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““WWhheenn yyoouu’’rree wwiitthhtthhee lliioonnss,, yyoouu bbeetttteerr aacctt lliikkee

aa lliioonn..””— Chief Mate Ken Kerr

Huge jobSmall ship

It’s been a year since I came aboard Mil-itary Sealift Command: a year and a

lifetime of experience. When I arrived,one of my first moves was to let all of youknow what my operating axioms were, soyou’d know where I was coming fromand what I wanted to achieve. Now it’stime to see some of the progress we’vemade.

PPeeooppllee aarree oouurr ##11 pprriioorriittyyPeople are still our #1 strategic priority

– across the board, everywhere, 24/7, 365days a year. People and their families areimportant. Family readiness is important.In August 2006, I signed out COMSC in-struction 1770.1. Under this directive,MSC commanders and officers-in-chargeat all levels are designating a casualty as-sistance calls officer, or CACO, to assistfamilies if it is ever necessary to notifynext of kin about an MSC employee’s se-rious injury or death. This applies to civil-ians, military members and contractors.The instruction describes the role and re-sponsibilities of the Casualty AssistanceOfficer in helping the family to adjust tonew life conditions. Depending on theneed and circumstances, assistance mayinclude helping with funeral arrange-ments, benefits counseling, condolencesand grief support.

Another measure we took early on wasidentifying the places to call in the eventof a major regional disaster so our em-ployees and their families could be ac-counted for. Those toll-free phone num-bers were 1-877-414-5358 for the NavyEmergency Coordination Center if you oryour family live in the United States and(fill in dialing code for the United Statesfrom your overseas location) 202-685-5155 for the MSC Global Command In-formation Center if you or your familylive overseas.

We have also pushed for increases insafety. From the success aboard our fleettugs in implementing MSC’s Safety Man-agement System, we have expanded thesystem to our oilers and will continueuntil all of our government-owned and -operated ships are included. As a result ofa January 2007 Shipboard Materiel As-sessment Readiness Testing ImprovementConference, we’ll be looking at revisingtest plans and inspection procedures, in-cluding those focused on safety. I’ve beenrequiring root cause analyses for majorsafety mishaps to ensure that systematicproblems can be identified, resolved andnot repeated.

Unfortunately, despite this focus, MSClost two good people this past year inGuam, needlessly. These deaths may havebeen avoided by using standard man-liftsafety procedures.

WWee aarree aa nnaattiioonn aatt wwaarr When I said we were still at war a year

ago, we were in the middle of increasingour force protection capabilities. Sincethat time, I’ve reinstated the quarterlyforce protection roundtable, a forum forreadiness issues and a frank and open dis-cussion among senior MSC managementabout all areas of force protection.

We’ve installed new shipboard securitymodules on 18 of our ships, and two ofthem have been modified to meet arms,ammunition and explosive requirements.We’ve mounted hull perimeter lighting on11 additional ships, the first part of the se-curity module. Shipboard security mod-ules give our crews increased intrusion

detection and deterrence capabilities. Thatmeans we’ve improved force protectionfor about one-third of the MSC fleet.Work continues.

We’ve also placed M20A1 simplifiedcollective protective equipment aboard 25ships. These tent-like enclosures with airlocks can accommodate up to 10 peoplein a chemical, biological or radiologicalenvironment. Thirteen additional unitshave been sent out to MSC locationsworldwide to provide for training.

We continue to purchase new gear,train people in its use, then test that train-ing to make sure it worked. Our areacommands are providing excellent sup-port in this effort.

EEvveerryytthhiinngg hhaass aa ccoossttAs is the case in any war, everything

has a cost, and every dollar counts. Forthe past year, we’ve made concerted ef-forts to analyze and refine our functionaland financial processes, including how weestimate budgets and how we ensure thatbudget execution does not exceed authori-ty. Fiscal years 2008-2011 funding re-quirements were reduced from the 2007baseline by more than $700 million, free-ing up $500 million to fund new require-ments such as new dry cargo/ammunitionships and transfer of submarine tenders toMSC operation and $200 million to fundchief of naval operations priority pro-grams. Such cost reductions resulted fromcivil service mariner, or CIVMAR, re-duced overtime; improvements in theCIVMAR hiring process and a delay inthe wage parity initiative. Favorableschedule changes for the new drycargo/ammunition ship and accelerateddecommissioning of the ships being re-placed; reduced contract services; revisedforce protection budget estimates; and re-duced overhead also contributed to thesavings.

We saved $15 million in 2006 as a re-sult of other CIVMAR initiatives. We'vesaved $400,000 in processing costs by de-ploying the new, automated, on-line de-fense travel system used by federal em-ployees to plan, execute and document of-ficial travel.

We’ve also improved our accountingprocesses, ensuring more stability in ourcustomer rates and better use of theirfunds.

We’ll continue to drill down into ourbusiness cost drivers – personnel, mainte-nance and repair, sustainment, overheadand commercial charter and operatingcontracts – with an eye toward gainingeven more efficiencies. Why? To supportNavy enterprise alignment and to maxi-mize Navy’s investment opportunities forthe future.

