FRIDAY FOTO, July 8, 2022

UNDERWATER FLAG DELIVERY?

(U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Christopher Perez)

As a general rule here at 4GWAR blog, we don’t run photos of activities when we’re not sure of what’s going on.

But this photo is so striking we just couldn’t pass it up. We also encourage visitors to click on the photo to view a larger and more spectacular image.

The caption accompanying this photo simply says it shows members of Naval Special Warfare Group Eight displaying the national ensign as they perform dive operations while underway on the Virginia Class fast-attack submarine USS New Mexico on June 19, 2022 somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.

A little bit of enlightenment comes from an Independence Day posting on the Commander, Submarine Forces Facebook page, accompanied by the photo above:

#NavalSpecialWarfare is wishing you a happy #4thofJuly celebrating America’s liberty. As our Nation’s naval commandos, we’re always ready to defend freedom and democracy around the world—on, under and over the sea and into the littorals. Happy Birthday, #America!

Attack submarines are designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships; project power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operation Forces; carry out Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions; support battle group operations; and engage in mine warfare, according to Military.com. The Virginia Class fast-attack submarines were conceived as a less expensive alternative to the Seawolf-class attack submarines, designed during the Cold War era, and are replacing older Los Angeles-class submarines, 29 of which have already been decommissioned.

Naval Special Warfare Command organizes, trains, equips, deploys, sustains, and provides command and control of forces — like, but not limited to, Navy SEAL teams — that conduct full spectrum undersea special operations and activities worldwide in support of geographic Combatant Commands, like U.S. Africa Command or U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Naval Special Warfare Group Eight is headquartered at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Virginia with a detachment in Coronado, California and another at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.