Navy News Service 63/94 -- 19 Oct 94

[Navy News Service]

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NAVY NEWS SERVICE - 19 OCT 94 - NAVNEWS 063/94
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR NAVNEWS 063/94
Top News and Policy Stories
NNS691. Navy to Make First South African Port Visits in 27 Years
Personnel Notes
NNS692. Uniform Changes Available on BUPERS Access
NNS693. VADM Stockdale Awardees Honored
NNS694. Mess Management Specialist Rating Restructured
NNS695. Making Sure the Buck Stops Here
Around the Fleet
NNS696. Notable Quotable: Dwayne Brown, NASA deputy news chief
NNS697. Salute to Excellence: Kitty Hawk Heroes Honored
NNS698. Hospitalman Suffers Severe Burns in Explosion
NNS699. SEALs Compete in "Raid Gauloises"
NNS700. ESWS Conning Officers Take USS T. S. Gates Through Suez
NNS701. Live-Fire Training Goes High Tech
NNS702. Last Female Recruits Pass in Review at Orlando NTC
NNS703. Vice President Honors Charleston Commands
NNS704. Sixth Fleet Sailors Make Russian Liberty Calls
NNS705. SERE Schools to Consolidate
NNS706. This Week in the Navy: Oct. 20, 1944
Short Splices
NNS707. Naval Academy Deputy Commandant Receives Football Honor
NNS708. Navy-Marine Corps News
-USN-
Top News and Policy Stories
NNS691. Navy to Make First South African Port Visits in 27 Years
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Two U.S. Navy warships are scheduled to visit
Capetown and Simonstown Nov. 8 to 14, the first stops at South
African ports in 27 years. The last visit by a U.S. Navy warship
to South Africa was USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt (CVA 42) in
February 1967.
During the visits, crewmembers from USS Gettysburg (CG 64) and
USS Halyburton (FFG 40) will participate in various events to
commemorate the South African Armistice Day, including several
sporting activities designed to promote goodwill.
USS Gettysburg is commanded by CAPT Peter R. Smith and is
homeported in Mayport, Fla. USS Halyburton is commanded by CDR
Robert D. Reilly and is homeported in Charleston, S.C.
-USN-
Personnel Notes
NNS692. Uniform Changes Available on BUPERS Access
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The latest changes to the Navy's uniform
regulations are available on BUPERS Access.
The latest change, effective Oct. 8, is an interim change to
uniform regulations and will be officially promulgated by a future
BUPERSNOTE. Once the change is downloaded from BUPERS Access, it
may be incorporated into the uniform regulations manual.
The new change permits women to wear multiple braids or corn
rows as long as the hairstyles are conservative and permit the
proper wearing of military headgear. Hairstyles must allow the
proper wearing of protective masks and equipment.
More information is available on BUPERS Access at 1-800-346-
0217 or 1-800-762-8567 and is located on the non-detailer forum
under Navy uniform matters.
By LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs.
-USN-
NNS693. VADM Stockdale Leadership Awardees Honored
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Two officers were awarded the VADM James Bond
Stockdale Leadership Award for excellence in leadership. CAPT
Robert Massey from Covington, Tenn. and CDR Robert Jenkins from
Mobile, Ala. received the prestigious award in an Oct. 17 ceremony
hosted by the Chief of Naval Operations ADM Mike Boorda.
"This award is about plain old-fashioned caring leadership,"
said ADM Boorda. "That's what this award is all about and you two
(CAPT Massey and CDR Jenkins) are being recognized for that."
VADM Stockdale, USN, (Ret.), the award's namesake, presented
the award to the two officers for their inspirational leadership,
ability to motivate subordinates and enforcement of superior
military standards.
The award was created in 1981 to recognize commanding officers
who demonstrated the unique ability to inspire those they command.
The award is presented to a winner from the Pacific and Atlantic
Fleet and is unique in the fact that nominations are submitted by
peers of the commanding officer and not by the chain of command.
CAPT Massey, the Pacific Fleet winner, is currently Assistant
Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans on the staff of the
Commander, Amphibious Group Three and former commanding officer of
USS Bristol County (LST 1198). Under his command, USS Bristol
County earned the Humanitarian Service Medal for relief operations
on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, following Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
CDR Jenkins, the Atlantic Fleet winner, is currently assigned
to the Surface Warfare Division on the OPNAV staff in Washington.