MMeettrriiccss ccoouunnttIt’s pretty obvious that if you can’t

measure something, you can’t manage it,whether it’s a process or a program. Ourinspector general’s office measures MSCagainst the expectations of the taxpayer’strust. The Inspector General is our insur-ance that our business practices are soundand that we’re doing the best we can toprotect ourselves from fraud, waste,abuse, inefficiency and any other issuesinvolving ethics and performance. Our IGfolks do this through three principal meth-ods: investigations, assessments and facil-itation of outside audits. Since March2006, the investigation section hasworked issues such as preventing compro-

mise of personal protected information;protection of copyrighted material; pre-vention of travel claim abuse, afloat timeand attendance abuse; and implementationof safety management systems and inter-national safety management afloat. Theassessment and evaluation section closelymonitored the manager’s internal controlprogram, which yields flow charts andrisk assessments for all work processesthrough the MSC enterprise. This assess-ment action has resulted in streamliningmany of our processes, eliminating waste-ful or unnecessary steps. The audit sectionhas assisted with 20 external audits fromthe Department of Defense, the InspectorGeneral of the Navy, U.S. TransportationCommand and Fleet Forces Command,among others.

WWee ooppeerraattee iinn aa jjooiinntt aarreennaaMSC has an enduring relationship as

U.S. Transportation Command’s Navycomponent. Without doubt, we at MSCcontinue to have a key role on the defensetransportation team. In fiscal year 2006,we delivered more than 8.7 million squarefeet of combat cargo and 2.3 billion gal-lons of fuel to war fighters from everyservice. In July 2006, while we were con-ducting the Sealift ’06 exercise workingjointly with members of the U.S. CoastGuard, the Army’s Surface Deploymentand Distribution Command and the U.S.Maritime Administration — we quicklyarranged for three chartered ships that res-cued more than 6,700 Americans strandedin Lebanon.

Now, we are gearing up to support ajoint deployment distribution operationscenter, also called JDDOC, by providingmarine transportation specialists and Navyofficers to staff a detachment atTRANSCOM side-by-side with our AirMobility Command and SDDC partners.This effort supports the joint deploymentand distribution enterprise, also calledJDDE, an integrated system capable ofproviding prospective joint force com-manders with the ability to rapidly and ef-fectively move and sustain joint forces insupport of major combat operations orother joint operations.

IInnffoorrmmaattiioonn tteecchhnnoollooggyy iiss aa ttoooollIt has been a tough year for information

technology security. We have seen an in-creasing number of intrusions and attacksfrom both common criminals and actualenemies from outside of the United States,and as a result, we need to change theway we look at computer security issues.Our shipboard network architecture ismodest, but it meets our needs. We mustbalance security and access, recognizingthat quality of life must be taken into ac-count, but that operational security ab-solutely must have priority. It’s importantthat mariners at sea be able to use an e-mail lifeline to check on their families andensure that their pay gets into their bankaccounts. However, access to the very un-secured and very public World Wide Webmay be limited, disrupted or disconnectedfor operational security reasons. TheNavy’s position is that computer networksshould be considered a weapons system.It’s important to be vigilant.

PPrrooaaccttiivvee bbeeaattss rreeaaccttiivveeMSC has leaned forward. Our CIV-

MARs aboard USNS Mercy proactivelyarranged for the transfer of utility boats totheir care. These boats proved vital in

shuttling patients to and from the ship asit anchored off the coast of numerousWestern Pacific nations during its 2006humanitarian mission.

In 2006, a contract was awarded for theuse of up to three small shallow-draftJapanese tankers. This contract allowsship owners to use the ships in normalcommercial trade and remain on call toMSC, if needed, in exchange for an annu-al fee. If a ship or ships are needed, theyare taken out of commercial service andcome under MSC charter at a pre-negoti-ated rate. By utilizing this contract, threeaging T-1 tankers – each more than 50years old – were scrapped and replacedwith modern vessels, saving millions ofdollars.

We’ve also been recognized for ourproactive work. In February, Secretary ofthe Navy Donald C. Winter announcedthat MSC won a 2006 Navy Competitionand Procurement Excellence Award forchartering ships to rescue Americansstranded in Lebanon.

JJoobb ssaattiissffaaccttiioonn ccaann bbee ffuunnDespite the seriousness of all this, my

last axiom still holds true – if you aren’thaving at least a little bit of fun, youaren’t doing right by yourself and yourshipmates. Your job at MSC is serious.The mission is serious. All of us some-times make sacrifices for the mission. Butwe can all take a certain amount of satis-faction from doing the job well and know-ing that what we do really counts. So, takeadvantage of your leave periods. Take thetime to relax from the day-to-day worriesand tasks, especially when everythingseems to be going faster than light. You’lldo a better, safer job when you’rerefreshed.

Keep the faith!

Sealift is an authorized publication for membersand employees of the Navy’s Military SealiftCommand. Contents of this publication are notnecessarily the official views of or endorsed bythe U.S. government, the Department of De-fense or the Department of the Navy. Sealift ispublished monthly by the Military Sealift Com-mand Office of Public Affairs as authorizedunder NAVPUBINST 5600.42A. Submission ofarticles and letters should be addressed to Edi-tor, Sealift, Military Sealift Command, 914Charles Morris Court, S.E., Washington NavyYard, D.C. 20398-5540; phone (202) 685-5055or DSN 325-5055; fax (202) 685-5067; or via theInternet, sealifteditor@navy.mil. All photograph-ic submissions must be sent by an express mailor parcel service.

COMSC Rear Adm. Robert D. Reilly Jr., USNDirector, Public Affairs Timothy BoulayEditor Chris JohnsonWriters Edward Baxter, Singapore

Bill Cook, Norfolk, Va.Susan Melow, Norfolk, Va.

