PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM - The guided-missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) is scheduled to return from its maiden deployment May 21.
The ship and crew of more than 300 Sailors assigned to Destroyer Squadron Three One (DESRON) 31, conducted goodwill activities with partner nations and various presence operations such as Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI) in the Western Pacific Ocean.
A law enforcement detachment from U.S. Coast Guard District 14 embarked aboard Michael Murphy to support maritime law enforcement operations to administer U.S. and Pacific Island Nations fisheries laws and the suppression of illicit activities. OMSI is a joint Department of Defense (Navy), Department of Homeland Security (USCG) and Department of Commerce (NOAA) program. Upon completion of OMSI, the ship continued operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.
"Although time away from family and friends is hard, the most rewarding time in a Sailor's career is deployment," said Cmdr. Todd Hutchison, Michael Murphy's commanding officer. "The crew performed magnificently. We were proud to represent our nation and our Navy, and are very thankful to be home."
In total, the ship spent nearly 200 days underway and conducted more than 800 flight hours with the ship's attached helicopter squadron, Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 37, Detachment 4.
Michael Murphy is a multi-mission ship with anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare surface combatants capabilities and is designed to operate independently or with an associated strike group.
Michael Murphy is named for Lt. (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, a New York native who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during Operation Red Wing in Afghanistan in 2005.
Murphy was the first person to be awarded the medal for actions in Afghanistan, and the first member of the U.S. Navy to receive the award since the Vietnam War.
The ship is homeported in Hawaii and is part of Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific and U.S. 3rd Fleet.
U.S. 3rd Fleet leads naval forces in the Eastern Pacific from the West Coast of North America to the international date line and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy.
For more information please visit the ship's website: http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg112/Pages/default.aspx
