ARGs, Prepositioned Ships Offload Marines in Kuwait

By RICHARD R. BURGESS
Managing Editor

The Department of Defense has continued the buildup of U.S. forces--including Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard units--in the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in preparation for potential hostilities with Iraq, even as U.N. weapons inspections continued inside Iraq. More than 150,000 U.S. troops had been deployed to the region by the end of February.

A fifth carrier battle group has been ordered to the Mideast. The aircraft carrier (CV) USS Kitty Hawk--with Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) embarked--departed its forward-deployed homeport of Yokosuka, Japan, and has arrived in the Persian Gulf. To replace the Kitty Hawk in the Far East during the tense political situation with North Korea, a carrier battle group (CVBG) centered on the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier (CVN) USS Carl Vinson--with Navy carrier air wing CVW-9 embarked--has deployed to the Western Pacific to "backfill" for the Kitty Hawk. The Nimitz-class CVN USS Abraham Lincoln--with CVW-14 embarked--has returned to the Persian Gulf after being ordered to extend its deployment, joining the Kitty Hawk-class CV USS Constellation and CVW-2 there. The Nimitz-class CVN USS Harry S. Truman--with CVW-3 embarked--and its battle group is deployed in the eastern Mediterranean, as is the Nimitz-class CVN USS Theodore Roosevelt--with CVW-8 embarked--which headed east from the Puerto Rico Operations Area fresh from its final training exercise without any post-exercise time in its homeport. The Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group was the last scheduled to train at the Atlantic fleet's Weapons Training Facility in Vieques.

Marine Corps forces in Kuwait--including the 1st Marine Division, 1st Force Service Support Group, and elements of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing--are under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) deployed from Camp Pendleton, Calif. Most of the units of the II MEF, headquartered in Camp Lejeune, N.C., also are deployed to the region. The number of Marines deployed to the region reached approximately 45,000 by the end of February. Seven large-deck amphibious assault ships (LHAs/LHDs) are deployed to the region, and an eighth, the Wasp-class LHD USS Iwo Jima, is scheduled to deploy in March with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Marine Corps tactical aviation units dispatched to the Middle East include several AV-8B Marine attack and F/A-18 fighter-attack squadrons.

The buildup in the Middle East also has resulted in the largest activation of the Maritime Administration's Ready Reserve Force (RRF) since Operation Desert Shield/Storm more than a decade ago. As of mid-February a total of 34 RRF ships had been activated from the James River Reserve Fleet (Va.), joining four other RRF ships already on long-term assignment with the Military Sealift Command (MSC).

In addition, all 19 large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off (LMSR) ships assigned to the MSC have been actively engaged in sealift operations in support of Enduring Freedom. The USNS Bob Hope and the USNS Dahl, the LMSRs most recently activated, were assigned in mid-February to load up vehicles and helicopters of the Army's 101st Airborne Division for overseas deployment.

Additional forces such as four mine warfare ships, MH-53E minesweeping helicopters assigned to Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15, diving and explosive ordnance disposal units, fleet hospitals, and ANGLICOs (Air-Naval Gunfire Liaison Companies) also have been ordered to the Middle East. Nearly 1,000 Seabees had been deployed to the region by February, with more en route.

A 1,000-person unit, Commander, Maritime Prepositioning Force, has deployed to Kuwait to oversee logistics off-loads and port operations in support of the deployed Marine Air-Ground Task Force. Rear Adm. W. Clyde Marsh, commander of Amphibious Group Three, commands the force, which includes units from Amphibious Group Three, Naval Beach Group One, Amphibious Construction Battalions One and Two, Beachmaster Unit One, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One, Coastal Warfare Group One, Navy Cargo Handling and Port Group, and the Marine Corps' 2nd Force Service Support Group.

The Coast Guard has deployed eight Island-class 110-foot patrol boats from East Coast ports--along with 600 Coast Guard personnel--to the Persian Gulf to provide force-protection support to U.S. forces.

Australia has joined the United Kingdom as the only nations sending troops to the Middle East to support the build-up of U.S. forces. Approximately 350 Australian soldiers deployed for the region on board the transport ship Kanimbla. A squadron of F/A-18 Hornets as well as three C-130 Hercules transports also are being sent to the region.