Laura Seal, Washington, D.C.Gillian Brigham, Naples

James Jackson, San DiegoArt Director Dale Allen, Washington, D.C.Photographer Barry Lake, Washington, D.C.

Graphics Susan Thomas, Washington, D.C.

Military Sealift Command reports to the Com-mander, U.S. Transportation Command for de-fense transportation matters, to the Chief ofNaval Operations for Navy-unique matters andto the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Re-search, Development and Acquisition for pro-curement policy and oversight matters.

2

Printed on recycled paper

Commander’s perspective

James

Jackson,photo

My operating axioms - one year anniversary

Robert D. Reilly Jr. Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

Commander, Military Sealift Command

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It was supposed to be a routinesupply mission. USNS Shughart was to steam from

Alaska to Beaumont, Texas, loadedwith cargo for the Army MaterielCommand, before eventually makingits way back to its layberth inPhiladelphia. The cargo movementwas the kind of thing that MilitarySealift Command’s large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships had donedozens of times before, carrying themilitary rolling stock and combatequipment the ships are accustomedto hauling.

But when the Navy’s Office ofForce Transformation needed some-thing special moved from San Diegoto Norfolk, Va., Shughart was unex-pectedly called upon to help out.

On Feb. 4, Shughart pulled into SanDiego to pick up the Navy’s experi-mental “M-ship,” Stiletto, a ship sorevolutionary, few had ever even seenit up close, let alone knew how tomove it.

Stilleto is an 88-foot long tri-marandesigned by the Navy to test the wayriverine and coastal operations areconducted. It is the first and largestcarbon fiber ship built in the UnitedStates. The ship is considered toosmall to make the transoceanic journeyon its own power.

“The [Office of Force Transforma-tion] came to us when they learned themove would cost them about $2 mil-lion to hire a commercial ship to moveStiletto,” said Tim Pickering of MSC’sSealift Program. “Well, the [ForceTransformation Office] didn’t havethat kind of money, and we alreadyhad a ship going from the West Coastto the East Coast, so we said we couldhelp out.”

The help wouldn’t come for free, butat just under $250,000, it came at animpressive savings. At least half of thistotal cost came from designing andconstructing the supports needed to liftand secure the uniquely-shaped ship.

Stiletto’s M-shaped hull allows it toride high in the water, giving it a very

smooth ride. However, because ofthis unique design, MSC needed tobuild specially designed supports andfasteners to hold the ship in place forits transit through the Panama Canalto Norfolk.

“This was the was the first time anMSC ship has been tasked to lift anM-hull ship on board for transporting.Needless to say, our number one mis-sion was to do the lift safely withoutcausing any damage to the hull,” saidShughart’s civilian mariner masterCapt. Albert Earl Bergeron.

“We ended up building six sets ofcribbing, which is what the ship actu-ally sits on,” said MSC naval architectand project engineer James Kent.

MSC also had to build a spreaderbar to link Shughart’s two on-board

cranes. Weighing in at more than 60tons, Stiletto exceeded the individual50-ton weight limits on Shughart’scranes. However, the specially de-signed spreader bars allowed the si-multaneous use of both of the ship’s50-ton cranes paired together to liftStiletto safely on board.

Although the operation was quitecomplex, it only took MSC’s experts alittle more than 90 minutes to moveStiletto from the water to Shughart’sroomy deck.

By Feb. 5, Shughart and its alien-looking cargo were on their way toNorfolk, where they were expected toarrive by the end of February.

“It’s exciting when you are the firstto execute something that hasn’t beendone before,” Bergeron said.

Although this was the first time aship like Stiletto has been lifted, it wasnot the first time MSC has moved aship on the deck of another vessel.However, MSC’s Stiletto mission isbelieved to be one of only a few timesthat the command has coordinated amove using specially designed cradles.

The best-known operation of thistype was the transport of guided-missiledestroyer USS Cole from Yemen onboard MV Blue Marlin in 2000. Theship was transported to Norfolk, Va.,after a terrorist attack blew a 40-by-40-foot hole in the ship, killing 17 sailors.

Three months ago, MSC coordinat-ed the transport of two Navy minecountermeasures ships, USS Gladiatorand USS Scout, from Ingleside, Texas,to Bahrain.

Shughart sails with Stiletto

A crane aboard Military Sealift Command large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Shughart lifts the U.S. Navy’s experi-mental “M-ship,” Stiletto. Shughart carried the revolutionary tri-maran from San Diego to Norfolk, Va., because Stilleto is con-sidered too small to make the voyage under its own power.

U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Robert Bradtke (left) gets a tour of Military Sealift Com-mand roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Lance Cpl. Roy M. Wheat from the ship’s civilian mas-ter Capt. David Scott in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Feb. 2. USNS Wheat is one of three shipsthat belong to Maritime Prepositioning Squadron One, which is forward-deployedyear-round to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations. The squadron strategically stagesU.S. military cargo at sea for rapid response in a military or humanitarian crisis. should

Croation ambassador tours Wheat

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The U.S. Maritime Administrationis actively encouraging all U.S.

mariners to participate in the MarinerOutreach System, known as MOS, andformerly known as the MarinerTracking System. The newsystem is intended to im-prove communicationbetween MARAD andthe thousands of U.S.mariners who serve orare available to serveaboard U.S.-flag shipsaround the world.

