Month: August 2022

Source: United States Navy

The event comes just months before the ship’s 29th commissioning anniversary. Hundreds gathered in the August heat to celebrate the ship’s distinguished history and military service. Capt. Constantine Xefteris, Vella Gulf’s first commanding officer, went back to the beginning, addressing the many plankowners on hand.

“In 1993, every officer, every chief, every Sailor wanted to be on an Aegis cruiser,” said Xefteris. “It was the finest, most lethal ship in the world. Aegis cruisers set the standard for performance and everyone knew it.”

Following several Xefteris sea stories illuminating the ship’s early days, Rear Adm. Brendan McLane, commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic, lauded the crews, both current and former, for their hard work, dedication and setting the standard over the years.

“In 2020 the Vella Gulf crew completed perhaps the most challenging deployment of the ship’s career, deploying to the Middle East and Europe with the USS Eisenhower Strike Group during Covid,” said McLane.

“The crew spent 205 days underway,” he continued. “Vella Gulf’s crew proved their mettle on that deployment, embodying self-sufficiency, grit and warrior toughness by staying on station, despite the immense challenges. Nobody came out. Nobody left.

“As we enter an era of strategic competition, the example and lessons of Vella Gulf will guide us in meeting the challenges.”

Vella Gulf’s current Commanding Officer, Capt. Mike P. Desmond, spoke of the powerful bond between Sailors and their ships and the lives forged aboard. His words resonated with the audience as they bade farewell to the cruiser.

“Decommissioning conjures up a broad spectrum of emotions, as different as the backgrounds of the Sailors who have called Vella Gulf home away from home,” said Desmond. “Vella Gulf was as temperamental as can be, but when all systems were operating as designed, she was perhaps the most reliable, capable and lethal warship on the planet.”

The ceremony atmosphere was one of fond remembrance as Desmond shared a compilation of stories and memories created over Vella Gulf’s nearly three decades of service, inviting shared laughter from the crews and their families.

Plank owner and retired Chief Warrant Officer William Calhoun was sad but happy to be witness to his ship’s final moments in commissioned service, having been there at the beginning.

“You work hard and do everything you need to do and then when you finally get to see it sail and go out there it’s great,” said Calhoun. “The people that you meet onboard doing the rigorous work of bringing it to life are fantastic. That’s an experience you would like everyone to go through.

“The decommissioning part is the sad part but also joyous, as well, because you get to reconnect. It’s like a family reunion.”

Sailors from all eras of the ship’s life were on hand to see their ship decommissioned. Cryptologic Technician (Collection) 1st class Federick Bickleman was proud to have served aboard.

“Decommissioning ceremonies give former crew members the chance to come together and celebrate the deployments and the yard periods, all aspects of the ship’s life,” said Bickleman. “I served aboard four and a half years, did three deployments and I wouldn’t change a thing. It means a lot to me.”

Vella Gulf was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and commissioned in Norfolk, Va., Sept. 18, 1993.

The ship was named in commemoration of the World War II Battle of Vella Gulf, which was fought in the area surrounding the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean from Aug. 6-7, 1943. The battle saw six American destroyers successfully disrupt the Imperial Japanese Navy’s supply lines without taking a single casualty or damage from enemy fire. It was a decisive victory for the United States.

The Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser is the second U.S. Navy warship to be named for the battle following the Commencement Bay-class escort carrier USS Vella Gulf (CVE 111). The first Vella Gulf was commissioned on April 9, 1945 and with the war over, the ship decommissioned on Aug. 9, 1946.

Over its 29 years of service, the cruiser has been an important part of America’s national defense strategy.

In 1999, the crew participated in NATO strikes against Serbia in an effort to stop government-sanctioned human rights abuses against ethnic Albanians in the Kosovo region.

In 2001, Vella Gulf answered the call, taking part in the national effort to provide homeland defense for the country’s northeastern region immediately following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. The crew supported air traffic control efforts as the air defense commander, controlling protocols for an area spanning from Boston to Washington D.C.

In 2009, the ship led a task force responsible for curbing anti-piracy efforts off the Horn of Africa. During its mission, CG 72 responded to a distress call from the merchant vessel Polaris, a 420-foot tanker that was under attack. Vella Gulf’s intervention led to the pirates arrest and made the region safer for shipping.

In 2017, the Vella Gulf joined Carrier Strike Group 11. During its assignment, it supported strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

The ceremony marks the first of five cruisers set to be decommissioned this year. Inactivation is a normal part of a warship’s lifecycle. After decommissioning, the ship is slated to be towed Oct. 11 to the Navy’s Inactive Ship’s facility in Philadelphia, Pa., where it will be in a Logistical Support Asset status.