Sea-service reservists activated for Operation Enduring Freedom continued to increase. The number activated as of 12 February included 6,276 Navy, 12,539 Marine Corps, and 1,982 Coast Guard reservists.

Three DDGs to Be Named For Legendary Naval Heroes

Before leaving office, then-Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England selected names for the next three Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers (DDGs). The DDGs will be christened for three admirals whose names are legendary in U.S. naval history.

Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (NGSS) will build the Halsey, named for Fleet Adm. William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr. (1882-1959). Halsey was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions as commanding officer of the destroyers USS Benham and USS Shaw. He was designated a naval aviator in 1935 (at the age of 52) and later commanded the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV 3). As commander of Carrier Division Two, Halsey led the first counter-strikes against Japanese forces in World War II, the carrier raids against the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, and the Halsey-Doolittle Raid against the Japanese home islands. As commander, South Pacific Area, Halsey led the joint forces that took back Guadalcanal and the rest of the Solomon Islands. Halsey later led the U.S. Third Fleet in the Philippine and Okinawa campaigns and in strikes against other Japanese-held islands. In 1945, he became the fourth U.S. Navy officer to be promoted to the rank of fleet admiral. One other ship named for Halsey, a guided-missile cruiser (CG 23), served from 1963 until 1994.

NGSS also will build the Forrest Sherman, named for Adm. Forrest P. Sherman (1896-1951), a naval aviator who commanded two squadrons on board the Saratoga and served as navigator of the USS Ranger (CV 4). As commanding officer of the USS Wasp (CV 7), Sherman was awarded the Navy Cross for his leadership during the Guadalcanal campaign. Later, as deputy chief of staff to Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz, Sherman participated in the planning that led to the capture of the Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, Western Carolines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. After a tour as commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Mediterranean, Sherman became in 1949 the youngest officer to serve as chief of naval operations. A previous destroyer (DD 931) named Forrest Sherman served from 1955 until 1982.

Bath Iron Works--a General Dynamics company--will build the Farragut, named for David Glasgow Farragut, the Navy's first admiral. Farragut commanded the Navy's West Gulf Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. In 1862 his squadron ran up the Mississippi delta past Confederate defenses and captured New Orleans. In 1863 Farragut assisted in the capture of Vicksburg, Miss., thereby gaining control of the Mississippi and splitting the Confederacy in two. In 1864 Farragut led his squadron through a minefield in Mobile Bay, Ala., and captured Mobile.

Four previous Navy ships have been named Farragut: a torpedo boat (1899-1919), a destroyer (1920-1930), another destroyer (1934-1945), which was awarded 14 battle stars in World War II, and DDG 37 (1960-1989).

Sea Service Notes

The Island-class patrol boat (WPB) USCGC Matagorda has been decommissioned at Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Miss. The decommissioning is only temporary, however. The Matagorda is being modified as the first Island-class WPB to be modernized under the Coast Guard's Integrated Deepwater System program.

Hansford T. Johnson, assistant secretary of the Navy for installations and environment, was appointed acting secretary of the Navy after the resignation of Susan Morrisey Livingstone, under secretary of the Navy who made history when she became acting secretary of the Navy when Gordon R. England resigned to assume his new duties as deputy secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security. Johnson, a retired Air Force general, served as chief of the Military Airlift Command and deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command.

Retired Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr. has been appointed by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe to lead an external investigation into the cause of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia. Three active naval officers died in the mishap: Capt. David M. Brown, a flight surgeon and former A-6 and F/A-18 pilot; Cdr. Laurel Clark, a diving medical officer and flight surgeon; and Cdr. William C. McCool, a former EA-6B pilot. Gehman, former commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command, also headed the investigation into the terrorist attack on the Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided-missile destroyer USS Cole.

Col. Douglas P. Yurovich has been selected to become the first Marine ever to serve as commander ("CAG") of a Navy carrier air wing (CVW). Yurovich will assume command of a Pacific Fleet CVW in 2005 as part of the Navy-Marine Corps tactical aviation integration initiative. One other Marine served briefly as an acting CAG: during the Vietnam War, Lt. Col. Charles H. Ludden, commanding officer of Marine All-Weather Fighter Squadron 212, took over CVW-16 for less than a month aboard the USS Oriskany when Cdr. James B. Stockdale was shot down and captured. Also of note: In the future, a Navy captain will be selected to command Marine Aircraft Group 11 in Iwakuni, Japan.