As commanding officer of USS McInerney (FFG 8), he led the ship
through a most challenging deployment to the Middle East. During
Maritime Interdiction Operations, USS McInerney set the standard
and performed at the highest optempo of any ship in the region.
By LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs
-USN-
NNS694. Mess Management Specialist Rating Restructured
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- To balance advancement opportunities, stateroom
maintenance on large ships is being shifted from Mess Management
Specialists (MS) back to Food Service Attendants (FSA).
When the responsibilities for stateroom maintenance was
transferred from FSAs to MSs in 1985 on large ships such as CVs,
CVNs, LHAs, LPHs, LCCs, AGFs, ADs and ASs, the change had the
unintended effect of lowering advancement opportunities for first
term MS personnel. This happened because the large numbers of
junior MSs that were needed on the ships resulted in a pool of
personnel for whom there were no billets for advancement.
The large ships will not change current manning levels but
will see a change in the mix of FSAs and MSs assigned to the supply
division handling stateroom maintenance. Other ships are not
affected by the change.
More information is available in NAVADMIN 195/94.
By LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs
-USN-
NNS695. Making Sure the Buck Stops Here
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- An enlisted community manager (ECM) at the
Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) got a phone call recently from
an Aviation Electronic Technician (AT). The AT was checking on his
and a shipmate's early retirement requests. The ECM was unable to
locate the requests, but wanted to stop the buck. Here is what he
did:
- Called Enlisted Personnel Management Center (EPMAC), which
could not locate the requests either.
- Called the ship's commanding officer to verify the
requests and to ask for a fax of the worksheets.
- Coordinated with Pers-27, the Retirement Division at BUPERS,
which manually entered the two requests.
The following morning, both requests were on detailers' desks.
Not all inputs can be done manually, but if there is a
problem, a hand from a "teammate" helps. BUPERS is ready to help
Sailors find solutions to problems. Just call and ask.
By LT Dan Bates, BUPERS Public Affairs
-USN-
Around the Fleet
NNS696. Notable Quotable: "On the flight back, I reflected on how
I admire these men and women even more after seeing their daily
routine. Most work 12-hour shifts and live with the constant
rumbling of planes taking off, pipes clanking and engines
throbbing. Below deck, there are no windows and little privacy.
Watching these men and women work is an impressive sight,
especially when you realize most of those operating the multi-
million dollar equipment are 19- to 22-year-olds." -- Dwayne Brown,
NASA official after a visit aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).
-USN-
Salute to Excellence
NNS697. Kitty Hawk Heroes Honored
YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- Five Sailors aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63)
were presented the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for heroism by
Secretary of the Navy, John Dalton, Oct. 15, during a port visit to
Yokosuka, Japan. The award stemmed from the Sailors' heroism
during a flight deck emergency on July 11.
Late that evening, an F-14 fighter jet struck the ramp of USS
Kitty Hawk's flight deck and exploded, turning the deck into a sea
of flames and wreckage. Into this landed the jet's pilot, who,
along with his radar intercept officer, had ejected seconds after
impact.
Without regard for their own safety, five USS Kitty Hawk
flight deck personnel -- Chief Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Aircraft
Handling) Leroy Danielly, Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Aircraft
Handling) First Classes Larry Spradlin and Tim Goode, Aviation
Boatswain's Mate (Aircraft Handling) Second Class Jose Dickson and
Aviation Electronics Technician Second Class Brandon Liesemeyer --
immediately advanced into the flames, rescuing the pilot and
extinguishing the fire.
Their prompt and courageous action in the face of great
personal risk not only saved the life of the pilot but also
prevented the spreading of a fire with enormous destructive
potential.
-USN-
NNS698. Hospitalman Suffers Severe Burns in Explosion
FORT A.P. HILL, Va. (NNS) -- A hospitalman serving with the Marines
of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit carried out the finest
traditions of the Navy, Navy medicine and the hospital corps when
an explosion rocked his unit during a routine demolition training
exercise at the U.S. Army Fort A.P. Hill in southern Virginia on
Oct. 12.
Hospitalman Michael J. Thomson, assigned to the Division
Surgeon Office, received second and third degree burns over 40
percent of his body during the incident. Until local paramedics
arrived, Thomson ignored his own injuries to attend to others who
were wounded.
