The US Navy’s San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington (LPD 24) and embarked Marines with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) arrived in Rijeka, Croatia, on 4 July to complete a scheduled maintenance availability.
The maintenance period, termed a mid-deployment voyage repair (MDVR), allows the ship to complete corrective and preventative maintenance that cannot be accomplished while at sea.
This necessary work allows the ship and its crew to continue their mission in the US Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR) area of operations.
The ship’s arrival in Rijeka comes after nearly four months of deployment to the NAVEUR area of operations.
Throughout their time in the region, the ship’s crew and embarked Marines have participated in a variety of exercises and operations with partners.
These exercises have taken the ship up north to Iceland for exercise Northern Viking, throughout the Mediterranean in support of exercises Alexander the Great and EFES with Greece and Turkey, respectively, and off the coast of Tunisia in North Africa for exercise African Lion.
The Kearsarge ARG and embarked 22nd MEU are under the command and control of Task Force 61/2.
The ARG consists of Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), USS Arlington, and the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44).
USS Arlington is the eighth San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock and the third ship in the US Navy named after Arlington