A busy Navy Week of activities in area
This week is Houston’s turn to host the Navy’s signature outreach effort: Navy Week. Houston is one of 15 cities this year hosting the event, which started last March. Navy officials have said it is designed to help Americans understand that the Navy protects and defends America around the world and around the clock. Heading the Houston effort is Rear Adm. Thomas E. Ishee, who is assigned to the United States Strategic Command at the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. One of nine unified commands in the Department of Defense, U.S. Strategic Command controls military space operations, missile defense and strategic deterrence among other missions. This week, Ishee, a career submarine officer, has been in Houston for Navy Week activities. On Monday, Ishee spoke to Houston Chronicle reporter Mike Glenn.
Q: What exactly is Navy Week?
A: Navy Week is a series of planned events in communities that don’t have a lot of regular Navy contact.
Q: What’s the purpose of it?
A: To thank the citizens of Houston and the surrounding area for all the support they provide to the Navy. There are a lot of folks from Texas in the military in general and a lot of folks from Houston join the Navy. It’s a very ‘military friendly’ town. We get out to various communities so we can interact with the citizens. We’re here to educate (them) on what the Navy is doing.
Q: Talk about how the Navy will be interacting with local Houston residents.
A: We’re going to be doing some speaking engagements with community and business leaders throughout the week. Sailors from the USS Houston and the USS George H.W. Bush will be out doing some community service — going to Texas Children’s Hospital, doing a ‘Habitat for Humanity.’ They’ll be meeting with President (George H.W.) Bush later this week.
NOTE: While sailors from the USS George H.W. Bush (a Nimitz-class supercarrier) and the USS Houston (a Los Angeles class attack submarine that was decommissioned in August) will be part of the Navy Week activities in Houston, the warships will not.
Q: What kind of activities will be available for Houston-area residents to see?
A: We’re going to have a unit from (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) here. They’ve brought some of the tools they use — like the robot they use disposing of the (explosive) material. They’ll be visiting a lot of the high schools. The Navy Region Southeast Band will be here doing performances. On Friday night, the Navy ‘Leap Frogs’ will be performing at a high school football game. We’ll have the Blue Angels on Saturday and Sunday at Wings Over Houston at Ellington Field.
NOTE: The US Navy Parachute Team — the Leap Frogs — will be jumping into Alvin Memorial Stadium on Friday from 6:30-7 p.m. for the kickoff of the game between Manvel and Texas City.
Q: Let’s talk a bit about current Navy operations. Last week, a group of Houthi rebels fired missiles at Navy ships and other vessels operating in the Yemen region. The president signed off on a cruise missile strike against the coastal radar facilities.
I assume it’s still a dangerous part of the world to operate in.
A: This is a fairly narrow waterway that’s very busy. Those missiles that they were firing could very well have hit a commercial ship that was in the area. It’s a pretty significant choke point.
Q: Accounts of Somali pirates attacking ships off the Horn of Africa used to be a regular news events with the hijacking of the SS Maersk Alabama and seizure of its captain, Richard Phillips, the most noteworthy episode. These reports do not seem as common now. What’s the reason?
A: We have a very substantial coalition of many nations to fight piracy in that area. The coalition has gotten very effective. I think we have suppressed the piracy to some extent, but I do think there is still a threat in the region.
Q: In recent years, the Navy has devoted a lot of energy toward the so-called “Pacific Pivot” since the fall of the Soviet Union. Is moving away from a European focus a good idea these days with a Russia that seems to be attempting to restart the Cold War?
A: Russia is making noise again and causing trouble. But, I don’t think we need to redeploy our forces. We do have a decent Navy presence in the area. We’ve placed four (guided missile destroyers) in Rota, Spain. We also lean heavily on the NATO alliance. A lot of their (Russia’s) actions are galvanizing NATO. I think we are starting to catch up in Europe, but it’s not coming at the expense of what we’re doing in Asia. Russia is a Pacific nation, too.
Q: What is the Navy’s position about the manmade islands that China is creating and militarizing in the South China Sea?
A: We don’t recognize these man-made features as islands. We will continue to sail our ships through international waters. The Navy will continue to do these freedom of navigation exercises. We will seek to arbitrate or resolve disputes over these areas through the international system.