U.S. Navy Reserve Sailors Build Warfighting Readiness in Mako Storm 2024
18 April 2024
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va -- More than 100 Reserve Sailors from U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), U.S. 5th Fleet (C5F), and U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) completed Mako Storm 24 that took place April 18-21 in the maritime operations center (MOC) at the Navy Warfare Development Center at Naval Station Norfolk.
Reserve Sailors exercised NAVCENT procedures for maritime operations, including intelligence briefings and logistics planning, and responses to medical emergencies. The Mako series are all designed to prepare Reserve Sailors fill the roles of their active-component counterparts at a moment’s notice. The immersive training introduced many Reserve Sailors to the maritime operations center experience and the roles they will play during an actual event.
Mako Storm 24 is a four-day event that prepares US Navy Reserve Sailors with essential warfighting skills for dynamic real-world environments and to enhance their planning and operational capabilities. The Mako series provides unique opportunities for Reserve Sailors to develop networks that are crucial for unit cohesion and professional development, and to forge lasting personal connections and friendships.
Among the senior leaders who attended the exercise and spoke with Sailors were Vice Adm. John Mustin, the chief of the Navy Reserve; Rear Adm. Kenneth Blackmon, the vice commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the operational level of war force design flag champion for the Navy Reserve; and Rear Adm. Marc Lederer, the reserve deputy for installations and logistics in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
NAVCENT/C5F is the maritime component commander of U.S. Central Command in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations, which encompasses about 2.5 million square miles of water in the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. The expanse comprises more than 20 countries and includes three critical choke points: the Suez Canal, and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Strait of Hormuz.