Two Marines were killed in the explosion, and seven Marines
and one Sailor, Thomson, were injured. The injured Marines were
evacuated to a local hospital for treatment. Thomson was flown by
helicopter to the burn unit of the Medical College of Virginia in
Richmond, Va., where his prognosis is good. The Chief of Naval
Operations, ADM Mike Boorda, called Thomson to check on his
recovery and to wish him well.
-USN-
NNS699. SEALs to Compete in "Raid Gauloises"
CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) -- Three Navy SEALs are undergoing an
adventure in the South Pacific as part of the five-member Team
American Pride, participating in an international sports event
considered the ultimate race, the Raid Gauloises. The race began
Oct. 17 and continues for about 10 days or until all teams have
either withdrawn or completed the race.
The SEALs are Chief Boatswain's Mates Pat Harwood and Rick
Holman, and Boatswain's Mate First Class Bruce Schliemann,
instructors at the Basic Underwater Demolition and SEALs training
facility in Coronado, Calif.
The team will be challenged on a race course in Borneo which
has endless jungles, grottos, huge rivers and mountains. One
change in the race this year is an underground segment through
caves. This race will plunge the groups of men and women into
another world for nine days to survive...and survive as a team.
All five members must cross the finish line together.
-USN-
NNS700. ESWS Conning Officers Take USS T. S. Gates Through Suez
ABOARD USS THOMAS S. GATES (NNS) -- After a month of operations in
the Northern Arabian Sea, USS Thomas S. Gates (CG 51), homeported
in Norfolk, began her Suez Canal transit back to the Mediterranean.
What made this transit unique was that every conning officer during
the canal transit was an enlisted surface warfare specialist.
On Sept. 29, Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician (Surface
Warfare) Don Strausser assumed the duties as conning officer, the
first of fifteen enlisted surface warriors to conn the ship through
the Suez Canal. Throughout the 10-hour transit, enlisted Sailors
conned USS Thomas S. Gates through every course and speed change.

"Being a quartermaster, I'm on the bridge a lot," said
Quartermaster 2nd Class (Surface Warfare) Roy Webster. "This is
the first time I've ever conned. It's something I'll never
forget."
"The conning officer is usually a commissioned officer, but I
wanted to give some of the Sailors who have worked so hard to get
ESWS qualified a chance to drive the ship," said CAPT B. L. Lewis,
commanding officer. "As one might expect, every one of them
sounded, looked and performed like a professional."
- USN -
NNS701. Live-Fire Training Goes High Tech
ABOARD USS GUAM (NNS) -- During a recent live-fire training
exercise, Marines from Dragons Platoon Weapons Company, Battalion
Landing Team (BLT) 3/2, 26 Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Special
Operations Capable (SOC), scored direct hits on several targets.
What was unique about this training was that it was conducted in
the hangar deck of USS Guam (LPH 9) via a new computer training
system.
"The system consists of several programs that simulate combat
situations with various armored threats that are generated onto a
television screen to which a dragon missile system is connected,"
said SSGT Robert Thompson, section leader for the Dragons Platoon.
While aboard USS Guam, the Marines of Dragon Platoon use the system
to keep their firing skills sharp.
"It helps me out very much," said CPL Rodney Bolton, dragons
gunner. "The scenarios are very realistic and it provides good
hands-on training with our dragons missile system."
-USN-
NNS702. Last Female Recruits Pass in Review at Orlando NTC
ORLANDO, Fla. (NNS) -- The last company of female Navy recruits
passed in review at Naval Training Center (NTC), Orlando, Fla.,
Oct. 14, ending 21 years of female recruit training there.
The Recruit Training Command (RTC) at NTC was ordered closed
by the Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1993. All female
recruits now will be trained at RTC, Great Lakes, Ill.
In 1973, Orlando became the sole site of recruit training for
female enlisted Sailors. Prior to this, women had been trained at
a female-only boot camp in Bainbridge, Md. The move to Orlando
created the first co-located recruit training site for both men and
women.
RTC Orlando, will graduate its last class of male recruits on
Dec. 2, and will be decommissioned in March 1995.
-USN-
NNS703. Vice President Honors Charleston Commands
CHARLESTON, S.C. (NNS) -- Two Charleston, S.C., Navy commands were
recently honored as "heroes of reinvention." Naval Hospital
Charleston received the coveted vice presidential Hammer Award for
their efforts in improving customer service while streamlining
costs, while the Charleston Naval Base Closure Office received an
honorable mention.
