Gary (FFG 51) - Naval Cruise Book

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GARY(FFG-51) FREEDOM ' S FOREMOST GUARDIAN .-. deployed August 19, 1997 as part of a three ship Middle East Force Surface Action Group. Gary was augmented with a dual helicopter detachment from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Warfare Squadron Light (HSL) 43, the world famous Battle Cats. This six month deployment took Gary and her crew half way around the world and to seven different countries. The transit to the gulf included stops in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Singapore; Phuket, Thailand; and Muscat, Oman. Upon assuming duties in the Persian Gulf, Gary ' s primary mission was conducting Maritime Interception Operations in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq. Gary conducted over twenty boardings while in the gulf combined with 500 hours of flight operations by the Gary ' s Battle Cats. In typical Small Boy fashion, Gary operated right off the Iraqi coastline for many days at a time during a period of heightened tensions. After three months of intensive gulf operations, the Gary crew was ready for some well-deserved liberty in Fremantle, Western Australia and Hobart, Tasmania. The transit back to San Diego included refueling stops in Suva, Fiji and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii as Gary made her way home where family and friends awaited their Sailor ' s return.