The outreach system is supported bya new, secure Web site introduced byMARAD last June. The site allowsmariners to register on-line for MOS;to review their U.S. Coast Guard qual-ifications and sea service; and to pro-vide updated and more detailed contactinformation. In turn, the system’s par-

ticipants receive e-mail updates onpolicy matters and other topics of in-terest to all U.S. merchant seamen.

Should normal crewing practicesever prove to be inadequate, the sys-tem could also be used as a tool to as-sist those in need of mariners. Howev-

er, mariners’ participation in thesystem does not obligate them

in any way to sail if they arecontacted.

More than 27,000 U.S. li-censed and unlicensedmariners worldwide have al-

ready enrolled in MOS bycompleting the Mariner Track-

ing System section of the U.S. CoastGuard’s application for license or mer-chant mariners document. MARAD isworking with the Coast Guard to up-date the form and to identify the sys-tem by its new name.

To learn more about MOS, or to reg-ister, visit the MARAD Web site athttps://mos.marad.dot.gov.

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It’s dangerous, but you like itCCaattaawwbbaa’’ss ccrreeww aallwwaayyss oonn

ccaallll aass tthhee GGuullff’’ss 991111 sseerrvviiccee In August 1990, following the

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, theUnited Nations imposed strict eco-nomic sanctions on Iraq in thehopes of eroding Saddam Hus-sein’s chokehold on the region.These sanctions, in place for 13years until the U.S.-led topplingof Hussein’s regime in 2003, se-verely limited the flow of trade inand out of the country and bannedthe export of Iraq’s greatest eco-nomic asset — oil.

Almost immediately after theembargo was imposed, an aggres-sive oil-smuggling campaignarose. Iraqi blockade-runnerssought to break the sanctions andferry oil out of their country pastthe watchful eyes of U.S. andcoalition ships tasked with inter-cepting them. Oftentimes duringthese interception operations,smugglers would sabotage theirengines, hoping the Navy crewswould not have the equipment orexpertise to wrangle a tankeradrift at sea. What these smug-glers didn’t know is that the Navyhad USNS Catawba.

Catawba is one of six fleet ocean tugsowned and operated by Military SealiftCommand that provides towing and sal-vage services to the U.S. Navy. The shipis also used as a platform for diving op-erations.

Catawba’s home base is the port ofMina Salman in Bahrain, a few milesaway from the U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters.

Operated by 17 civil service marinersand four active-duty Navy sailors,Catawba has been a fixture in the Mid-dle East for more than a decade. Duringthis time, the ship was frequently calledupon to tow illegal tankers apprehendedby combatant forces to nearby portswhere the ships and their cargowould be confiscated and put upfor auction.

These exploits are only a piece ofCatawba’s storied legacy in the Gulf.

“We’re the fire truck aroundhere, the rescue ship, the immedi-ate responder,” said Able SeamanBill McMaster, a retired Navymaster chief who has spent hisentire 13-year MSC career aboardCatawba. “If anyone needs us, wego. They rely on us out here.”

The “they” McMaster is refer-ring to is not only the U.S. Navy,but also the region’s commercialmaritime traffic and a host of or-ganizations Catawba has aided ina time of need.

McMaster recalls an incident in2000 when a commercial airlineflight taking off from the BahrainInternational Airport plummetedinto the ocean seconds after lift-ing off from the runway. Catawbawas called up to assist in the re-covery effort.

“We went out there rightaway,” said McMaster. “We wereretrieving personal effects, bring-ing human remains on board,doing everything we could to helpin the situation.”

Capt. Ed Dickerson ticked off along list of the ship’s rescue ef-

forts — towing disabled commercialvessels adrift at sea; putting out ship-board fires;savingships thathad losttheir powerplants andwere indanger ofrunningaground inshallowwater.

Catawba maintains a four-hour stand-by policy 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week. This means that at any given

time, the ship and its crew must beready to set sail and respond to an

emergencywithin fourhours ofbeingcalled. Theship iscalled allthe time,even onholidays.

In fact,last Christ-

mas, Catawba was asked to deliversome urgently needed spare parts to aNavy combatant ship conducting critical

ship repairs.“No airplanes were available

to fly the parts to them so theycalled us,” said McMaster. “Itwas Christmas Eve, and every-one was out at parties and such.We got the call, and the crewcame running. The ship wasready to go within 45 minutes.I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“We’ve got a lot of pridehere,” continued McMaster. “Weget called at weird times butain’t nobody crying the blues.We’ll do it.”

The mariners aboard Catawbauniversally attribute their stellarreputation for service and can-domentality to good leadership, atight-knit crew and a handful ofinspiring old salts on boardknown for their love of tug workand technical expertise.

One of these old salts is ChiefMate Ken Kerr.

A native of Trinidad and Toba-go, Kerr felt the lure of the seaas a young kid visiting his uncledown at the docks where heworked.

“I would go out to the pier and lookat the ships sailing where the water metthe horizon,” said Kerr. “There was justsomething about it ... ”

After a short stint in the Navy and afew years sailing in the commercialworld, Kerr saw an MSC job posting ata union hall and applied for a positionas an able seaman.

That was in 1977. Since then, Kerr haslogged more than 15 years of sea timeaboard Catawba, working his way upfrom able seaman to chief mate. Duringhis 30 years with MSC, Kerr has sailedon almost every type of ship in theMSC’s inventory. But he keeps coming

back to Catawba. His dream is toone day be Catawba’s master.

