The Silent Service - United States · PDF fileThe Silent Service Meet Machinist’s ......

The Silent Service

30 The Silent Service

Meet Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Trevor Kopp and his 154 brothers,

of USS Maine (SSBN 741). But, unlike most families, what binds these

men together isn’t their last name; it’s a 560 foot-long steel boat with

no windows, no fantail, and in the event of a casualty—no easy escape.

These brothers are submariners.

P h o t o b y J O 1 ( S C W / S S ) J a m e s P i n s k y

Speaking with Sailors — 6

Around the Fleet — 8

Focus on Service — 40

Eye on the Fleet — 42

Eye on History — 46

The Final Word — 48

[On the Front Cover]Divers from the Naval Experimental Dive Unit

gather outside the Ocean Simulation Facility

Chamber complex where they lived for two

weeks.

P h o t o b y P H 1 S h a n e T . M c C o y

[Next Month]Join All Hands as we discover what it’s like

to have Navy recruiting duty in the Army town

of Fayetteville, N.C.

[Departments]Speaking with Sailors — 6

Around the Fleet — 8

Focus on Service — 40

Eye on the Fleet — 42

Eye on History — 46

The Final Word — 48

1

[Number 1046]

22 Under PressureEight Sailors from Naval Experimental Dive Unit (NEDU) and

Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 2 lived in the Ocean

Simulation Facility at NEDU for two weeks in conditions that

would make even the mildly claustrophobic cringe. Added

to their cramped spaces is a 727 ft. saturation (SAT) dive

that can place as much as 339 psi on a person turning a

task as easy as breathing into a chore.

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[Features] 14 Staying AliveStudents at the Navy’s Basic Enlisted Submarine School

have long been faced with the stress and strain of their

final week of training. Packed like sardines into a room

just larger than the average American living room, 17

Sailors in full battle dress receive their latest in a series

of damage control training classes in a replicated

submarine space known as the “wet trainer.”

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J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

2

During the 2004 Armed Forces Wrestling Championship held atArchbishop Rummel High School, New Orleans, Marine Corps Cpl.Justin Cannon, in red, slams Navy Wrestler ABE2 Gerarado Martinezto the mat. Cannon received the gold medal in Freestyle Wrestling55k Weight Class.

P h o t o b y L a n c e C p l . L y d i a C o l l i s o n

3

A "final checker" gets into position to clear an F-14B Tomcat

assigned to Fighter Squadron (VF) 32 for its launch from theflight deck of USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). The nuclear- powered aircraft carrier is currently undergoing carrier qualifications and flight deck certification off the Atlantic coast. P h o t o b y P H 2 C h r i s t o p h e r S t o l t z

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Number 1046 • June 2004www.news.navy.mil

Secretar y of the Navy

The Honorable Gordon R. England

Chief o f Naval Operat ions

ADM Vern Clark

Chief o f In format ion

RADM T. L. McCreary

Commander, Naval Media Center

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Chief of Publ ishing

CDR Jeff Breslau

D e p u t y C h i e f o f P u b l i s h i n g

+ Pr int Media Coordinator

LT Bill Speaks

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E D I T O R I A L

Editor

Marie G. Johnston

Managing Edi tor

JOCS James Slater

Assistant Edi tor

Stephanie N. Collins

Photo Edi tors

PH1 Shane T. McCoy

PH3 Antoine Themistocleous

PH3 Todd Frantom

Editor ia l Staf f

JO1 (SW) Monica Darby

JO1 (SCW/SS) James Pinsky

JO2 Cherri Boggs

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D I S T R I B U T I O N

Hank Lloyd

P U B L I C A T I O N & W E B D E S I G N

R + B Communication Design Co.

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Universal Printing Company

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Recipient of the following Awards of Magazine Excellence

for 2000-2003:

AWARDS

Speaking with SailorsMaster Chief Petty Officer of the Navy

MCPON (SS/AW) Terry D. Scott

recently had the opportunity to carry out what I con-

sider to be one of the most important responsibilities

I have to Sailors as the Master Chief Petty Officer of

the Navy –testifying on their behalf to the United

States Congress. My testimony this year was to the

House Appropriations Committee (HAC) for Military

Construction.

The House Appropriations Committee has jurisdiction

over discretionary spending, which is approximately one-

third of the federal budget. It consists of thousands of

programs controlled through annual appropriations acts.

In addition to the current status of our Navy, and the

highlighting of our accomplishments in the past year, my

statement to the subcommittee concentrated on the

areas of family and bachelor housing; quality of service

(a combination of quality of life and quality of work); and

our Morale, Welfare and Recreation

(MWR) programs.

The quality of life and quality of work

our Sailors are able to enjoy are key

factors in their decision to make the Navy

a career or leave for other employment

that will deliver a better standard of

living. Today, our Sailors enjoy a quality

of service which is improving and has

helped us to achieve the retention

behavior we desired.

Pay, benefits and other monetary

compensation certainly play a key role

in this retention trend. And the impact of

targeted pay raises of recent years in

retaining the quality, highly-skilled

people we need cannot be underestimated. Currently, we

are meeting our retention goals–but my concern is how

many of our highest quality, most capable Sailors will

stay with us, considering the demands we are placing on

them with current operations.

I discussed improving quality of service for Sailors

and their families with improvements to virtually every

form of housing for both Navy families and single Sailors.

In recent years, we have made strides in improving the

living conditions of our Sailors.

The authorization to fully fund our Basic Allowance for

Housing (BAH) is a step in the right direction, and we are

making progress in this area. The result of fully-funded

BAH will enhance our long-term ability to provide quality

housing for all service members.

While we are making significant strides in this area,

we must sustain our three-pronged approach to improve

housing for Sailors and their families: continued funding

increases for BAH to zero out-of-pocket expenses; con-

tinued traditional military construction housing projects;

and continued support of public-private ventures.

Some aspects of quality of service are tangible, such

as adequate compensation, a guaranteed retirement

package, comprehensive health care and other traditional

quality-of-life benefits. Others are intangible but are

fundamental factors that make a Navy career attractive to

talented people.

We must continue our efforts to pro-

vide first-rate working environments for

all Sailors. This subcommittee’s continu-

ous efforts aimed at ensuring that we

remain good stewards of military con-

struction dollars plays a big role in our

quality of service.

Our Navy community support facilities

provide for fitness, childcare, recreation

and family support programs that are

valuable services to our Sailors and their

families. I emphasized how important

these programs are to Sailors and their

families while also serving to increase

readiness and retention in the Navy.

Navy MWR provides a varied program

of recreation, fitness, and social and community support

activities in U.S. Navy ships, squadrons and shore instal-

lations worldwide. Our historical and considerable invest-

ment in these facilities and programs has paid significant

dividends in improved quality of life for Sailors and their

families.

Along with my counterparts from the other services,

who also testified on behalf of Soldiers, Airmen and

Marines serving around the world, we all agreed that

our successes are directly attributed to the patriotism,

dedication and professionalism of our all-volunteer force.

As the first responders in defense of our way of life,

[service members] deserve to know that what they do is

vital to world peace and security, and therefore, that the

significant personal sacrifices they make are appreciated

and are not in vain.

A copy of my full testimony is available at the following

web address: www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/testimony/

facilities/ scott040225.txt.

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All Hands (USPS 372-970; ISSN 0002-5577) Number 1046 is published monthly by the Naval Media Center, Publishing Division, 2713 Mitscher Rd. S.W., Anacostia Annex, D.C. 20373-5819. Periodicals postage paid at

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6 A L L H A N D S • w w w . n e w s . n a v y . m i l

Speaking with Sailors is a monthly column

initiated by the Master Chief Petty Officer of the

Navy as a way of reaching out to the men and

women of the fleet, whether they are stationed just

down the road or halfway around the world.

I

Around the Fleet


5VM has many new featureswithin the Sailor viewing screen,and now includes both mentorand manager screens, to allowmentors and community man-agers to access individual modelsto conduct assessments ofprogress, and to become morefully involved in Sailor growthand development. Additionally,the Certifications and Qualifi-cations Vector is now available forall ratings having previously gonelive, and will now be standard inthe release of subsequent ratingmodels.

However, Sailors should bearin mind the functionality of the5VM is limited by the amount ofdata available to support the variousfeatures. 5VM is based only onoccupational data collectedthrough currently linked personneland training databases, such asthe electronic training jacket,and Navy Training Managementand Planning System (NTMPS).As this initial data is validated,additional databases will be linkedto the model to provide a broaderspectrum of information available,thereby increasing functionality.And so, while the current iterationof the model is not capable ofpromoting, detailing or deter-mining performance rankings,additional training and educationdata will allow that functionalityto be realized.

“Certainly this is an ongoingprocess, but with every iteration, the5VM is becoming more functional,

more intuitive and more robust,”said NPDC Command MasterChief CNOCM (SS/SW/AW)John Snell. “The primary goal isto get the models live for every-one, then we will focus ourattention on working out thebugs, then it will be on to furtherupgrades and integrations andadaptations. This truly is thecareer development and manage-ment tool of the future.”

