USS Gunston Hall leaves for 4 months

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - The dock-landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) left Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story on Wednesday for a four-month deployment.

The Navy says the ship will support continued operations for Southern Partnership Station.

During their deployment, the crew will conduct operation and exercises with various South American countries and will have port visits in Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, and Jamaica.

"We're going to be cooperating and scheduling training and working together with a lot of the navies and a lot of the armed forces in that part of the world," said Capt. John Meier, Commanding Officer, USS Gunston Hall.

The sailors of the Gunston Hall will also provide humanitarian assistance to partner nations to enhance stability in the region.

"And the more stable we have of a region," said Meier, "the better economies are to prosper, the better the quality of life is for the people in those regions."

The Gunston Hall has a crew of nearly 400 sailors.  It is named after the plantation home of George Mason, who drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was the model for the Federal Bill of Rights.