USS Freedom Readies for Maiden Deployment: "USS Freedom (LCS 1), the Navy's first littoral combat ship, is underway off the coast of Florida for final training and certification prior to its maiden deployment to the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) region.
Counter-illicit trafficking (CIT), damage control, and systems training began soon after Freedom's arrival at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., on Jan. 25.
'This training is extremely important for Freedom and will help us prepare for the CIT mission we expect to perform while in the 4th Fleet area of operations,' said Lt. Cmdr. Mark West of Imperial Beach, Calif., operations officer for the Gold Crew, one of Freedom's two rotational crews. 'Freedom can be an extremely formidable weapon in the war on drugs.'
Freedom's crew is part of an innovative manning construct that reduces crew size"