Currently, 20 ratings are live,including most recently thosewithin the cryptology and con-struction force communities. TheCenters for Naval Cryptology,Seabees and FacilitiesEngineering, respectively,announced the release of their rat-ings’ models earlier this year. TheCenter for Naval AviationTechnical Training has also begunreleasing their ratings’ models(aircrew survival equipmentman,aviation machinist’s mate, aviationmaintenance administrationman,aviation structural mechanic[electrical], and aviation supportequipment technician) and isslated to have all within theircommunity live by April.

Additionally, the Center forService Support will be releasingthose for both legalman andNavy career counselor within thecoming weeks.

“The feedback has been tremen-dous,” said Snell. “We have somedata issues, to be sure, and thereare technical issues that must beresolved. But I strongly encourage

every Sailor to log onto NKO[Navy Knowledge Online] andbecome intimately familiar withthe model, its functions, andwhat it is going to mean to theirfuture. That way, when their5VM does go live, they will knowwhat to expect.”

Additional ratings are slatedfor release in the coming months,with those under the Centers forSubmarine Learning, SurfaceCombat Systems, Intelligence andAnti-Terrorism/Force Protection

being the next big push. For moreinformation on the 5VM and toview the most recent tutorial, logonto NKO at www.nko.navy.mil.

For related news, visit theNaval Personnel DevelopmentCommand/Task Force EXCELNavy NewsStand page atwww.news.navy.mil/local/tfe.

Story by JO1 Jd Walter who is

assigned to the public affairs office,

Naval Personnel Development

Command, Norfolk.

The Naval Personnel Development Command (NPDC) released

the latest version of each of its 5 Vector Models (5VM) in

March, working to achieve its goal of providing every Sailor

an active, tailored 5VM this year.

New Ratings’5VMs Go Live

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UT1 John Brillowski, UT1 Robert Horneij, and other NavySeabees attached to the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 25, workshoulder-to-shoulder with the armed forces of the Philippines to lower apipe down a deep well. The 5VMs for ratings in the construction force community are available at Navy Knowledge Online (NKO) website.

Navy Stands up Fleet Anti-submarineWarfare Command

The Navy boosted its anti-submarine warfare capabili-ties with the creation of the

Fleet Anti-submarine Warfare(ASW) Command (FASWC) inSan Diego April 8.

The new operational com-mand’s mission will include inte-grating advanced ASW networks,establishing doctrine and newoperating concepts, coordinatingfleet ASW training and assistingnaval leadership with ASW policy.

FASWC’s primary goal will beto ensure Navy warfighters canneutralize enemy submarinethreats. To do this, Navy ASWmust be able to detect and engageASW threats at will. It must alsobe able to form maritime shieldsagainst submarines and mines topermit U.S. and coalition forcesprotected passage to and fromoperational theaters.

ADM Walter F. Doran, com-mander, U.S. Pacific Fleet,recognizes the need for increasedemphasis in ASW excellence.

“When I look at the threats wemay face in the 21st century, oneemerging challenge is the improveddiesel submarine technology, andthe threat that technology poses.Anti-submarine warfare is a Navycore competency which needed areinvigorated focus. We have recog-nized that we must take positiveaction and reorganize to meet thischallenge ... and why I have madeASW as my No. 1 war-fighting priority,” said Doran.

Bob Brandhuber, the directorfor ASW improvement anddeputy chief of staff for training atU.S. Pacific Fleet, said the resur-gence in ASW is a major step inthe right direction to meet newthreats in shallow, brown-waterareas, as well as on the openocean.

“ASW is a critical enabler, and

there are a lot of submarines outthere that will prevent us fromdoing that…and how we as a Navybring surface, air, submarine, inte-grated underwater sonar systemarrays, and integrate that in acommon undersea picture so thatwe can control the water columnto exert the influence that we needto exert in the littorals–that’s whyASW is important; that’s whatFASWC is going to be all about,”said Brandhuber.

The Chief of Naval Operations-directed review Task Force ASWhas started two teams of plannersand fleet operators to work on the challenges of operations andtechnology.

Team “A” looks at the scienceand technology aspects of ASW,aligning themselves with thedefense industry to pinpoint keyrequirements and emerging newtechnologies. That partnership willhelp transform ASW capabilitiesto improve littoral effectivenessand reduce the time between find-ing a threat and neutralizing it.

“Think of how many billionsof dollars have been spent on ASWresearch. It’s not an easily solvableproblem. There is a science and anart to it,” said Brandhuber.

Blending the science and art isthe training and operational con-cepts mission for Team “B.” Thisteam will be constantly testingand evaluating ASW tactics,improving on them and developingbetter training in order to improvewar-fighting skills. This includesintegrated training on a fleetwidescale under the guidance ofFASWC.

RADM John J. Waickwicz, whocurrently serves as commander,Iceland Defense Force; Fleet AirKeflavík; U.S. Anti-SubmarineWarfare Reconnaissance ForcesEastern Atlantic and IslandCommander Iceland, has beenselected by the Navy as FASWC’sfirst commander.

The Spencer, Mass., native willbe the Navy’s foremost ASW

advocate, redirecting the focus ofthe Navy back to ASW and over-hauling it as a critical core compe-tency for Navy warfighters.

For related news, visit thePacific Fleet Navy NewsStandpage at www.news.navy.mil/

local/cpf.

Story courtesy of the public affairs

office, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet,

San Diego.

Basic Allowance forHousing Revised forMarried JuniorEnlisted Sailors

T he Navy recently announcedgood news for junior Sailors married to other junior

Sailors: if you are both on sea duty,you can now each receive basicallowance for housing (BAH).

“This benefit clarifies the BAHentitlement policy and is designedto reduce the financial burden onour junior Sailors,” said CDRKatharine Reed, head of the payand allowances section of the

Navy’s Military CompensationPolicy Coordination Branch inWashington. “It also better achievesparity between our junior andsenior enlisted afloat dual militaryfamilies.”

Before this change was insti-tuted, dual military couples wereonly entitled to one joint housingallowance.

To receive the benefit, eligibleSailors must meet all of the following criteria:

• Both are E-5 and below• Both assigned to sea duty• Have no other dependents• Share the same household• Have declined government

quartersThe entitlement, authorized by

the National Defense AuthorizationAct, is effective Oct. 1, 2003. TheNavy has programmed for theestimated $9.3 million FY04 cost.

This policy change will benefitapproximately 1,200 Navy couples.

More information on thispolicy change is available inNAVADMIN 059/04, which can befound on the Web at www.bupers.

navy.mil.

J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S 9

Storekeeper 2nd Class (SW)Anthony L. Hinds was recently selected

as Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers, San

Diego’s Junior Sailor of the Year for 2003.

Hinds is the customer service work center

supervisor for the FISC San Diego Shore

Intermediate Maintenance Activity site.

Hinds’ accomplishments include assisting in

validating, screening, processing, and releasing in excess of 60,000

material requirements valued at more than $80 million. Hinds was

also a key player in implementing the Navy Enterprise Maintenance

Automated Information system, and devoted countless hours to the

overall project by persistently screening and processing more than

10,000 new and complicated orders during its early stages. His

collateral duties include command safety officer and plant property

coordinator. Outside of work, Hinds stays active by volunteering

his time to Meals on Wheels, Partnership with Education, the

Combined Federal Campaign, Operation Clean Sweep and Vietnam

Veterans of San Diego.

S h i p m a t e s

For related news, visit theChief of Naval Personnel NavyNewsStand page at www.news.

navy.mil/local/cnp.


office, Chief of Naval Personnel,

Washington, D.C.

Sailors, MarinesNow Eligible for FAAA&P License

DOD partnered with theFederal Aviation Admin-istration (FAA) to give

enlisted mechanics in the militarythe same credentials as their civil-ian counterparts. For Sailors andMarines, the Navy and MarineCorps Airframes and PowerplantProgram (NMCAPP) has beenestablished at the Center for NavalAviation Technical Training(CNATT), to ensure all aviationtechnicians are given the opportu-nity to earn the federal agency’sindustry standard certification.

In the past, military experiencewas not widely recognized by theFAA, significantly decreasingSailor and Marine marketabilityin the civilian sector.

“Trying to get a civilian jobwithout an A&P License is similarto trying to gain access to a mili-tary base without the proper cre-

dentials–almost impossible,” saidCNATT NMCAPP Officer, LCDRGabe Castro. “Well, that time isgone. There are now certificationsin place for Sailors and Marineswhich allow our mechanics toenroll in the A&P [airframes andpower plants] licensing program.”

To enroll, participants mustmeet basic eligibility requirements,be 18 years of age, an E-4, and have36 months or more in service. Itwill take about 30 months to complete the entire program,which includes completing aQualification Training Package andpassing a series of written and oralexams, as well as passing a practicaltest. After successful completion ofthe program and required exams,each participant will receive theairframes and power plants certifi-cation from the FAA.

The benefits to Sailors andMarines include no out-of-pocketexpenses, as well as the ability touse their military experience andon-the-job training toward certification. Many non-militaryuniversities and vocational techni-cal schools offer FAA-approvedclasses, but the cost associated withthese courses can be overwhelm-ing, even with tuition assistanceand assistance from the GI Bill.

“It’s one of the great new wayswe are taking care of our Sailorsand Marines,” said CNATT

Gunnery Sergeant, Gunnery Sgt.Anthony Sosa. “It shows youngSailors and Marines that we areinterested in their future as theycontinue their careers in the Navyand Marine Corps, but also afterthey leave their service andembark upon a civilian career.”

