Coronado Blue earns Battle ‘E’

SAN DIEGO – The Blue Crew of Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) was presented May 11 with the 2017 Battle Effectiveness "E" award from Commander Naval Surface Forces. It was the first time the crew had received the unit award. The Battle "E" recognizes superior readiness and execution of operational assignments across the fleet. The award is the “culmination of a great team effort, which began as early as 2015 in preparation for the LCS 2 variant('s) maiden deployment," said Cmdr. Larry Repass, commanding officer of the Blue Crew. Coronado Blue deployed from March to December 2017 to the Far East. As of April, Coronado Blue has been permanently assigned to the ship, which is one of four dedicated LCS test ships. LCS testing ships are single-crewed and focus solely on testing hardware, software and concepts of operations for its three mission modules. (Source: USS Coronado 05/14/18) Gulf Coast Note: LCS 2 was built by Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala.