In a naval message on February 29, Commander, Naval Surface Forces announced USS Nassau (LHA 4) a winner of the 2007 Battle Efficiency Award, more commonly known as the Battle “E”.

Established in 1974, the annually-awarded Battle “E” is based on a year-long evaluation of the overall readiness of a command to carry out its assigned wartime tasks. A ship or unit must demonstrate the highest state of battle readiness in order to win.

A ship’s sustained superior performance in six different areas contributes to the award. These areas are maritime warfare; engineering and survivability; command, control, communications, and information warfare; logistics management; surface force safety; and the Efficiency Excellence award.

“This award belongs to every member of the Nassau team,” said Nassau Commanding Officer, Captain James R. Boorujy. “Everyone on the ship put maximum effort into getting this ship ready to defend our nation’s interests to the best of its ability.”

Nassau is currently deployed as flagship of the Nassau Expeditionary Strike Group in support of Maritime Security Operations and Theater Security Cooperation efforts in the Navy’s 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. Commissioned on July 28, 1979, she has participated in various operations, including Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Support Democracy, Deny Flight, Allied Force, Noble Anvil, and Iraqi Freedom. In 2000, she won the 1999 Battle “E”.