For more info on the A&PLicensing Program, visit theUSMAP Web site at www.cnet.

navy.mil/usmap or visit the Centerfor Naval Aviation TechnicalTraining page on Navy KnowledgeOnline at www.nko.navy.mil.

Story by LTJG Doug Johnson, who is


Center for Naval Aviation Technical

Training Public Affairs.

Top Enlisted SailorsSee HealthyCompetition ForAdvancement To E-9

Getting to the top of theenlisted ranks remainscompetitive, as eligible E-8s

face a slight drop in advancementopportunity this year.

Advancement opportunity toE-9 in FY05 stands at 13.5 per-cent, falling a little more than 1percentage point from FY04.

Chief of Naval PersonnelVADM Gerry Hoewing said he

was not surprised that the oppor-tunity stayed nearly the same.

“Competition for promotionto Master Chief Petty Officer has,and should be, very competitive.We expect a lot from these lead-ers,” said Hoewing. “Given thetremendous retention we con-tinue to experience throughoutthe Navy today, and the incredibletalent at our more senior enlistedranks, I would expect theadvancement opportunity toremain about the same.”

The number of Sailors com-peting for E-9 increased by 284 to3,427 this year, while quotas fellonly by five from 470 to 465.Advancement opportunityimproved or stayed the same in 34ratings. Forty-one ratings sawdeclining advancement opportu-nity, but 36 of those will still enjoyadvancement opportunity abovethe Navy average.

Fire controlman (AEGIS NEC)showed the best overall advance-ment opportunity at 57 percent. Other ratings withimproved advancement opportu-nity include aviation warfare systems operator, which grewfrom 20.7 percent in the last cycleto 37 percent this cycle, and hos-pital corpsman, which experi-enced a jump of more than sixpoints from 6.3 percent to 12.8.

Ratings that saw some decline

Around the Fleet


Ricky’sTourBy JO2 Mike Jones www.rickystour.com

in advancement opportunityinclude master-at-arms (down 15points this cycle to a little morethan 35 percent), air traffic con-troller, which saw a decrease ofeight points to 4 percent, andmineman with a decrease of10 points from last year’s oppor-tunity of 25 percent.

A full list of E-9 advancementquotas will soon be available atwww.bupers.navy.mil, underAdvancements.

For related news, visit theChief of Naval Personnel NavyNewsStand page at www.news.

navy.mil/local/cnp.


office, Chief of Naval Personnel,

Washington, D.C.

Sea Basing KeyElement of Navy2020

The Navy of 2020 will haveunmanned underwaterreconnaissance vehicles. Our

weapons systems and ability tocommunicate are far better thanthey’ve ever been,” VADM J.Cutler Dawson Jr. recently toldattendees of the Annapolis NavalHistory Symposium at the U.S.Naval Academy.

The Navy of 2020 also willhave “distributed systems that liein parts of the ocean that candeny access to an enemy andrapidly kill him if he goes intothose areas,” said the Academygraduate.

The service, he added, hastransformed from a “blue-water”Navy that was structured to defeatthe Soviets at sea during the ColdWar to a force that will be sea-based.

According to Dawson, seabasing has three critical elements:access, speed and reduced foot-print.

Dawson talked about thedeployment of the U.S. 2nd Fleetflagship, USS Mount Whitney

(LCC 20), that provided sea-basedsupport to Marines in Djibouti atthe Horn of Africa.

“Why did we do that?” heasked. “Because access was notassured, and even when we didhave access, it was so immaturethat the investment to getashore took time and money.”

In planning the future force,the admiral said the Navy consid-ers five elements. “We look at themost likely combat operationsand possible rules of engage-ment,” said Dawson. “We look atbases and access, which hasrecently been greatly influencedby denial of access to Turkey.We look at potential systems,and we try to input the perfor-mance that we expect from thosesystems, and finally, we look atjoint and coalition (operations).”

Planners also think about howmany personnel–uniformed,civilians and contractors–will beneeded in 2020, he said.

“We look at the developmentof personnel and ask, ‘What willthey need?’” he added.

For more Department ofDefense News, go towww.defenselink.mil.

Story by K.L. Vantran, who is

assigned to American Forces Press

Service, Alexandria, Va.

USS Higgins toReturn from SeaSwap Deployment

USS Higgins (DDG 76)recently returned to herhomeport after more than

16 months at sea–with the last ofthree rotating crews that servedaboard in six-month deploymentsin the Navy’s Sea Swap program.

Sea Swap is an experimentalinitiative that increases forwardnaval presence by utilizing bothArleigh Burke-class guided-missiledestroyers and Spruance-classdestroyers.

Higgins and USS Fletcher (DD992) have provided continuouspresence in the U.S. 5th Fleet areaof responsibility (AOR), while

swapping crews at six-monthintervals aboard the two ships,involving approximately 2,000Sailors.

J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

T i m e C a p s u l eThis month we look back in the All Hands archive to see what was going on in the month of June. To view these issues in more detail on the Web, go to www.news.navy.mil/allhands.asp?x=search

June 1964 – 40 years ago

As indicated on the cover, All Hands addressed

SEAVEY & SHORVEY, which in today’s lingo is

sea/shore rotation. We also featured descriptions

of every boat used by the Navy. To compliment

our boat descriptions we highlighted the

language of boatmanship, and celebrated the

22nd anniversary of the Navy’s amphibious force.


Our cover reflected one of our features, the

company commanders at Recruit Training

Command, Orlando, Fla. We spent some time

with the Armed Forces Police in the

Washington, D.C., area and then headed to

the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., to

talk to Tom Harper, a senior midshipman who was

diagnosed with stomach cancer during his freshman year. He

won his fight with cancer and graduated with the Class of

’76. We also explored the Navy’s advances in laser research.


All Hands looked at the Navy’s salvage teams,

more specifically the crew of USS Preserver

(ARS 8) who answered the call to salvage

NASA’s Challenger. We talked with the

MCPON Master Chief Radioman (SW) William

H. Plackett about his view of the Navy, and we

presented a photo-feature on the just-opened Nautilus

Memorial and Submarine Force Library and Museum at

Naval Submarine Base. New London, Conn. As a matter of

note, Inter-service Volleyball was the sport of the year as

the Navy women won the gold medal and Navy men

brought home the silver.

11

Around the Fleet


The Sea Swap initiativedemonstrated efficiency bydeploying a single ship to a the-ater of operations for 18 months,reducing the transit time andincreasing Sailor time on stationconducting real-world operations.

As part of the Sea Trial process,the Navy is conducting a detailedanalysis of the Sea Swap experi-ment to determine the viability ofthe Sea Swap option for potentialfuture forward presence require-ments.

Sea Swap for Higgins began inNovember 2002, when the initialcrew departed San Diego. Thatcrew was part of the coalitionforce that launched TomahawkLand Attack Missiles against mili-tary targets in Iraq during theopening stages of Operation IraqiFreedom.

The crew of USS Benfold (DDG65) replaced the original Higginscrew in April 2003, and theHiggins crew flew back to SanDiego to become the new Benfoldcrew.

The third Higgins crew camefrom USS John Paul Jones (DDG53) in October 2003, and this

crew will remain as the crew ofHiggins. The three Higgins crewsaccounted for 116 additional daysof presence in the U.S. 5th FleetAOR, which would normally takemore than four standard DDGdeployments.

“I am very pleased with theresults of Sea Swap,” said VADMTim LaFleur, commander, NavalSurface Forces. “Sea Swapimproves our culture of readinessby providing increased opera-tional availability and providescontinuous forward presencewithout extending deploymentsfor our Sailors. The ship is ingood shape, and the crews havedone a remarkable job. With afleet of less than 300 ships, weneed to look continually at newways to deliver the Navy’s combatcapability.”

The Spruance-class destroyer(DD) Sea Swap program is con-tinuing, with a fourth crew nowaboard Fletcher. She is scheduledto return to San Diego in June.The four DD crews consisted ofSailors from Fletcher, USS Kincaid(DD 965), USS Oldendorf (DD972) and USS Elliot (DD 967).

Crews aboard both Higginsand Fletcher participated in a widearray of multi-ship operations inthe 5th Fleet AOR, includingoperating with multi-nationalforces supporting coalition effortsin Iraq, and including escortduties, intelligence gathering andmaritime interdiction operations.

For related news, visit theCommander, Naval Surface Force,U.S. Pacific Fleet Navy NewsStandpage at www.news.

navy.mil/local/cnsp.


office, Commander, Naval Surface

Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

NAS Pensacola WinsTop NavyEnvironmentalAward

In a recent message fromSecretary of the Navy GordonEngland, Naval Air Station

(NAS) Pensacola was named therecipient of the 2003 Environ-mental Award for a small-sizeinstallation in the NaturalResources Conservation category.

“Congratulations to all thecompetitors for this year’sawards,” said England. “The qual-ity of the competition washigh–an indication of the effortour Navy and Marine Corps teamcontributes every day.”

Significant program accom-plishments include completion ofthe Installation Natural ResourcesManagement Plan and fundingstream, partnership with theFlorida Department ofEnvironmental Protection and thelocal community for ProjectGreenshores; continuing to workwith state and local governments,and communities to set asidemore than 10,000 acres of sensi-tive lands; and the ongoing workto maintain the regional Ospreypopulation with 20 new fledglingsproduced annually.