“I really enjoy the type ofwork this ship does,” said Kerr.“It’s challenging, and it’s dan-gerous at times, but you get tolike it.”

Kerr points to the salvage oftwo British helicopters in theearly days of Operation IraqiFreedom as one of his mostmemorable experiences aboardCatawba.

“We were doing a salvage op-eration in Umm Qasr, Iraq, at thebeginning of the war. Two Britishhelicopters collided head-on, andwe went to pick up the pieces. Wehad a diving crew on here, andthere was a British salvage shiphelping as well. They recoveredthe bodies, and we recovered thehelicopters. And from where wewere off the coast of Iraq, thewhole time we could see Toma-hawk missiles flying overhead.”

Working in a war zone as anunarmed noncombatant mightseem daunting to some, but Kerrand his crew see it as an opportu-nity to do what they do best.

“We may be small, but wedon’t get scared,” said Kerr. “It’slike I always say, ‘when you’rewith the lions, you’d better act

“We’ve got a lot ofpride here. We getcalled at weird times,but ain’t nobody cryingthe blues.”

U.S. Navy special forces conduct a night-time exercise recovering rigid hull inflatable boats aboardCatawba off the coast of Qatar in December 2006.

Above: USNS Catawba, bottom right, is berthed astern of Military Sealift Command combat stores shipUSNS Spica, left, and fast combat support ship USNS Supply. Catawba is one of MSC’s smallest ships,but it’s capable of towing distressed oil tankers.Opposite: USNS Catawba’s Chief Mate Ken Kerr. The Trinidad and Tobago native has been an MSC civilservice mariner since 1977. He’s served on board Catawba for 15 years.

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Navy Lt. Mary Brown was promotedto lieutenant commander in a ceremonyat MSC headquarters Feb. 1. Brownjoined MSC in December 2005 and cur-rently serves as the director of MSC’snew command administration office inthe Maritime Forces, Manpower andManagement Directorate.

MSC’s three Shore Sailors of the Yearselected from commands worldwidewere honored at a ceremony on Feb. 2.Sealift Logistics Command Pacific’sShore Sailor of the Year, Navy Informa-tion Systems Technician 1st ClassDenise R. Brannen, and MSC head-quarters’ Shore Sailor of the Year,

Navy Information Systems Technician1st Class Ray Ellison, each receivedNavy and Marine Corps AchievementMedals. Navy Hospital Corpsman 1stClass Mario Mannarino, MilitarySealift Fleet Support Command’s ShoreSailor of the Year, was chosen as MSC’sShore Sailor of the Year. Mannarino isnow in the running to become Chief ofNaval Operations’ Sailor of the Year.

MSC welcomes Lee McCray, MarkButler and John Hartke, ComptrollerDirectorate; Kyle Kneisly, Prepositioning

Program; Raegan Kirk, Engineering Di-rectorate; and Navy Information Sys-tems Technician 1st Class Damien J.Moore, Command, Control, Communica-tions and Computer Systems Directorate.

MSC bids farewell to AndrewTraugh, Engineering Directorate; HarryClark, Command, Control, Communica-tions and Computer Systems Directorate;and Navy Operations Specialist 1stClass Darrell Compton and Navy Op-erations Specialist 2nd Class JonathonCobb, Operations Directorate.

The U.S. Ambassador to Croatia theHonorable Robert Bradtke visited Mar-itime Prepositioning Squadron One roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Lance Cpl. RoyM. Wheat in Dubrovnik, Croatia, Feb.2. Bradtke toured the ship and ate lunchaboard with Wheat’s civilian masterCapt. David Scott.

“Wheat was described to me as a sup-ply ship, but those words do not evokethe size and complexity of what I’mseeing here,” said the ambassador dur-

ing his tour. “The U.S. Navy and related vessels

have had a history of visits to this coun-try,” said Bradtke. “Everyone in Croatiais glad to have the Wheat here. Enjoyyour stay.”

Sealift Logistics Command Europeand Ship Support Unit Naples bidfarewell to a longtime member of thestaff last month. Lee McCray joinedthe then-named Military Sealift Com-mand Europe as the comptroller in June

1998. During her eight-and-a-half-yeartenure at the command, McCray and herstaff oversaw the processing of morethan $66 million of funding for MSCships and operations in the Europeantheater.

“In an era where the Navy’s fiscal re-sponsibility and accountability has hadthe highest level of scrutiny, Ms. Mc-Cray has set the example for financialmanagement,” said SEALOGEURCommander Navy Capt. NickHolman.

SEALOGEUR wishes McCray thebest of luck as she heads to her next as-signment at the MSC headquarterscomptroller’s office in Washington,

D.C.SEALOGEUR also says a fond

farewell to Navy Yeoman 2nd ClassJaime Damboise, who leaves the com-mand and Ship Support Unit Naples tojoin the staff of Strike Force NATO,also headquartered in Naples, Italy.Damboise served as the command’slead administrative petty officer for themajority of her three year tour.

SEALOGEUR welcomes aboardthree new additions to the commandthis month. The front office hails NavyYeoman 1st Class Kevin Harden andadministrative support assistant BethJohnson. SSU Naples welcomes aboardfinancial technician Dionne Newby.

Military Sealift Fleet Support Com-mand is pleased to announce the com-mand’s 2006 Sea and Shore Sailor ofthe Year awardees: Navy HospitalCorpsman 1st class Edward Cortezand Navy Hospital Corpsman 1stclass Mario Mannarino. Cortez iscurrently stationed aboard hospitalship USNS Mercy, and Mannarino isstationed at Ship Support Unit Guam.

