By Chief Mass Communication Specialist Dawn C Montgomery, UNITAS Gold Public Affairs

On the morning of April 29 the ex-USS Connolly (DD 979) sat anchored in the Atlantic Ocean; she was the target for a sinking exercise (SINKEX), the highlight of the annual exercise UNITAS Gold.

The assault began at 9:30 am when a Columbian AS-555 Fennec helicopter from the ARC Almirante Padilla (FL 51) aimed its crew-served machine guns at her empty hull and opened fire.  Following close behind was a Mexican B0-105 Bolkow helicopter from the frigate ARM Mina (F-214) carrying 2.75” high-explosive rockets.  In all, a multinational force of 15 ships and 12 aircraft unloaded over 450 rounds of ammunition, one Maverick, three Harpoon and two Sea Sparrow missiles, two 2.75” High Explosive rockets and four MK-83 during the six-hour SINKEX.  

Back in Barksdale, La., two U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers were standing by and ready for flight to the Atlantic Ocean.  Their target was anything that remained afloat of the ex-Connolly.  However, the B-52s weren’t needed. 

“The Navy has done it’s job,” announced Cmdr. Larry Legree, Commanding Officer of the amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19), over the ship’s public address system. In the end, it was a Harpoon missile shot from the frigate, USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) that finally sank what was left of the once mighty warship.  Upon completion, Legree congratulated the crew and thanked them for a long day at sea. 

UNITAS Gold is being held in 20 April – 5 May off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla.  

This year marks the 50^th iteration of UNITAS, the longest-running multinational maritime exercise in the world.  Participants and observers from Argentina Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Mexico, Peru, the United States and Uruguay have brought together more than 25 ships, 50 rotary and fixed wing aircraft, 650 Marines, 6,500 Sailors and four submarines to participate in scenario-driven, real world exercises.  UNITAS provides opportunities for participating nations to increase their collective ability to counter maritime activities that threaten stability in the region. 

Three months of planning and coordination culminated this week with training exercises that included an amphibious land assault on the beaches of Mayport, Fla., a search and rescue exercise, multinational replenishments-at-sea, marine interdiction operations and the sinking of the ex-Connolly.  UNITAS Gold’s final phase is a scripted, simulated war scenario between participating nations and elements from the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) Carrier Strike Group.