“It’s exciting to win theSECNAV award for our naturalresources,” said Mark Gibson, nat-ural resources manager, NASPensacola. “Although we’re beingrecognized, the work to get thebest possible job done is still aconstant, every day ‘work inprogress’ that we strive to getbetter at ... and, of course, itrequires teamwork from allinvolved.”

Gibson said the careful man-agement of the natural resourceassets at NAS Pensacola hasallowed base personnel and thepublic to enjoy protected habitatsvia trails, boardwalks and camp-ing areas.

NAS Pensacola has won severalawards for its outstanding envi-ronmental program. The CoastalAmerica “Partnership Award” waspresented Nov. 6 for protectingand restoring Pensacola Bay. In2001, NAS Pensacola also won theChief of Naval Operations (CNO)Environmental awards for NaturalResources Conservation for thesmall installation category,Cultural Resources ManagementInstallation and PollutionPrevention for a non-industrialinstallation.

“A main factor in our success isthat we permanently establishedthe regional forester position toallow for increased and efficientmanagement and oversight of ourresources, allowing us to tackleeach project that comes up properly,” said Gibson.

For related news, visit theNaval Air Station Pensacola NavyNewsStand page at www.news.

navy.mil/local/naspensacola.

Story by Sheri L. Crowe, who is


Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.

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Crew members assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold

(DDG 65) board the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) to beginthe turnover process with the Higgins crew as part of the U.S. Navy’s Sea Swapinitiative. This was the first phase of the Navy’s Sea Swap initiative, whichinvolves rotating more than one crew through a single ship to allow for moretime on station in theater, while returning crews home at six-month intervals.

13J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

Navy MWR Teams Upwith PGA to PromoteGolf

Navy Morale, Welfare andRecreation (MWR) hasteamed up with the

Professional Golfers’ Association(PGA) of America and theNational Golf Course OwnersAssociation to promote the sport

of golf through the “Play Golf“America” program at Navy installations.

Play Golf America atwww.playgolfamerica.com is a one-stop Web site that provides accessto a variety of golf clinics andevents for players of all abilities.

“Navy MWR is really gearingup and adding courses to the PlayGolf America Web site,” said ClayMurray, head of the Navy MWR

golf program. “This is a great wayfor Sailors and their families tolearn the game and to help growour Navy golf program for thefuture.”

“Glen Eagle Golf Course usedthe Web site to publish informa-tion and register people for ourLink Up 2 Golf orientation inMarch,” said Mike Penn, PGA golfprofessional at Naval SupportActivity Mid-South, Millington,Tenn. “We had a great response,with 36 people registering online.’

Link Up 2 Golf, also availableat the Play Golf America Web site,is a golf-orientation programdesigned to introduce adults tothe sport of golf. The programcombines an orientation to thegolf course with a series of lessonstaught by PGA professionals, andconcludes with a number ofsupervised on-course playingexperiences.

“Players can register for localgolf events and group lessonsonline at the PGA site,” said Penn.“The site has been a time-saverand a promotion tool for ourcourse.”

To date, eight of the 38 NavyMWR golf courses are listed onthe Play Golf America Web site,and more are being added as thegolf season begins. The participat-

ing courses currently includeADM Baker Golf Course, NavalAir Station San Diego; Casa LindaOaks Golf Course, Naval AirStation Jacksonville, Fla.; GalleryGolf Course, Naval Air StationWhidbey Island, Wash.; GlenEagle Golf Course, Naval SupportActivity Mid-South, Millington,Tenn.; Monterey Pines GolfCourse, Naval Post GraduateSchool, Monterey, Calif.; PineRidge Golf Course, Naval AirEngineering Station Lakehurst,N.J.; Pine Bayou Golf Course,Naval Construction BattalionCenter Gulfport, Fla.; Sea and AirGolf Course, Naval Air StationNorth Island, Calif.

To find out more about theseprograms, go to www.playgolf

america.com and select the pro-grams that appeal to you. Bytyping in your zip code, the sitewill pull up the courses in yourarea that are offering programs.To find a course on a militaryinstallation, be sure to type inyour base’s zip code.

Story by Robin Hillyer Miles, MWR

Communications Group.

Sailors watch professional golfer Tiger Woods hit a few golfballs during a demonstration in the hanger bay of USS George Washington

(CVN 73). The Professional Golfers’ Association has teamed up with NavyMorale, Welfare and Recreation to promote golf aboard Navy installations.

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Electrician’s Mate 2ndClass (SW) Mark Marzella

(left), Seaman K.C. Geisler

(standing), LTJG Scott

McDonald (center) and Yeoman

3rd Class Ed Barrientes stationed aboard USS Defender (MCM 2),

were honored as heroes when they each donated blood to save

the life of a 3-year-old girl in San Antonio. Emily Wiatrek, suffer-

ing from congenital scoliosis, was in need of a rare blood type for

a life-saving surgery. According to each of these shipmates, they

were more than glad to help the family in need. “When I heard

about the little girl’s need, I knew I had to do it,” said McDonald.

S h i p m a t e s


S t o r y a n d p h o t o s b y J O 2 C h a r l e s L . L u d w i g , p h o t o s b y P H 3 T o d d F r a n t o m

PACKED LIKE SARDINES INTO A ROOM JUST LARGER THAN THE AVERAGEAMERICAN’S LIVING ROOM, THE 17 SAILORS, IN FULL BATTLE DRESS, WERERECEIVING THEIR LATEST IN A SERIES OF DAMAGE CONTROL TRAININGCLASSES, A WALK-THROUGH OF A REPLICATED SUBMARINE SPACE KNOWNAS THE “WET TRAINER.”

IN MERE MINUTES, THESE SAME SAILORS WOULD BE LOCKED IN THATSAME SPACE, FIGHTING LEAKS FROM PIPES AND FLANGES, ALONG WITH ARAPIDLY RISING WATER LEVEL, IN A FRANTIC EFFORT TO “SAVE THE BOAT.” BUT, IN THAT TASK, THEY WOULD NOT BE ALONE…

� During fire fighting instruction, studentsin full battle dress await safety training. P h o t o b y P H 3 T o d d F r a n t o m

15J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

Stayin’ AliveSAILORS TRAIN TO BE SUBMARINERS

Just a quick turn down a winding road fromthe wet trainer, another group of Sailorsprepared themselves to save the ship as well.Only, their potential danger would not bewater; these eager Sailors would face a darkroom full of smoke and scorching, blisteringfire.

Soon both sets of students would be struggling to accomplish two completelydifferent tasks. There may be nothing as out-and-out diverse as fire and water, but incompleting their independent tasks, theSailors are working toward one commongoal–attempting to move on.

As students at the Navy’s Basic EnlistedSubmarine School (BESS), students havelong been faced with the stress and strain ofthis final week of training. The trainers serveas the final obstacle for the wannabesubmariners before BESS graduation,

capping off a month-long learning process.The day’s importance is not lost on the

students, either. “It’s definitely a nervous dayfor all of us,” said Seaman Brandon Nims, ashe awaited fire extinguisher training. “Itreally has some guys losing sleep. I know Iwas very nervous, just knowing that this isthe end of it for BESS. It’s more than justtraining for us.”

Adding to the stress of the event is thejam-packed aspect of the week’s trainingschedule. Prior to the groups’ final scenario,they spend two days training andperforming in the wet trainer.

The relatively quick pace of the hands-ontraining proved to be another barrier for thestudents to cross.

“I thought everything was going to be abit slower,” Electronics Technician SeamanRecruit Joseph Drawns said after wrapping

up his time in the wet trainer. “You had toreally be on your toes. (The instructors) hadto fit a lot of information into a short periodof time, so they just kept cramming stuffinto our heads. When it came time toperform, sometimes it was difficult toremember everything right away.”

The pace of the final week seemed tomirror the prior three, in whichSailors–most straight out of bootcamp–began to lay the groundwork ofbecoming a submariner.

The path starts just before classing up forBESS, when potential students are made toendure the submarine escape trainer. Thetrainer, which simulates the general arrange-ment of a 637-class submarine escape trunk,allows students to apply the egress trainingthey learn in a basic classroom environment.

This involves the Sailors forcing them-


� Escape training can be a harrowing experience especially for those who are claustrophobic.Five students are loaded into a small escape trunk with an instructor. Once inside, the tank is filledwith about five feet of water.

P h o t o b y J O 2 C h a r l e s L . L u d w i g

17J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� Before students get to the school-house portion of their training, they must com-plete a day of submarine escape training. Duringone of the training classes, instructorBM2(DSW) Johnathon Neal demonstrates theproper use of the Steinke hood that will be usedfor one of the underwater escape procedures.

� In the classroom, students like SAGarth Pouzek and SR Andrew Cox learn aboutthe basics of submarine systems. In a matter ofmonths, some of the students will be faced withnearly identical systems when they report totheir first submarine.

� When conducting operations in thedamage control trainer, instructors sitting insidea control room use plastic placards to informstudents when they make an error. The sign ispressed against the glass after a horn issounded in the trainer.

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Stayin’ Alive

selves, four at a time, into a cramped escapehatch that soon fills about neck-high withwater. Then they each don a “Steinke hood,”an inflatable mask of sorts that allows theprospective submariners to breathe whileducking underwater to escape the tank froma watertight hatch that opens to a swimmingpool. Once there, the Sailors assemble in atight huddle pattern before making a finalswim across the pool. One thing is forsure–if anyone in the class is claustrophobic,it won’t take long to find out.

“That’s the last thing you want on asubmarine,” said Information SystemsTechnician 2nd Class (DV) Curt Ramsey,one of the escape trainer instructors. “Thisought to identify those who may have aproblem with it. Between having the hoodclose over your face and the tight environ-ment of the tank, no one should be able tofool us.” Despite the gripping fear caused byclaustrophobia, Ramsey said most people

who panic in the conditions are able to “rallyup and finish the training.”

The escape portion of the school was asurprise to many of the students. “I had noidea it was even possible to escape a sub,”Drawns said. “I figured it was pretty muchover for you if your boat went down. I wasreally paying attention in that class.”

And that classroom instruction kicked infor most students in the pool, SeamanRecruit Joshua Henderson said. “The escapewas pretty intense, but it was explained to usvery well before in the classroom. So weknew what to do when we got in there.”

Students closed a successful day at theescape trainer by performing a two-manescape that culminated in learning to use asingle-man raft. “Everyone was pretty firedup after we were done,” Henderson said. “Wewere all happy to get it over with.”

The sense of accomplishment is notallowed to last long, however. The following


� FR Adam Neely uses a roll of marlin topatch a leak inside the submarine school's damage control trainer. The damage controltrainer is the final test taken by sub schoolclasses before graduation.

� Sitting in the damage control trainer'soverhead, two students attempt to tighten downon a leaking flange. The damage control trainercan flood with more than 20,000 gallons ofwater at the rate of 1,200 gallons a minute.

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� FR Adam Neely uses a roll of marlin topatch a leak inside the submarine school's damage control trainer. The damage controltrainer is the final test taken by sub schoolclasses before graduation.

� Sitting in the damage control trainer'soverhead, two students attempt to tighten downon a leaking flange. The damage control trainercan flood with more than 20,000 gallons ofwater at the rate of 1,200 gallons a minute.

week, the escape trainer students class up fortheir official BESS kickoff.

What follows is a three-week period ofintensive classroom study that challengesstudents on a daily basis. “It was muchharder than I ever expected it to be,” saidMachinist’s Mate Fireman Micheal Bybee.“The information was crammed into yourheads so that you had no time to breathe. Ittook up nearly every second we had here.”

True to Bybee’s word, the typical day ofinstruction ran from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. withan hour for lunch. During that time, theinstructors made sure to pack as manylessons as possible in the student’s day.

“It’s something we really have to do,” saidMM1(SS) John Roberts, one of BESS’instructors. “Three weeks seems like a longtime for some people, but when you have asmany things to teach about as we do, youneed all the time you can get. We practicallygo through every system and major piece of

equipment on the boat. It’s a lot of info.”Learning all that information requires a

longer than average school day for students.After taking a break around 4 p.m. to relaxand eat dinner, nearly all students return tothe schoolhouse at 6 p.m. for three hours ofnight study. Rare exceptions to night studyare given to students who are excelling in theclassroom.

Add that to a 5:15 a.m. muster for break-fast, and BESS students know they are in fora long day.

“For those couple of weeks, the day wasnothing but school,” Drawns said. “Thenyou throw in night study, and you have onlya little bit of free time during the week. Butno matter how much you hate night study,you really need it.”

That night study comes in handy for thestudents during each of their three majortests during the course of the school. AllSailors in the school must pass the tests to

complete the submarine school training.It’s only after conquering the escape

trainer and running through the school-house that the students are able to challengerushing waters and burning fires.

It’s a moment they are more than happyto see. “After doing nothing but sitting in aclassroom for a few weeks, it was welcome,”Bybee said. “The entire time you’re justlooking forward to the trainers. You almostsit there and dream about fighting fires andpatching up leaks.”

When the class reaches that point, thegroup splits into two and alternates a two-day period in each trainer. For each, the firstday is purely a classroom day. Instructorsuse this time to go over basic scenarios andrules with the students. The second day oftraining is when all the action takes place.

For students in the fire trainer, thatmeans dressing out in full battle dress andgoing through several different firefighting

19J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S Stayin’ Alive

scenarios, including the use of fire extin-guishers, hoses and self-contained breathingapparatuses.

The entire time, the Sailors are fightingactual fires limited to a control room. “Thatadded a new twist for us,” said Bybee. “Theheat coming off of those fires was great. Itwas simulated, but it was real. We had facednothing like that before.”

The heat from the fire may have beenreal, but instructors are nearby to ensureeach evolution is conducted safely. “We wantthe students to get a real feel of what wouldhappen in an actual submarine fire,” saidFirefighting Instructor MM2(SS) LaurenceGeorghan, “but, with BESS classes, every-thing is very structured and rigid. We needto make sure everything is done withoutanyone getting injured.”

While ensuring safety, the instructorsbuild the training to a peak with a scenariothat tests what the students have learned inthe day’s earlier sessions. “After we take themin and let them know what they are using,”Georghan said, “we hit them with a situationwhere fire will break out, and they mustdecide what kind of agent to put the fire outwith. We’re there to make sure nothing goeswrong, but in that situation, the BESSstudents are definitely more in control thanbefore.”

By the time the day is finished, the

students should be able to combat theflames of various types of fires if the needever arises.

Those finished with the firefightingportion are only half done with the week,however. What awaits them in the wettrainer is more than 20,000 gallons of waterspraying out of 12 leaks in a simulatedarrangement of an SSBN 650-class lower-level engine room.

For those not used to waist-high water,the damage control exercise can be aharrowing experience. “The water level rises

so fast,” Nims said about his time in the wettrainer. “It definitely opens your eyes aboutwhat could happen down there. You knowit’s all controlled, but it can get pretty scary.”

But in the end, the young BESS Sailorsknow it is training they may eventually use,whether they want to or not. “We definitelyneed to know it for when we get out to aboat,” Bybee said. “I’m hoping I never get touse it, but knowing my luck, it will come inhandy.”

Ludwig and Frantom are photojournalists

assigned to All Hands.


� Sailors at the schoolare required to form up in ranksand march to breakfast andlunch each day.

P h o t o b y P H 3 T o d d F r a n t o m

� The submarine

school’s submarine firefighting trainer allows studentsto work with a live fire for thefirst time. By the time theyare finished with the training,all students should know thebasics of how to fight varioustypes of fire.P h o t o b y P H 3 T o d d F r a n t o m

21J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� SA Eskandar Nikchehi focuses hisattention on an instructor during a morning fireextinguisher training session. In a matter ofmoments, the class will split into pairs beforeentering the submarine fire fighting controltrainer to combat controlled fires.

� Before the start of the flooding exercise,MM2 (SW) Todd Wysopal takes his studentsthrough a step-by-step review of everything theywill face in the damage control trainer.

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� For three weeks, U.S. Navy SubmarineSchool students spend nearly 11 hours a dayinside the schoolhouse at Wilkerson Hall.Sailors arrive at the school between 7 and 7:30a.m. and depart at 4 p.m. before returning fortwo to three hours of night study each night.

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Stayin’ Alive

22

23J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

S t o r y a n d p h o t o s b y P H 1 S h a n e T . M c C o y

� The water temperature in the wet pod is maintained at around 34 degrees to help simulate actual conditions in which the Secondary Life Support System backpack would be used.


� The wet pod ofthe complex takes up

nearly two floors of thebuilding. After waterinside is drained, the

wet pod can be openedup to add or remove

equipment for the next dive.

roper pressure in a bicycle tire is 30to 50 pounds per square inch (psi);in a basketball, 4 psi; and paint ball

guns shoot at 120 to 200 psi. The pres-sure placed upon a deep-sea diver duringa two-week, 727-ft. saturation (SAT) divecan be as high as 339 psi, turning a taskas easy as breathing into a chore.

“It’s like we’re trying to breathethrough a hose in a couple feet of water,”said Builder 1st Class Joshua Ross. “Wewere always trying to catch our breath.”

Eight Sailors from Naval ExperimentalDive Unit (NEDU) and Mobile Divingand Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2 lived in theOcean Simulation Facility at NEDU inconditions that would make anyone witha twinge of claustrophobia cringe.

It’s called SAT diving, because atextreme depths, the tissues in the bodycollect gases from the surrounding envi-ronment until a point of saturation isreached. Once a diver reaches saturation,they will need to decompress once, evenif they were under pressure for weeks.

“SAT diving is the only way we canstay on the bottom for extended periodsof time,” said Chief Boatswain’s Mate(DSW) Keith Nelson. “The key toworking for long periods of time on thebottom of the ocean is to use decompres-sion tanks as living quarters.”

“On a SAT dive, we can go down, setup the equipment and just leave it on thebottom. Then as divers swap out, the nextguy can jump on the same job the lastdiver was doing,” said Nelson.

Why would SAT divers put themselvesinto tight, dark, damp and dangerousconditions? The answer is different forevery dive and every diver. Last year, offthe coast of North Carolina, NEDU’sSAT divers helped to recover the sunkenturret of USS Monitor, the Civil WarIronclad ship.

If you want to find the Navy’s largesthyperbaric complex in the world, youcome to NEDU.

“This is the ‘Cadillac’ of saturationsystems,” said Damage Controlman 1stClass (DSW) Jorge Guillen, the team’sleader. “Other countries have them, but Idon’t think any are as large.”

As team leader, Guillen keeps a closeeye on his team inside the chamber. “Thedoctors outside the chamber would talkto me each morning and evening duringsick call to check on each person’s moraleand condition,” said Guillen. “Then theyspeak to each member and our corpsmenusing a two-way video conference.”

Medical concerns are taken very seri-ously during a SAT dive. At depth, everylittle cut can become infected, causing

J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� Brightly colored Purafill pelletsfilter out odors in the chambers. The deeperthe chamber goes, the more intense odorsbecome.

� Diagram of the Ocean Simulation Facility Chamber Complex.

25UNDER PRESSURE

� LT John Melton, a research psycholo-gist, gives memory tests to each diver at differ-ent depths to test the effects of pressure andgases on brain functions.

� To keep oil and dirt out, street shoescannot be worn inside the chambers. If you wishto enter, you must don a pair of “chambershoes,” commonly known as Vans.

serious problems.“The environment in the simulator is

warm, humid and oxygen-rich, comparedto conditions on the surface. This canlead to different kinds of infections,including fungal and bacterial infections,”said LT Jeffery Chao, one of the divingmedical officers. “This makes hygieneextremely important. Common problemslike athlete’s foot can spread much fasterwhile in the complex.”

As the pressure increases, the oxygenused by the divers has to be thinned out.If they were to breathe the same amountof oxygen at a depth of 700 ft. that theydid at sea level, it would be lethal. Tocompensate for this, helium is added tothe oxygen to thin it out. Voices thenbecome as squeaky as if you inhaledhelium from a balloon.

It’s amusing at first, but the deeperthey go, more helium needs to added to

the mix, making it difficult to understandthe simplest of sentences.

“It makes it hard to communicate withpeople outside the chamber,” said Guillen.“Even inside where we could understandeach other at 60 ft., when we got to 700 ft.,we had to use hand signals and even writethings down on occasion.”

To enable tenders outside the chamber tounderstand the helium-distorted voices, avoice modulator is used. Divers may stillsound a bit like Mickey Mouse, but withoutthe modulator, communication would notbe possible. Some simple phrases are modi-fied while in the chamber. For example,“Yes” is changed to “Yes, Yes” because a high-pitched “Yes” can sound like a “No.”

During the decompression phase of thedive, every morning at 6 a.m., the diverswere awakened with a little music pumpedin from the control room. They did somecleaning before breakfast to help minimize

bacteria in the chamber. The rest of theday was spent on the three ‘M’s.

“It gets a little boring,” says Guillen.“The three ‘M’s are ‘mattresses’, ‘meals’ and‘movies’, and that’s about all you have todo all day. We would rather be doing somework, diving or anything that would makethe time go by faster. Doing two weeks in the chamber is easily like doing a six-month cruise.”

This year’s deep dive, to test a divingbackpack–the Secondary Life SupportSystem (SLS)–might help save the lives offuture Navy SAT divers.

Civilian divers have used the SLS forseveral years as an emergency means ofreturning to the diving bell if there is aproblem with oxygen hoses. If the SLS is putinto use by the Navy, it will give the diversclose to 30 minutes to return to safety.

“What they want to simulate during thistesting is that you lost your umbilical, that it

A L L H A N D S • w w w . n e w s . n a v y . m i l

� Divers are monitored by camera 24 hours a day. With cameras placed directly aboveshowers and toilets, privacy is non-exisitent.

26

27J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S UNDER PRESSURE

� LT Jeffery Chao one of NEDU’s med-ical diving officers, conducts sick call with thedivers inside the chamber. Sick call is heldtwice a day using monitors and telephones.

� CS2 Antonio Spain has been temporarilyassigned to work in the Ocean Simulation Facilitygalley for the full two-week dive. Meals are pre-pared, loaded in a circular container, placed in anair lock and sent to depth for the divers.

� Only the living chambers of the complex can be seen from the top floor. Two stories worth of dive pod is below.

was cut or something happened whereyou were getting nothing from the bell,”explains Nelson. “You have no hot waterand no gas supply, so you go on the back-pack. It is designed to give you enoughbreathing gas and time to allow you towork your way back to the dive bell, whereyou are safe and can get warm.”

To simulate the effort it would take tofind your way back to the bell, divers ridea bike in the wet pod of the complex.Everything on them is monitored andrecorded: heart rate, gas in, gas out andcore body temperature. All data is used toevaluate the SLS and determine if itmeets the Navy’s requirements.

Today’s Navy has dive lockers all overthe world keeping our ships floating.They might dive on a downed plane,work on a pier or do underwaterconstruction. But in the entire Defense

Department, NEDU is the onlycommand where a Navy diver will be ableto experience saturation diving.

“This command is definitely differentthan any other dive command in theNavy,” said Guillen. “At other divecommands, you know what you will bedoing day to day, but here we are alwaysguinea pigs. One week we are on a deepdive, and the next we are testing theeffects of 100 percent oxygen on the bodyat different depths. Any diver who gets thechance to come here should take it.”

McCoy is a photojournalist assigned to

All Hands.


� DC1(DSW) Buddy King reads a magazine to help pass the time during decompression.This dive required more than a week to decompress after working four days.

Website Exclusive

Find more photos online at

www.news.navy.mil/media/allhands/flash/

ah200406/feature_3/

J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� Leaving the chamber is similar to awelcome home for the dive team. After theyfinish the line of hand shakes and photos,they are required to have a post-dive physical.

� ENCS(MDV) Lyle Becker andHTC(DSW) Joe Schlagenhaft stand watch at thedive watch supervisor console. The console ismanned 24 hours a day while the divers are inthe complex.

29UNDER PRESSURE

Silent ServiceThe

S t o r y a n d p h o t o s b y J O 1 ( S C W / S S ) J a m e s P i n s k y


� Emergency deep! Members of the USS Maine (SSBN 741) Blue crew react to anemergency deep drill generated by the ship’s

commanding officer, CDR Robert Palisin.Periscope depth is a very dangerous evolutionfor a submarine because all of the submarine,

minus the tip of a persicope remains underwaterso oncoming ships can’t see the boat.

Meet Machinist’s Mate 3rd ClassTrevor Kopp and his 154brothers.

Kopp and his family live in King’s Bay,Ga., a fitting place to raise a family of 155men with its low cost of living and tradi-tional southern hospitality.

But, unlike most families, what bindsthese men together isn’t their last name.After all, each one of Kopp’s brotherscomes from a different set of parents. No,what makes these men brothers is whatthey call home – a 560 foot-long steelboat with no windows, no fantail, and inthe event of a casualty – no easy escape.

These brothers are submariners.“The difference in damage control

philosophies between us and a surfaceship is that if we start sinking because ofa casualty, there’s nowhere to escape,”said Chief Electronics Technician (SS)William Murtha, USS Maine’s (SSBN741) Blue Crew 3M and drill simulatorcoordinator. “We can’t jump on any lifeboats, abandon the ship or parachute outof a plane to avoid the fire, flooding orcatastrophic mechanical failure.”

Every submariner is familiar with whathundreds of feet of overhead seawatercan do to a submarine if it found its way

into the boat. They know that a fireanywhere in the enclosed steel tube canfill the boat with smoke in about 10minutes; or that the tubular design of asubmarine, meant to aid its smooth swimthrough the ocean, when faced with afire, turns the boat into a super-sizedconvection oven.

But they go to sea anyway, cruisingbelow the ocean’s cloak. Most people,many Sailors included, think they’recrazy. But like any family, when nobodyelse understands them, they understandeach other.

“To be a submariner you have to be

31J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� USS Maine (SSBN 741) is the thirdand most survivable of America’s nucleartriad. Here, the boat transits the surface priorto submerging.


33J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� During night surface or periscope operations, submarines rig the control room for red tohelp maximize their night vision.

different,” said Murtha. “It takes a uniquemindset to handle being isolated frompeople, the sun and fresh air as long aswe are. Most people just can’t handle thethought of being underwater, butsubmariners never really think about it.We try to tell people that beingsubmerged at 400 feet is just like sittingon your couch in the living room, but Iguess they just can’t get past having thatmuch water above their heads.”

Murtha’s words go a long way inunderstanding why the submarinewarfare qualification process, the one andonly passage into the “Dolphin”-wearingbrotherhood, has always been mandatory.

“Earning your Dolphins is what signi-fies to the rest of the crew that you canand will be trusted with our lives,” saidElectronics Technician 2nd Class (SS)Joseph Brugeman. “I know everyoneaboard personally, and that level of famil-iarity allows me to trust them in a

casualty situation. I couldn’t imaginetrusting my life and the life of the boatwith anyone I didn’t know personally. Ifyou’re on my boat and you’re wearingDolphins, then I trust you, period. I don’tcare if you’re a yeoman, cook, missiletechnician or mechanic – I know you’vegot my back. It doesn’t get any more inti-mate than that.”

When a new Sailor reports aboard anysubmarine and gets his boat’s submarinewarfare qualification card, he’ll findblocks for pneumatics, hydraulics, sonarand even the weapons systems. What hewon’t find any signatures for is the verything that wearing Dolphins is all about– trust. But once you’re wearing them,trust is the one thing that rank and ratingknowledge can’t compare to.

“Wearing Dolphins means much morethan knowing how to draw all of theboat’s hydraulic, steam, electronic and airsystems,” said Culinary Specialist 3rd

Class (SS) Jeff Smith, the Blue Crew’snight baker. “It means more than beingable to explain how a drop of seawateroutside the boat makes it into your cupin the galley. No, wearing Dolphinsmeans that the crew trusts you to knowhow to save the boat regardless of thecasualty, and regardless of your rating orrank. Earning that trust makes you muchmore than a professional Sailor, it makesyou a member of the submarine family.”

Having a cook comment on theaspects of damage control may not be thequote of choice on most Navy ships, buton submarines, wearing Dolphins is allthat matters.

“On my boat,” said CDR RobertPalisin, Maine’s Blue Crew commandingofficer, “everyone is expected to knowhow to save the boat. We don’t discrimi-nate based on what your rating or evenyour rank is. My cooks should and doknow how to fight a fire in the engine

The Silent Service


� MT3 Colin Costello and MT3 Richard Mullins get some help on understandingmissile tube radiation monitoring panels from the missile compartment roving patrol, MT3Johnathan Pierce. Like all Navy jobs, qualifying for watchstations is a never-ending process.

room, just like my nuclear trainedmechanics are expected to know how toisolate a power supply if smoke comesfrom the sonar shack. Everyone on a submarine is the damage control party– everyone.”

Palisin was careful to explain thatdamage control is much more than justknowing what to do if something badhappens. It’s being confident enough inyour knowledge of the boat’s systems tospeak up if someone else on the crew isabout to make a mistake that affectsship’s safety.

“In the submarine force, we put anemphasis on being right more than whata Sailor’s rank might be, becauseeveryone aboard a submarine is expectedto be a backup to his shipmate,” saidPalisin. “Even I, as the captain of thisboat, would expect the most junior Sailorto jump up and down screaming his head

continued on page 38

35J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� Oxygen breathing apparatuses, orOBAs, are still used in the submarine fleet tofight casualties. Submarines, by nature of theirwatertight design, don’t take long to fill up withsmoke in the event of a fire, so providing alter-nate ways to breath are paramount to fightingany casualty that affects the boat’s internalatmosphere.

� In the submarine force, respect restsalmost solely on whether or not a Sailor hasearned his “Dolphins” – an outward sign that heis capable of fighting shipboard casualties andhelping to preserve the lives of his shipmates.

� Surface transits and periscope operations are some of the most dangerous evolutions a submarine completes. The control room, pictured here, is the busiest place on the boat, with bothperiscopes manned by the ship’s control party and constant communications between crew memberson the watch team, including members on top of the sail, or fairwater.

The Silent Service

� The terrorists attacks of Sept. 11,2001, also affected the elusive submarinefleet. Now when surfaced, submarines havearmed lookouts positioned in the sail of theboat to thwart any would-be surface-borneattackers.

A L L H A N D S • w w w . n e w s . n a v y . m i l36

37J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S The Silent Service

� For years the only “secrets” thatescaped from the submarine force were the

ones about the great meals they ate. Contrary torumors, the submarine force uses the same food

supplies as the rest of the fleet.

� Water-tight hatches separate the forward compartment from the missile compartment. Here, oncoming watch standerswait their turn for lunch, which is served in the galley, just forward of the water-tight doorpictured here.


S t o r y b y J O 2 C h a r l e s L . L u d w i g , p h o t o b y P H 3 T o d d F r a n t o m

Focus onService

The last thing a submariner wishes is to be noticed. In fact,

as a member of the “Silent Service” it is their job to go about

their business completely undetected.

Well, Electronics Technician 1st Class (SS) Gregory Migliore may

be a submariner, but his current duty at the U.S. Navy Submarine

Museum in Groton, Conn., has him striving to be on everyone’s radar.

In fact, as a tour guide assigned to the submarine-turned-museum,

ex-USS Nautilus (SSN 571), he has an obligation to be noticed by

tourists year round.

In serving out his shore rotation on Nautilus, the first nuclear-

powered submarine, Migliore is responsible for duties ranging from

making sure the museum is open on time to making sure tourists’

questions can be answered.

Migliore recognizes his latest mission has an ironic twist. “When

most of us were on boats, we would never deal with the public. Our

whole job was to make sure we were never seen,” he said. “Then we

come here and we have to deal with the public on a daily basis. It’s a

weird switch for me.”

But the change in task doesn’t go unaided. When a Sailor arrives

at the museum, he is inundated with public relations training. After

the first several weeks, a new tour guide should be able to answer

any tourist’s question without hesitation.

“We obviously want to make sure we represent the Navy well

when tourists are here,” Migliore said. “[Our officers] make sure we

get all the training we need in courtesy and Navy heritage. We are

schooled in answering the basic Navy questions people always ask.”

But, the training can’t save them every time.

“It gets tough sometimes, like when a little kid asks how nuclear

propulsion works,” said Migliore. “ It’s not a strange question, but

TOURGUIDE

41J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

it’s hard to answer when you put yourself in the mind of a little kid.

Trying to explain that to a little kid who’s still learning basic math

and science in a way he can understand is nothing easy.”

Basic submarine knowledge and Nautilus history is just one part

of making a good tour guide. Migliore, Nautilus’ current Sailor of the

Year, says personal appearance is just as important for the Sailors

serving at the museum.

“We’re the first ones people see here at Nautilus,” he said, “so we

need to constantly be squared away and looking our best. A lot of

people who come here don’t know much about the Navy, so their

perception of us is their first impression of Navy submariners and

Sailors. We need to make sure it’s a good one.”

And that idea is what seems to make Migliore most proud of

his job.

“I feel very excited about being able to show the submarine force

to people that have no idea about it or its history. It’s the silent ser-

vice, but it’s also a silent job because not many people know what

we do. I’m happy that I can help people understand everything at

least a little better.”

Ludwig and Frantom are photojournalists assigned to All Hands.

off if I made a mistake that endangeredthe ship. Our lives depend on knowingthat we can count on each other to watchour backs, to make sure the safety of theship is placed well ahead of rank or rate.”

Palisin, like all boat captains, makessure his crew knows how to fight anycasualty by constantly running casualtydrills throughout the boat’s deployment.After all, practice makes perfect, andwhen you have only yourselves to counton, being perfect is the only standardgood enough to keep you alive.

“We practice responding to casualties so much that we do it instinctively,” saidMM2(SS) Jim Crowson. “Our traininghas to be instinctive. Otherwise, we mightget scared first instead of responding ifthe real thing ever goes down. At 400 feet,there’s no time to be scared. I’m nottrying to sound macho–it’s just thereality of how to survive when all youmay have are seconds before the boat

sinks below crush depth.”Despite going to sea on a boat with no

windows, no fantail, no helipad or even ahatch to allow in some tension-breakingfresh salt air, submariners are still Sailorsat heart. These brothers all volunteer forsubmarine duty, and their commitment isno different than the Sailors on aircraftcarriers, cruisers or even tugboats. Theyjust make a few extra bucks (submarinespecial duty pay) doing it, which comesin handy when you have 154 brothers’birthdays to buy for.

They love their country, uphold theNavy’s Core Values of honor, courage andcommitment and want to make it backsafely from every deployment. As thesilent service, though, they’d just ratheryou didn’t talk about it.

Pinsky is a photojournalist assigned to

All Hands.


� Submariners, like all Sailors, enjoytheir leisure time when they have it. Playingcards and watching movies is a favorite pastimeon USS Maine.

� “Running boat casualty drills helps identify training deficiencies,” said USS Maine

Commanding Officer CMD Robert Palisin. “It’s also one of the most dangerous things we do on boardso we use drill monitors to both maximize the training during the drills and ensure the safety of the ship.”

continued from page 34

39J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� While underway, submariners wearsneakers instead of hard-soled shoes to

reduce noise levels that could alert an adversary to the ship’s location.

The Silent Service

� As roomy as a Trident submarine is compared to smaller attack boats – and the evensmaller diesel boats of yesteryear – space is still at a premium. Here, SN Cedric Bennett studiesship’s qualification notes with with CS2 Travanti Johnson at his rack. Johnson sleeps on a make-shift rack set between supply lockers on the missile compartment’s second level because theship’s standard berthing isn’t big enough to accommodate the entire crew.

Eye on the Fleet is a monthly photo feature sponsored by the Chief of Information

Navy Visual News Service. We are looking for high impact, quality photography

from Sailors in the fleet to showcase the American Sailor in action.