MSFSC Executive Director JackTaylor stated in a message to thefleet, “[The selectees] are congratulat-ed for the diligent professionalism,exceptional initiative, teamwork, andcontributions to their command. Theseattributes were clearly apparent andwere key to their nominations. Com-petition was tough and, as always, theselection board was challenged in

their deliberations and their recom-mendations.”

MSFSC is being proactive in its ap-proach to the National Security Per-sonnel System, a pay for performancesystem currently affecting thoseMSFSC shoreside staffers who are notin nor eligible to join bargaining units,Taylor designated NSPS project offi-cer Kevin Cassidy to develop and im-plement NSPS milestones for the tran-sition to NSPS in October 2007. Tohelp keep affected staffers informedthrough the transition process, e-mailswill be tailored and transmitted to thetarget audience, and an MSFSC NSPSmailbox will be available for ques-tion-and-answer exchanges.

On Jan. 16, MSFC welcomed NavyCmdr. William Hayes, who is assum-

ing the duties as dry cargo/ammunitionship USNS Sacagawea’s officer-in-charge of the military department.MSFSC said farewell to Navy ChiefPetty Officer Donald Harrison andNavy Petty Officer 1st class Kimber-ly Moore. Harrison and Moore will re-port to Amphibious Construction Bat-talion 2 and aircraft carrier USS Enter-prise, respectively. Also recognized atthe event was MSFSC Sailor of theQuarter Navy Petty Officer 2nd ClassImamuddin Muhammad.

The command, in January, saidfarewell to Navy Petty Officer 1stclass Marcus Lambert. Lambert, whohad been assigned to MSC in Norfolksince August 2002, will report to air-craft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.

The MSC Retirees’ Association,headquartered in Merritt Island, Fla.,is open to new members and thosewho wish to renew their memberships.The association produces a bi-monthlynewsletter, which features photos andarticles from MSC’s past, as well as

information to help organize picnicsand an annual holiday party that bringtogether MSC personnel. Membershipis open to all who serve or haveserved MSC. For more informationcall (321) 255-5901.

Another MSC group planning to gettogether are the Command, Control,Communications and Computer Sys-tems Directorate personnel fromaround the globe. Now retired formerarea command directors Bob Manns(Bayonne), Ralph Lanham (FarEast), Carlo Lunsford (Europe) andTony De Venuta (Oakland) havestarted to plan for a tentative April re-union in Washington, D.C. For moreinformation, email them atTony@cyberteck.net

Farewell to the following retiringcivil service mariners: 2nd OfficerNelson Bertram, Medical ServicesOfficer Jerome Kebbell,Boatswain’s Mate Lloyd Kelly, 3rdCook John Lewis and UtilitymanCharles Spears.

Military Sealift Command-charteredheavy lift ship MV Condock V deliveredthe 224-foot mine countermeasure shipUSS Gladiator to the U.S. 5th Fleet areaof operations Jan. 23. Condock off-loaded Gladiator at the Port of MinaSalman in Bahrain. Fleet ocean tug

USNS Catawba assisted with the pier-side operations. One of Catawba’s towlines was used to help steady theminesweeper as it floated off of Con-dock’s submerged deck.

“Mines are indiscriminate in their vic-tims. They pose a threat to all maritime

traffic, regardless of nationality or pur-pose,” said Deputy Commander, U.S.Naval Forces Central Command RearAdm. Scott Swift in response to Gladia-tor’s arrival in theater. “Gladiator con-tributes to an important defensive capa-bility for the coalition maritime force inour efforts to help safeguard the region’svital links to the global economy.”

The command bids farewell to fleetservice officer, Navy Lt. Cmdr. JohnGasser; commodities officer, Navy Lt.

Brian Shons; and budgeting officer,Navy Lt. Steve Strayer, after com-pleting their one-year forward de-ployed tours in Bahrain. Sealift Logis-tics Command Central CommanderNavy Capt. Glen R. Sears II present-ed all three officers with Navy Com-mendation Medals.

The command welcomes aboardNavy Lt. Cmdr. James Strauss, NavyLt. Alexander Kaczur and Navy Lt.j.g.Ian Illif.

Navy Capt. Dennis O’Meara, com-mander of Maritime PrepositioningShip Squadron Three and Capt. PaulZubaly, civilian master of MV Cpl.Louis J. Hauge Jr., hosted Deputy As-sistant Secretary of the Interior for In-sular Affairs and U.S. Representative tothe Pacific Community David B. Cohenaboard the ship on Jan. 5.

Cohen oversees the federal govern-ment’s relationship with U.S. territoriesof American Somoa, Guam, the Com-monwealth of the Northern MarianasIslands and the U.S. Virgin islands.

Capt. O’Meara presented Cohen witha command brief while Capt. Zubalyprovided a tour of the vessel.

Fleet replenishment oiler USNS Rap-pahannock received a “bravo zulu”from Rear Adm. William Burke, com-mander of Logistics Group Western Pa-cific, for the ship’s effort in rescuingthree Filipino fisherman on Dec. 19.

“Your entire crew performed bril-liantly and displayed outstanding lead-ership, hard work, and above all, supe-rior service,” Burke wrote in a messageto the ship’s master and crew. Rappa-hannock rescued the fishermen fromthe stormy waters of the South ChinaSea after their boat capsized.