“She has served her crews and her nation well, and rightfully takes her place among the ships that, for well over 200 years, have played an indispensable role in protecting the United States of America and serving her strategic interests across the world.” concluded Desmond.

“This ship and her crews will forever share a proud and lasting legacy.”

Source: United States Navy

The eight interns from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, gained early exposure to the EDO community — which many midshipmen aren’t aware of — as they shadowed NSWC PHD officers, interacted with civilian engineers, and toured ships and facilities over the course of four weeks.

“Port Hueneme Division is a pretty big hub for the EDO community,” said Lt. Cmdr. Travis Lippman, a department officer at NSWC PHD. “By coming out here, the midshipmen can start to better understand the EDO career path and our role in Test and Evaluation, as well as being the In-Service Engineering Agent for combat systems aboard surface vessels.”

The first four midshipmen interns, who arrived at the command at the end of May, said they gained valuable insight into how EDOs and other technical experts at NSWC PHD support the fleet.

Career path

EDOs are career naval officers with advanced degrees who provide technical and business leadership to the fleet in areas such as design, acquisition, construction, maintenance and modernization. After completing a surface or submarine warfare qualification, officers can become EDOs upon commissioning or through a mid-career lateral transfer.

EDOs typically rotate between working as program managers within different program offices and taking on field leadership opportunities. Lippman said this allows them to develop professionally and understand the full scope of a program — overseeing the cost, schedule and performance aspects from the program office side, and actively supporting the testing and sustainment of systems from the organization charged with the work.

Lt. Zachary Braida, a readiness officer at NSWC PHD, described EDOs as “a very niche community” charged with great responsibility, with some 800 officers managing about 60% of the Navy’s budget. Because of the relatively small number of officers, he said, “there are not a lot of people to talk to about the EDO path” for midshipmen who are exploring career options — which is where NSWC PHD comes in.

Shifting gears

All of the midshipmen who interned at the command this summer are studying engineering disciplines, including robotics and control, mechanical, aeronautical and ocean engineering. Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) is sponsoring the internship.

Last year, NSWC PHD hosted four midshipmen, most of whom worked on projects with the command’s research and technology transition department. Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Jett, a department officer at NSWC PHD, said that this summer’s shift in focus to learning about the EDO community stemmed from feedback from PEO IWS.

“This year’s internship focused on providing an overview of all the different work across the command, rather than utilizing the project format that we tried out last year,” Jett said.

Allison Webster-Giddings, a PEO IWS research engineer in the Weapons, Robotics and Control Engineering Department at the Naval Academy, serves as faculty sponsor for the NSWC PHD-hosted internship. Midshipmen applied in January, and Webster-Giddings selected eight candidates — twice as many as last year — based on both academic and professional performance. She said that this year’s internship has two key goals.

“One is to increase the midshipmen’s understanding of the engineering duty officer in supporting the warfighter,” Webster-Giddings said. “The other goal is to help them understand what the engineering design process looks like in the Navy. That’s important, because all of our midshipmen on this internship are engineering majors.”

To meet those goals, a group of officers at NSWC PHD developed a four-week itinerary for the midshipmen to witness the work of the EDO community.

EDO experience

Along with Jett, Lippman and Braida, the officers at NSWC PHD who planned this summer’s internship itinerary included Lt. Cmdr. Levi Jones, a department officer, and Lt. Matthew Bogue, Self Defense Test Ship officer.

Throughout June, the officers gave the first four midshipmen interns an up-close look at key facilities and activities at NSWC PHD. That included tours of the Self Defense Test Ship, the Underway Replenishment training facility, the Mission Package Support Facility and the Surface Warfare Engineering Facility. The interns also visited several of the command’s laboratories, including Fathomwerx Lab at the Port of Hueneme and the Directed Energy Systems Integration Laboratory at Point Mugu.

Midshipman 2nd Class (junior) Alyse Ray of Lewes, Delaware, and Midshipman 2nd Class Daniel Wall of Tucson, Arizona, both robotics and control engineering majors at the Naval Academy, said they were interested to learn how NSWC PHD uses 3D printing to provide parts for ships and meet other needs.

“I gained an appreciation for the behind-the-scenes operations of the Navy — seeing all the working parts behind the curtain,” Wall said. “Everyone has their mission, and all of them come together to form the big picture.”

The midshipmen also spent a day shadowing NSWC PHD’s department officers to observe their work as EDOs. For example, Ray followed Lippman as he took part in a Test and Evaluation status meeting, a command update brief and an Executive Steering Group meeting that covered management topics.