Eye on the Fleet


� AM3 Hezekiah Crandall uses an air-powered sander on the

intake of an F-14B Tomcat assigned to Fighter Squadron (VF) 143 in the hangar bay of USS George

Washington (CVN 73). P h o t o b y P H 1 B r i e n A h o

� A Sailor assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USSPort Royal (CG 73) hugs hiswife and son after a six-and-a-half month deployment as partof Expeditionary Strike Group(ESG) 1. Port Royal returnedfollowing Operations Enduring

Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

P h o t o b y J O S N R y a n M c G i n l e y

43

� Lee Kinsey, a mechanic and jackman for the Fitz-Bradshaw Racing Team, demonstrates the proper use of force prior to the pit stop scenario competition. The Navy NASCAR Team visited Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill., to experience recruit training and to attend a recent graduation review. P h o t o b y P H 1 M i c h a e l W o r n e r

To be considered, forward your high resolution (5"x 7" at 300 dpi) images with full credit and cutline

information, including full name, rank and duty station. Name all identifiable people within the photo and

include important information about what is happening, where the photo was taken and the date.

Commands with digital photo capability can send attached .jpg files to: [email protected]

Mail your submissions to:

Navy Visual News Service

1200 Navy Pentagon, Rm. 4B 514, Washington, D.C. 20350-1200

For a new Eye on the Fleet every day, click on the Navy NewsStand’s home page,

www.news.navy.mil, for fresh images of your shipmates in action.

� The color guard assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney

(DDG 91) stands at attention during a memorial service honoring three Pinckney Sailors who were killed in a bus accident March 12. More than 40 other Sailors were injured when the bus in which they were traveling

collided with a truck about 20 miles north of Beaufort, S.C. P h o t o b y J O 2 C h r i s t a l B a i l e y

� A Sailor assigned to theArleigh Burke-class destroyerUSS Roosevelt (DDG 80) tossesa forward line to Sailors aboardthe fast-attack submarine USS Toledo (SSN 769) during a small boat transferevolution using a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB). P h o t o b y P H 2 M i c h a e l S a n d b e r g


� A member of Mobile Security Squadron 7 mans an M-60, 7.62mm machine gun during urban terrorism training in Barrigada, Guam. Mobile Security Squadron7 personnel are trained to protect designated DOD high-value assets against terrorist attacks in locationswhere U.S force protection infrastructure does notexist or requires augmentation. P h o t o b y P H 2 N a t h a n a e l M i l l e r

Eye on the Fleet

� AW2 Zane Morton is hoisted up toan SH-60B Seahawk assigned to

Helicopter Anti-Submarine SquadronLight (HSL) 45 during a late afternoon

training operation. P h o t o b y L T J G J e f f V a l d e s

45J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

� HM3 Keith Griffin rappels from a UH-3H Sea King during a simulated Search andRescue (SAR) exercise. Griffin’s mission,

as part of a SAR unit, is to locate strandedvictims and bring them to safety.

P h o t o b y P H A N C h r i s O t s e n

� ABH2 Reuben Nicholson watches an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Strike FighterSquadron (VFA) 131 as it comes in for an arrested landing aboard USS George

Washington (CVN 73).

P h o t o b y P H A N J e s s i c a D a v i s

� Two members of the U.S. Navy's "Leap Frogs" parachute team descend into San Diego's Petco Park aspart of opening ceremonies for the San Diego Padres'Military Appreciation Day.

P h o t o b y P H A N M e l i s s a V a n d e r w y s t

46

We Are Getting Into a F

ight

“We of the Western Nav

al Task Force are goin

g to land in France.

From the battleships t

o landing craft, ours

is in the main, an

American Force. We all

have the same mission

— to smash our way on

to

the beaches and throug

h the coastal defenses

, into the heart of th

e

enemy’s fortress.

“In two ways the comin

g battle differs from

any that we have

undertaken before: It

demands more seamanshi

p and more fighting. W

e

must operate in the wa

ters of the English Ch

annel and the French

coast, in strong curre

nts and 20-foot tides.

We must destroy an en

emy

defensive system that

has been four years in

the making, and our

enemy will throw his w

hole remaining strengt

h.

“These are not beaches

held by an apathetic

enemy or defended by

hasty fortifications.

These are prepared pos

itions held by Germans

,

who have learned from

past failures. They ha

ve coastal batteries a

nd

minefields; they have

bombers and E-boats an

d submarines. They wil

l

try to use them all. W

e are getting into a f

ight.

“But, it is not we who

have to fear the outc

ome. As the German

has learned from failu

re, we have learned fr

om success. To this

battle we bring our te

sted methods, with man

y new weapons and over

-

whelming strength. Tid

es and currents presen

t a challenge which,

forewarned we know how

to meet. It is the en

emy who is afraid.

“In this force there a

re battleships, cruise

rs and destroyers.

There are hundreds of

landing ships and craf

t, scores of patrol an

d

escort vessels, dozens

of special assault cr

aft. Every man in ever

y

ship has his job. And

these tens of thousand

s of men and jobs add

up

to one task only — to

land and support and s

upply and reinforce th

e

finest Army ever sent

to battle by the Unite

d States.

“In that task we shall

not fail. I await wit

h confidence the

further proof, in this

, the greatest battle

of them all, that this

,

that American Sailors

and seamen and fightin

g men are second to no

ne.”

RADM Alan G. Kirk, commander of U.S. Naval Assault Forces,

issued this statement to his command, June 5 1944.

A L L H A N D S • w w w . n e w s . n a v y . m i l

Eye on HistoryEye on History is a monthly photo feature sponsored by the Naval Historical Center.

For more photos pertaining to naval history, go to www.history.navy.mil .

47J U N E 2 0 0 4 • A L L H A N D S

Editor’s Note: At midnight, June 5, 1944, 6,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft participating in Operation Overlord began moving toward their targets,the beaches along the Normandy Coast of France. By 1 a.m the first air-borne and glider-borne troops reached Normandy. At approximately 6:30a.m., 14,000 rockets were fired to provide cover for the Allied tanks andpersonnel that came ashore on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

� June 6, 1944

“D-Day” beach traffic, photographed froma 9th Air Force bomber.

� June 6, 1944

Troops crouch inside an LCVP just before landing on“Omaha” beach on “D-Day,”.

� June 10, 1944

LCVPs operate off the Normandy coast.USS LCI-321 is at left.

� June 10, 1944

Ferry RHF-14 lands vehicles on “O” Beach.In the background are USS LST 502 and

HMS LCT 562.

U.S. Navy Photos Courtesy of

the Naval Historical Center


The Final Word

This Is Not a DrillS t o r y b y J 0 2 C h a r l e s L . L u d w i g

Iadmit it. I was wrong. When I was a kid, I was always told to

“practice the way you play.”

As a child, I, like many others my age, was passed this time-

honored cornerstone of work ethic while I was playing for various

youth-league sports teams. I can still hear all my sports coaches

attempting to hammer it into my then-tiny head.

One problem – I never

believed it. Maybe I was a little

hard-headed, or maybe just a

slight bit more dim-witted than

most, but I would always move

at near half-speed when I wasn’t

working on the “real thing.”

It’s a good thing I wasn’t one

of the emergency responders

participating in a Navy

Medicine Office of Homeland

Security-led disaster training

exercise at Naval Hospital (NH)

Charleston March 12. There was

no room for half-speed that day,

as practice quickly turned into a

real-life crisis.

The exercise, part of the two-

year-old Disaster Preparedness, Vulnerability Analysis, Training

and Exercise program, was only an hour old when the group’s

undertakings were interrupted by a new assignment from CAPT

Susan Widhalm, NH Charleston’s commanding officer.

The mission: to support NH Beaufort’s response to a bus

accident that killed three Sailors and injured more than 40 others.

“This is not a drill,” Widhalm announced to the 55 exercise

participants. After explaining the situation involving personnel

from PCU Pinckney (DDG 91), the exercise halted, allowing

responders to place calls and/or depart for response activities.

Pinckney’s Sailors, more than 200 of them, were on their way to

a wreath-laying ceremony at Beaufort National Cemetery in

honor of their ship’s namesake when the bus collided with an

oncoming truck.

Now, it’s at this point that I would have been in trouble. My

half-speed sensibilities would have been too much to overcome.

Confused and disoriented, I think I would have been completely

lost at that point.

But the emergency responders weren’t lost. After receiving the

call for assistance, a handful of the exercise’s personnel started

applying the very skills they were training up on just moments before.

For NH Charleston, this

meant a rush to provide support

by shifting available blood

products to NH Beaufort, along

with mobilizing disaster mental

health services and planning to

assist in caring for the deceased.

Services were immediately

mobilized to provide assistance

to the family members of the

victims. They were prepared

where many others, including

myself, would have been at a loss.

After 13 of the 55 emergency

workers set out for assistance,

Widhalm and the remaining

training group completed

the training.

“Their level of readiness was remarkable,” said CDR Mary

Chaffee, director, Navy Medicine Office of Homeland Security.

“The hospital’s ability to proceed with the exercise, while also

providing support to an actual event, demonstrated the

exceptional capability of the hospital and community team. We

were there to evaluate their emergency response plans, and our

team was very impressed.”

In all, their efforts helped more than 40 Sailors start traveling

on their personal road to recovery. And it led at least one Navy

journalist to look within himself to find a few words of regret for

things he hadn’t learned in the past.

Sorry, coach, you were right.

Ludwig is a photojournalist assigned to All Hands.

But, he’s up to the challenge of being a...

... are you?

hisRecruiter

warned himit would beTough.

hisRecruiter

warned himit would beTough.

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