ABOARD USS PATRIOT, At Sea (NNS) -- Three U.S. 7th Fleet ships took part in the first minesweeping countermeasures operation exercise between the U.S. and Russian navies July 5. USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54), commanded by Cmdr. John T. Lauer III, with USS Patriot (MCM 7) and USS Guardian (MCM 5) under Mine Countermeasures Division (MCD) 11 Commodore, Cmdr. Kurt E. Hedberg, participated in the bilateral training exercise between the two nations, and to observe the paving out and retrieving of the large magnetic cable used to neutralize assorted types of explosive mine ordnance. “It is a privilege for me...