Shadowing department officers was an eye-opener for Midshipman 2nd Class Carter Weymouth of New York City, who is a robotics and control engineering major.

“I didn’t know much about the EDO community (before the internship),” Weymouth said. “Getting to shadow people and see what they do on a day-to-day basis was really interesting for me.”

Midshipman 2nd Class Nick Aown, an ocean engineering major from Boyne City, Michigan, said that the internship at NSWC PHD combined his academic interest in engineering with his military interest in supporting Navy surface vessels and their weapons systems.

“This was a really cool opportunity to learn about a community that we don’t get much exposure to at the Naval Academy,” Aown said. “I think I still ultimately want to be a Marine officer, but I’m very happy to have had this experience.”

Even if the midshipmen interns end up not choosing the EDO path, Lippman said that what they learned and saw at NSWC PHD will help them in their naval careers.

Broad benefits

Beyond learning about the EDO community, the internship at NSWC PHD exposed midshipmen to the role of civilians in the Navy. According to Lippman, this is an important lesson for any naval officer.

“It wasn’t until much later in my career that I truly understood how many proud civilians — who are all about the mission — it takes to support the Navy,” he said. “For the midshipmen coming to Port Hueneme Division where we have nearly 3,000 civilians, it’s a tremendous opportunity. The result will be more commissioned officers who have a better understanding of the civilian footprint and how vital it is to the success of the Navy.”

For NSWC PHD, one of the advantages of hosting the internship was increasing awareness of how the command supports the fleet.

“There’s a benefit to informing the midshipmen what we do and giving them contact cards — that can start to pay dividends,” Lippman said. “They might go out in the fleet and talk to other junior officers, and all of a sudden we have junior officers who know about the 24/7 help desk at Port Hueneme, and they’re emailing us to see how we can support them.”

Braida added that the internship was also an opportunity to attract talented officers for the command’s EDO billets.

“Even if one of the midshipmen comes to work here, that would be a successful interaction,” Braida said.

The next four midshipmen interns arrived at NSWC PHD in late June. For four weeks in late June and July, they followed an itinerary similar to what the first four midshipmen experienced, with command overviews, facility and ship tours, and officer shadowing.

Source: United States Navy

Z-gram 116, an all-Navy message from then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Jr., was released on Aug. 7, 1972, and announced the establishment of a task force to review laws, policies, and regulations necessary to eliminate inequities and open opportunities for women in the Navy.

The CNO message directed the Navy to take nine concrete steps to eliminate inequities and open opportunities for women in the Navy. These steps included the entry of women into all ratings, opening midshipman opportunities at all NJROTC campuses, and offering women various paths to flag rank. Finally, Zumwalt directed that women be afforded the opportunity to command ashore and to serve aboard ships at sea.

During the port visit, Frank Cable hosted discussions with Indian naval officers on the submarine tender’s expeditionary repair, rearm, and resupply capabilities and efforts to support improved platform interoperability. The visit strengthened the cooperation and interoperability between the two countries’ navies.

The ship tour offered the students an opportunity to learn about the U.S. Navy and to speak with female service members assigned to the ship. In total, nine women from Frank Cable’s crew participated in the day’s events, providing a tour of the ship and engaging in discussions about leadership and empowerment.

“I think the impact of our visit is two-fold,” said Chief Logistics Specialist Vivian Gapith, from the island of Yap, of the Federated States of Micronesia. “We have our mission for the Navy and the ship, but it’s also for them; for them to see us – and the prevalence of females in diverse jobs in the U.S. Navy – is very empowering. For us, we can see how far we’ve come because sometimes we take it for granted. Females weren’t always here in the Navy, in these ranks, these positions. For both us and them, the culture exchange is very important.”

“Visiting the ship was a prestigious moment,” said Vineela Prabha, a student at St. Joseph’s. “We came to know about the history of the military and the ship.”

The female students are also members of the English Access Microscholarship Program (Access), a U.S. State Department program which provides a foundation of English language skills to bright, economically disadvantaged students, primarily between the ages of 13 to 20, in their home countries. Since its inception in 2004, approximately 150,000 students in more than 80 countries have participated in the Access Program.

“The program brings changes in their attitude and confidence,” said Sister Anita Yandava, an Access program coordinator for the college. “It gives them more self-confidence and courage. It is very inspiring for me and for them. Their generation is more inspired when they see you [female Navy Sailors], it’s something great for me to see.”