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Greg Davis, com-manding officer of Military SealiftCommand Office Diego Garcia, pre-sented certificates of appreciation to theUnited Seamen’s Service Center, Diego

Garcia, for its outstanding customerservice to both Military Sealift com-mand personnel and mariners undercontract to MSC. The center serves as ahome away from home for U.S. mer-chant mariners throughout the world.

Navy Lt. Jim Kalista received theNavy and Marine Corps Commenda-tion medal in recognition of his out-standing 15-month tour as MPSSquadron Three operations officer. Thesqadron also welcomed Kalista’s relief,Navy Chief Warrant Officer JamieKunsman.

Navy Chief Yeoman HowardWilburn received a Navy and MarineCorps Commendation medal for his su-perior service to the squadron. NavyChief Yeoman Willie James reports asWilburn’s relief.

MPS Squadron Three welcomedNavy Lt. j.g. Elizabeth Harris as thesquadron’s new materiel officer andNavy Ensign Ben Murphy, who as-sumes duties as the supply officer.

Navy Storekeeper 1st Class ChrisLapid reported to MSC Office Koreaas Navy Storekeeper 1st Class Jessli-no Oconer’s relief. Oconer was award-ed the Navy and Marine CorpsAchievement Medal.

Capt. Joseph Souza relieved Capt.Robert Burke as master of SS Maj.Steven W. Pless on Jan. 7. Also, EdHandy relieved John Davis as theship’s chief engineer.

On Feb. 1, Sealift Logistics Com-mand Pacific Commodore Capt. HartSebring was the host of a ceremony onboard hospital ship USNS Mercy asAdm. Gary Roughead, commander ofU.S. Pacific Fleet, presented the Le-gion of Merit to Navy Capt. BradMartin, task unit commander and toNavy Capt. Joe Moore, commandingofficer of Mercy’s Medical TreatmentFacility team during Mercy’s humani-tarian assistance mission in 2006.Mercy’s civil service master Capt.Robert Wiley received a Special ActAward from Commander, MilitarySealift Command Rear Adm. RobertD. Reilly Jr. on behalf of Adm. Roug-head in October 2006.

Richard Duff, director of CIVMARSupport Unit West; and James

Jackson, Rick Appling, Navy Opera-tions Specialist 2nd Class TamaraFowler and Navy Operations Special-ist 2nd Class Melvin Clay of theSEALOGPAC staff participated in theannual Armed Forces Communicationsand Electronics Association conferenceat the San Diego Convention Center.The conference provided an opportunityto tell the MSC story to defense indus-try partners and to meet prospectiveMSC civil service mariners.

SEALOGPAC welcomes Navy Op-eration Specialists 3rd Class NicoleR. Sanders to USNS San Jose; NavyInformation Systems Technician 3rdClass Francis J. Bartoszak to USNSNiagara Falls; and Navy Storekeeper2nd Class Augustus Baker IV toUSNS Concord.

Sealift Logistics Command Atlanticwelcomes Navy Master Chief DonaldJ. Dennis as its new diving, towingand salvage specialist, as well as com-mand master chief. Dennis enlisted inthe U.S. Navy in 1982 and has a longhistory with Navy rescue and salvagevessels starting in 1993, when he wasassigned to then USS Grasp. Amonghis credentials are diving and salvagesupervisor and towing specialist, quali-ty assurance supervisor, master trainingspecialist and senior enlisted advisor.

Twenty-eight SEALOGLANT civil-ian and U.S. Navy Reserve personnelare currently participating in the JointLogistics Over the Shore 2007 exer-cise taking place in Puerto Quetzal,Guatemala. The Jan. 18 through March

7 exercise is a great training opportu-nity. MSC large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Soderman isparticipating, as well as two activatedReady Reserve Force ships underMSC operational control — SS Flick-ertail State and SS Cape Mohican.

Those supporting MSC inGuatemala are marine transportationspecialists Brian Hill of Norfolk,Va., and Charles LeBlanc, LyndonFlynn and Jack Davis, all of Beau-mont, Texas.

U.S. Navy Reservists assigned to theheadquarters reserve unit, the HoustonExpeditionary Port Unit, the Jack-sonville Expeditionary Port Unit andthe SEALOGLANT reserve unit areparticipating in the exercise.

6

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7

MSC names sailor of year

Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Mario Mannarino of Ship Support UnitGuam is named Military Sealift Command Shore Sailor of the Year during aceremony held at MSC headquarters Feb. 2. Mannarino was also named asMilitary Sealift Fleet Support Command’s Shore Sailor of the Year.

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Cortez MSFSC Sea Sailor of Year

USNS Mercy’s Navy Hospital Copsman 1st Class Edward Cortez is namedMilitary Sealift Fleet Support Command Sea Sailor of the Year by MSFSCExecutive Director Jack Taylor in a ceremony held Jan. 24.

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High Century near the Greek island of Crete on Jan. 24. High Century is perform-ing strategic tanker duties in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, loading anddischarging fuel at Department of Defense terminals, refineries and other logisticssupport sites throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Originally chartered in Decem-ber 2006, the ship will be in use until the end of March.

MSC sends supertanker to Med.

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Secretary of the Navy Donald C.Winter announced that a Military

Sealift Command contracting teamwon a 2006 Navy Competition andProcurement Excellence Award forchartering ships to rescue Americansstranded in Lebanon last year.

