Effectiveness Award, May 17.
Capt. Patrick German, Commodore of Amphibious Squadron 11 and the America Amphibious Ready Group, presented the award to America’s Commanding Officer, Capt. Manny Pardo, during an all-hands call in the ship’s hangar bay.
“This award recognizes outstanding readiness and efficiency,” said German. “This crew has set the standard of any ship especially those that are forward-deployed warfighters operate; Your attention to detail and willingness to apply hard work, diligence and long hours every day has not gone unnoticed. I am personally very proud of you and you should all be incredibly proud of yourselves.”
The Battle Effectiveness Award, colloquially known as the Battle ‘E’, recognizes sustained superior performance in critical mission areas including maritime warfare, material readiness, medical and damage control readiness, engineering, communications, information warfare, logistics, and safety.
This is the third consecutive year that America has won the award.
“America is a team of teams and I believe that our success is attributed to each and every Sailor’s commitment to taking care of each other,” said Pardo. “No one does this job for awards or personal recognition; but that being said, winning this award three consecutive times is not a fluke and it doesn’t happen by accident. It is a direct reflection of your hard work, and it is an honor and a privilege to be your commanding officer.”
America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
Consisting of the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), transport dock ships USS Green Bay (LPD 20) and USS New Orleans (LPD 18), and the dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47); Amphibious Squadron 11 provides centralized planning embarkation, movement control, coordination and integration of all aspects of amphibious warfare.