Z-gram 116 was a significant step forward for women in the Navy. The Navy counted approximately 9,000 women in its 1972 population, but they were limited in the types of jobs they could fill and had fewer opportunities to advance. Currently, there are more than 80,000 women serving in a U.S. Navy uniform. Every job, space, and rank in the Navy is open to women, and women serve in nearly every Navy community.

St. Joseph’s College for Women was founded in 1958 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Annecy. It was the first women’s college in Visakhapatnam and all of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh. At the time of its establishment, the college had a faculty of six and enrollment of 28. The college now boasts a student enrollment of 2500, offering three intermediate courses, 12 undergraduate courses and six postgraduate courses.

For more information on Z-gram 116 and women in the Navy, please visit https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/z/list-z-grams/z-gram-116.html and https://www.navy.mil/Women-in-the-Navy/.

Frank Cable is currently on patrol conducting expeditionary maintenance and logistics in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Source: United States Navy

NORFOLK, Va. – The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57) and her crew were presented the Battenberg Cup during a ceremony held aboard the ship at BAE Systems Ship Repair Norfolk, Aug. 5.

Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, presented the award to Retail Specialist Second Class Petty Officer Jonathon Williams, the longest serving Sailor on Mitscher, who accepted on behalf of the crew.

The Battenberg Cup has been awarded annually since 1977 to the ship or submarine selected by the fleet commander as the best all-around in the Atlantic Fleet, based on accumulation of crew achievements.

“I am deeply honored and proud to present the Battenberg Cup to the crew of the USS Mitscher, who without a doubt embody the spirit, tenacity, and toughness that this achievement demands, “ Caudle said. “Today is a fine day to be a Mitscherman and every crewmember can proudly claim that they were integral in demonstrating the warfighting excellence this 115 year old legacy demands.”

In 2021 Mitscher completed a Board of Inspection and Survey assessment following a nine month deployment where she served as the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Commander for the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Carrier Strike Groups. While underway Mitscher supported Operations Inherent Resolve, Freedom Sentinel, and Final Countdown; and multi-service, multi-national exercises Neptune Phoenix and Nemesis Raptor.

“Your many accomplishments set your ship apart from all the others in the Atlantic Fleet,” said Caudle. “When you are part of the greatest Navy in the world, how does a ship distinguish itself? The USS Mitscher knows the secret. Specifically, each and every crewmember commits to giving their best every day to their ship and the mission. It is through a combination of continuous improvement, a drive for excellence, and unmatched esprit de corps that has led your ship to this celebration of greatness.”

During the course of her deployment, Mitscher earned the Global War on Terrorism expeditionary and service Medals and the Navy Unit Commendation Medal. Mitscher’s crew achievements, across all mission and warfare areas in 2021 include; Battle “E”, Commander Naval Surface Forces “Green H” award, Golden Anchor award, Ship’s Store Retail and Service Excellence award, Commander Naval Surface Forces Atlantic Logistics Readiness Excellence Award, Commander, Destroyer Squadron 22 Unit Tactics award, and was awarded five Command Excellence awards.

“I mean this with the utmost sincerity, it has been the highlight of my career to serve with the crew aboard the USS Mitscher. Every Mitscherman aboard wholly personifies our motto ’Seize the Day,’” said Cmdr. Dominic Kramer, commanding officer, USS Mitscher. “Each member of this team comes ready to seize each and every challenge and opportunity placed in front of them and this is why we are honored and humbled to be awarded the Battenberg Cup, a cup with a rich history just like our ship and crew.”

Notably, Mitscher responded to two separate attacks on merchant vessels. During the first, they provided overwatch and facilitated the embarkation of an ordnance disposal team. The vessel involved in the second incident was abandoned by hostile forces upon Mitscher’s swift response preventing the capture of crew members.

Two other commands were nominated for the 2021 Battenberg Cup; USS New Hampshire (SSN 778) and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).

The silver plated trophy was gifted to North Atlantic Fleet Commander Rear Adm. Robley D. Evans in 1905 by British Rear Adm. Prince Louis of Battenberg and requested that it serve as a challenge cup between the men of the North Atlantic Fleet in competitions of athletic stamina. Between 1905 and 1940 men in the North Atlantic Fleet competed in 52 rowing competitions for the cup.

USS West Virginia (BB 48) was the last ship to win the challenge cup in a cutter race. The trophy sank in Pearl Harbor along with West Virginia during the bombings on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. After her resurrection West Virginia held the cup until her decommissioning in 1947 and was then housed at several different commands and museums until 1978.

In 1978 the Battenberg Cup was reinstituted as a symbol of extraordinary recognition within the Atlantic Fleet.