War protesters damaged one of the Naval Air Reserve's new C-40A Clipper transport aircraft at Shannon International Airport, Ireland. The C-40A was attacked by a hatchet-wielding woman who was subsequently arrested. Several days later, while the aircraft was being repaired, five more protesters attacked and further damaged the aircraft. The Irish government assigned troops to Shannon to prevent further attacks. *

Casting a Giant Shadow: USS Florida Experiment Presages SSGN Role

An experiment conducted recently off the coast of Florida foreshadowed the operational capability of the Navy's future nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine (SSGN) force, a planned four-boat fleet that will be almost impossible to locate and that will greatly enhance the Navy's tactical punch and surveillance capabilities.

In a limited-objective experiment sponsored by the Naval Sea Systems Command and Commander, Naval Submarine Forces, the Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine USS Florida demonstrated some of the capabilities planned for the Navy's four Ohio-class SSGNs.

The Florida and three sister ships are being modified into SSGNs, each with the capability of launching up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles in 22 of their converted missile tubes. The tubes also will be capable of launching UUVs (unmanned underwater vehicles), UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), and special forces equipment. The SSGNs also will be able to carry up to 66 special operations personnel, as well as swimmer delivery vehicles--miniature free-flooding submarines that transport SCUBA-equipped SEALs to and from submarines--and the ASDS (Advanced SEAL Delivery System), a larger, water-tight transport submersible being developed by Northrop Grumman and now going through testing by the Navy.

Giant Shadow, as the experiment was known, "explored how a network of forces, including Florida, special warfare forces, UUVs and UAVs, and various aerial, underwater, and ground sensors could be used to provide surveillance, collect real-time intelligence, develop and recommend a course of action for the joint commander, and launch a time-critical strike," Navy officials said.

Giant Shadow included at-sea launches of Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Florida, as well as the first vertical launch of a UUV and an insertion of SEALs from the submarine. Also evaluated in the experiment were various technologies and systems including nuclear, biological, and chemical sensors and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, and targeting systems.

"One of the goals of Giant Shadow is to identify which technologies provide real operational value to the warfighter, so we can transition them into real acquisition programs," said Capt. William J. Toti, assistant chief of staff for warfare requirements for commander, Naval Submarine Forces. "The SSGNs will provide an extremely powerful capability that can operate like a ghost--it's out there, but you can't see it--which will complicate the defense of anyone who wants to challenge the United States."

Also participating in Giant Shadow were the USNS Mary Sears, the Military Sealift Command's newest oceanographic survey ship, which supports the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. The Mary Sears hosted the command and control systems that will be installed on the SSGNs during the conversion process. The "Hairy Buffalo," an NP-3C Orion flown by Air Test & Evaluation Squadron 20, provided the ISR capabilities and communication networking that normally would be provided by a high-altitude UAV such as the RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV. The "Sea Horse"--a large 27-foot experimental transport UUV designed by Pennsylvania State University and provided by the Naval Oceanographic Office--and members of Naval Special Warfare Group Four participated in the special warfare phases of the experiment.

The Florida's lead sister ship, USS Ohio, entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., in November 2002 to begin refueling and conversion to an SSGN for delivery in 2007. The Florida, now homeported in Norfolk, Va., will begin conversion at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., in August 2003. The Michigan and Georgia are the other two Ohio-class SSBNs slated for conversion.

Electric Boat--a General Dynamics company--was awarded a $443 million contract in September 2002 to design the modifications of the SSGNs. Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector was awarded a $34 million Strategic Systems Programs contract in January 2003 to adapt the SSBN missile tubes to be capable of launching Tomahawk missiles. Northrop Grumman will develop and demonstrate the Multiple All-Up-Round Canister (MAC), a subsystem of the SSGN's Attack Weapons System that enables each launch tube to house seven Tomahawks. A prototype of the MAC was used to launch the two Tomahawks fired from the Florida during Giant Shadow. The first missile--a Block III version--was configured with a Mk106 rocket motor assembly to obtain a boosted-energy profile similar to that of the Tactical Tomahawk version now in development. The second missile launched by the MAC was an instrumented Block III configured with a Mk111 rocket motor assembly to obtain a normal Block III missile-boosted energy profile.