Vice President Al Gore's Hammer Award is a symbolic, framed,
$6.00 hammer and individual hammer lapel pins that signify that
every federal employee is capable of building a new kind of
government -- one that works better and costs less. The Hammer
Awards recognize special achievements in at least one of four main
themes of reinventing governments: improving customer service,
cutting red tape, empowering employees or getting back to basics.
Charleston is one of 72 sites around the country where the
awards will be presented through the end of October.
-USN-
NNS704. Sixth Fleet Sailors Make Russian Liberty Calls
GAETA, Italy (NNS) -- "If you told me 10 years ago that I'd visit
Ukraine and Russia, I never would have believed it," said Fireman
Apprentice Clint J. Chapel. Along with his shipmates aboard USS
Belknap (CG 26), flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, Chapel visited
two places never before officially visited by U.S. Sailors --
Odessa, Ukraine; and Novorossiysk, Russia.
During the two historic port visits, more than 30,000 people
came out to take a closer look and tour the guided-missile cruiser.
American Sailors were overwhelmed by the number of people who
visited and by something they had never experienced before,
hundreds of people asking for their autographs.
"I'm a fanatic of the U.S. Navy," exclaimed Dmitriy Lazarev, a
Ukrainian third-year student at Odessa State Economic University.
"I'm curious about the technology and the life of an American
Sailor."
"I think these visits made everybody feel special," said
Electronics Technician Third Class Zorian Shimanov, an American
Sailor who was born in Kiev, Ukraine. "It was like being a
superstar, with all those people wanting your autograph. They
wanted a little part of America to keep as a souvenir."
- USN -
NNS705. SERE Schools to Consolidate
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- As part of an ongoing effort to increase
training efficiency, save dwindling Department of Defense resources
and reduce infrastructure, the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force
plan to consolidate Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE)
training for aircrew personnel.
When the program is fully consolidated in fiscal year 1996,
more than 5,200 aircrew will be trained in SERE annually at
Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state. Of those, more than
2,500 aircrew passing through the training will be Navy and Marine
Corps personnel.
The training is given to aircrew personnel who may find
themselves in a situation with a relatively high risk of capture or
a greater than average risk of exploitation by a captor. The
primary recipients of the training will be high-risk mission, fixed
wing and helicopter air crews.
Navy and Marine Corps SERE training is currently conducted at
Naval Air Station, North Island, Calif.; Naval Air Station,
Brunswick, Maine; and Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla.
The implementation cost of the consolidation is estimated at
$1.5 million with an annual cost savings estimated at $1.5 million
when completed.
-USN-
NNS706. This Week in the Navy: Oct. 20, 1944 -- U.S. forces
returned to the Philippines in an amphibious assault of Leyte
Island.
-USN-
Short Splices
NNS707. Naval Academy Deputy Commandant Receives Football Honor
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (NNS) -- Naval Academy Deputy Commandant Marine COL
Charles F. Bolden, a former NASA astronaut, has been selected to
receive the 29th Distinguished American Award given by the National
Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame.
This award is presented on special occasions to an outstanding
American who has maintained a lifetime of interest in football and
who has, over a long period of time, made a significant
contribution to the betterment of amateur football.
-USN-
NNS708. Navy-Marine Corps News
The Oct. 21 edition of Navy-Marine Corps News -- a videotaped
newscast generated for broadcast to Navy-Marine Corps fleet and
shore units -- includes the following stories:
-- Navy/Marine Corps Forces Stand Ready to Protect Kuwait
-- Philadelphia Shipyard Works to Finish USS John F. Kennedy
-- Baseball Star Jose Canseco Visits Children in Gitmo Cuban Camps
-- Camp Lejuene Marines Demonstrate Fighting Skills in Capex '94
-- Marine Expeditionary Units Train for Mountain Assaults
-- German U-Boat Opens its Hatch for Icelandic and U.S. Visitors
-- WVEC-TV Norfolk Tells How Navy is Improving its Maternity Wards
-- Remodeled Fitness Center in Norfolk Helps Sailors Stay Fit
-- Tips on How to Keep Your Kids Safe for Halloween
-- Marine Corps Commandant Celebrates Marine Corps Birthday
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-USN-
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-USN-
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