Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility Atlantic Established

NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. — Marking a significant milestone event for the waterfront community, the Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility Atlantic was established during a ceremony onboard Naval Station Mayport, Sept. 23.

The training facility, formerly managed and operated by Surface Combat Systems Training Command Detachment Southeast, became a separate command under the SCSTC domain.

Before Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility Atlantic was officially established, Cmdr. Carl Brobst was relieved by Lt. Cmdr. Aloysius Elzie as SCSTC Det Southeast’s officer in charge during a change of charge. From July 2019, when Brobst assumed duties as OIC, to September 2022, Brobst and his team helped shape the next generation of surface warfighters. The det’s annual throughput more than quadrupled and they delivered over 18,840 combat-ready Sailors to the Fleet. Brobst will retire later this year after 30 years of naval service.

Immediately following the change of charge, Cmdr. Dan Reiher assumed command of Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility Atlantic. Reiher is already well-known in the LCS community. He served aboard USS Sioux City (LCS 11) as executive officer and commanding officer Gold Crew. Most recently, he was the commanding officer of USS Wichita (LCS 13).

“I am truly humbled to become the first commanding officer of LTF LANT and honored to join and lead an outstanding team of professionals in training future LCS warfighters,” he said.

The establishment of Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility Atlantic is part of Surface Combat Systems Training Command’s large internal realignment effort that begun in 2021 with the changing of its name, formerly the Center for Surface Combat Systems. The name change and realignment define the command’s critical mission of training surface warfighters. SCSTC, with its surface community partners and force development counterparts, provides system and platform specific combat systems training to a growing surface Navy. Littoral Combat Ship Training Facility Atlantic, with the responsibility of training all LCS Freedom-class ships and their crews, supports the increased demand for LCS training at the waterfront.

Capt. George A. Kessler, Jr., commodore of SCSTC, presided over the ceremony and delivered remarks as the keynote speaker.

“Being here in Mayport, you can see and feel the impact of today’s event for not only SCSTC, but also the waterfront,” Kessler said. “LTF LANT is part of the domain’s overall realignment effort but the significance of LTF LANT is about the mission. A mission that is growing in importance each day. Strategic competition at sea is not an amorphous concept but an everyday reality and it demands that our Sailors have the tactical competence and proficiency needed to execute the mission across the spectrum of operations in today’s challenging environment. Our warfighters must be ready to fight and LTF LANT provides the high-end tactical training needed to ensure warfighting readiness, which leads to security for our country and our allies and maintains the freedom of the seas we so richly enjoy.”

The LTF LANT is located onboard Naval Station Mayport, Fla. The first Freedom variant LCS arrived at Naval Station Mayport in 2016 and the number of LCSs have grown.

LTF LANT facilitates the training concepts of Train-to-Qualify and Train-to-Certify for the LCS 1 USS Freedom ship variant. It provides an integrated command and control environment to support training in both navigation and combat systems mission areas. LTF LANT is comprised of three components which can be used independently or in concert with the others to provide more complex training scenarios. Each section of the trainer replicates the basic layout and design of the LCS command and control, bridge, and propulsion control systems. Using mockups of these areas, which includes video screens reproducing scenes from a ship’s bridge windows, the SCSTC team produces realistic training scenarios.