The team — Sealift Program’s KenAllen and Tim Pickering, the Contract-ng Office’s Lee Anderson, OliviaBradley and Lance Nyman and the

Legal Office’s Dan Wentzell —worked with companies and brokersfrom around the world to ensure thatmore than 6,700 Americans were res-cued and moved from war-tornLebanon to safety in Cyprus during theJuly 2006 Israeli offensive againstHezbollah militants. Though U.S. mili-tary ships also took part in the effortthat eventually rescued more than13,000 people, the MSC-charteredcruise ship Orient Queen was the firstto arrive in Lebanon. MSC chartered atotal of three ships for the operation.

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This winter, shipyard workers atthe National Steel and Shipbuild-

ing Company in San Diego madefinal preparations to deliver USNSSacagawea, the Navy’s newest drycargo/ammunition ship, to MilitarySealift Command. At the same time,the ship’s skeleton crew expanded toa full complement of 123 civil servicemariners with a military departmentof 49 active duty sailors.

“The crewing of a new vessel ofthis class has been a tremendous chal-lenge for us,” said Sacagawea’s civilservice master, Capt. George Mc-Carthy. Sacagawea is only the secondship of its class, and its predecessor,USNS Lewis and Clark, has just fin-ished its operational evaluations.

“Sacagawea is one of the largestman-made moving objects in theworld,” said McCarthy. “The crewhas brought life to her cold steel,metal, machinery and electronics.”

PPrriioorriittyy ##11:: CCrreewwiinngg“We had three priorities. First was the

crewing requirement, which was basedon USNS Lewis & Clark’s crewing ma-trix. Though most of the CIVMARs onboard were assigned from our existingMSC personnel pool as part of their nor-mal rotation, we do have several marinerswho volunteered for duty on Sacagawea,including one who has also served onUSNS Lewis and Clark,” McCarthy said.

Civil service mariner Deck MachinistHector Baorga is that volunteer.

“I was extremely happy when I heardthat I would be a part of the Sacagaweacrew. My training on Lewis and Clarkhas prepared me for this assignment and I

like sharing my previous training withmy crewmates,” Baorga said.

PPrriioorriittyy ##22:: TTrraaiinniinnggMcCarthy’s second priority was addi-

tional training for the crew. He felt fortu-nate that the mariners were identifiedearly to give them a head start on ad-vanced training requirements that beganin June 2006.

Sacagawea has numerous upgraded

systems, including state-of-the-art naviga-tion aids, cargo handling gear, automatedbridge controls, supply management sys-tems and an electric main propulsiondrive. Sacagawea and Lewis and Clarkare the first Navy ships with integratedelectric-drive propulsion systems.

To familiarize the entire crew withSacagawea’s next-generation computernetwork, communications channels, elec-trical system, fiber optics and digital con-trols, every member of the crew is receiv-ing additional classroom training in theirareas of expertise.

For example, several members of theengineering team spent three months inthe United Kingdom at the Michael Fara-day School of Engineering to train on the

new systems.Third Engineer Robert Piquion, who

spent more than 20 years working aboardNavy ships, said, “Because the systemwas designed in the U.K., the training wereceived has helped us adjust our ap-proach to engineering.” He went on toexplain that many of the British ways ofdoing things were different from U.S.norms, such as turning control knobs andvalves to the right to turn on equipment,

and to the left to secure it.“Despite many years working as an

engineer on MSC ships, the FaradaySchool provided an excellent opportunityin both classroom and hands-on trainingin the proper procedures and safety re-quirements,” said Chief Engineer RayBlanchard. “The old saying that ‘an en-gine is an engine’ does not apply. Thetraining we received will definitely aid usin our ability to safely operate the tech-nology on the ship.”

As a result of the upgrades to thebridge’s ship control equipment, the navi-gation team also received additional train-ing on the seven local area network sys-tems which will be staffed by both CIV-MAR radar electronic technicians and ac-

tive-duty Navy personnel.

PPrriioorriittyy:: ##33 LLiivviinnggThe last step was to secure all the

things the crew would need to survive onboard Sacagawea for extended periods ofunderway time.

“Finally, we tasked our chief stewardto make the ship livable: to get food, drystores, bedding, office supplies and all theother items needed to enable the crew to

live and work on board,” McCarthyconcluded.

With MSC’s official acceptance ofSacagawea on Feb. 27, the ship be-came the second of up to 11 civil-serv-ice-crewed Lewis and Clark-class

ships expected to join MSC’s Naval FleetAuxiliary Force over the next few years.The new ship class will replace the agingKilauea-class ammunition ships and theMars- and Sirius-classes of combat storesships, all of which are nearing the end oftheir service lives.

Sacagawea will deliver food, drystores, repair parts and ordnance to com-batant ships at sea, including Navy air-craft carrier and amphibious strikegroups.

After completing its sea trials and crewtraining in San Diego in March, Saca-gawea will transfer to her new operatingarea off the Atlantic Coast for continuedevaluations and become fully opera-tional in the fall of 2007.

8

Above: Shipyard workers at Na-tional Steel and ShipbuildingCompany in San Diego makefinal preperations to MilitarySealift Command dry cargo/am-munition ship USNS Sacagaweabefore the ship got underway forsea trails in February.Left: Civil service mariners as-signed to Sacagawea receivehands on training of the ship’snew propulsion plant. Lewis-and-Clark-class ships have a state-of-the-art electric propulsion systemunlike any other in the MSC fleet.

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