STARS AND STRIPES
| Problems corrected, USS John F. Kennedy ready to go By Rick Chernitzer, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Monday, February 25, 2002 An EA-6B Prowler electonic warfare aircraft launches off the No. 1 catapult Feb. 12 from the flight deck. |
ABOARD THE USS JOHN F. KENNEDY - The USS John F. Kennedy Battle Group is ready to
rumble.
The 34-year-old aircraft carrier is trying to redeem itself after a readiness and
leadership crisis.
The Navy reported Feb. 16 the battle group earned its ticket to deploy after completing
a Joint Task Force Exercise, or JTFEX. The exercise tests the battle group's ability
to fight and was the last step in the pre-deployment training cycle.
It also may have been the last step in a painful odyssey for the Mayport, Fla.,-based
carrier. After a failed readiness inspection in December, called an INSURV, several top
officers aboard the Kennedy, including the commanding officer and the engineering officer,
were relieved. INSURV stands for the organization that conducted the tests, the Board of
Inspection and Survey.
Navy inspectors discovered many failures and degraded performance in vital equipment,
including the ship's aircraft elevators and catapults.
The Kennedy "could not prudently demonstrate safe and reliable underway
operations," said Navy Capt. David Denis in his December preliminary inspection
report. Denis is the commander of the Atlantic Fleet's Board of Inspection and
Survey.
In news reports, Denis said three of the ship's four aircraft elevators, used to
bring aircraft from the hangar deck to the flight deck, were inoperable; two of the four
catapults that launch aircraft were in bad shape, and the flight deck's firefighting
equipment was "seriously degraded."
He also noted the ship's propulsion system was "unsafe for operation,"
and that topside corrosion "was the worst observed in three years."
As a result, the ship underwent a $15 million marathon repair period, with sailors
working around the clock to get the ship ready for deployment. Added to this was a
decision, made before the inspection, that Kennedy would deploy two months early to
support Operation Enduring Freedom. That January deployment was put in jeopardy. Christmas
leave for many sailors was canceled.
The Kennedy is expected to relieve the USS Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group in the
Persian Gulf sometime next month.
"I know what was broken, I know what's been fixed. I'm very confident
that we're safe and reliable, which was our criteria," said Capt. Ronald
Henderson, the fourth carrier commander since December.
Henderson, who assumed command Feb. 12, said the crew's dedication is why the ship
passed all its INSURV requirements earlier this month during sea trials.
"It wasn't the sailors who put the Kennedy in the position they're in,
it was the sailors who got Kennedy ready to go," he said.
Henderson reported to the Kennedy on Jan. 9, following a command tour aboard the
Sasebo-based amphibious transport dock USS Juneau.
Problems fixed
Capt. Rich Burna, the ship's new engineering officer, has a plaque hanging in his
office with a length of fuel pipe. The pipe, rusted through, is a small piece of the
hundreds of feet of pipe replaced during the shipyard period.
It's an example of the old saying that the paint was the only thing holding it
together, he said.
"I'm very confident that this ship is ready. It wouldn't have sailed if
it wasn't ready," Burna, 54, said.
The engineering department carried the bulk of the work, which included repairing
critical valves, boilers, elevators and catapults.
"I hear sailors tell me they're seeing equipment work that hasn't been
operational in two years," said Burna, who reported aboard the Kennedy in December.
The INSURV board member said it's possible that some equipment could have been out
of commission for that long.
"We only do an inspection every three to five years," he said, adding that
board members look at engineering logs and other documentation to see the history of
equipment maintenance.
One of those engineers, Petty Officer 3rd Class Branden Langford, said he remembers
"difficult and long hours" during the repair period.
"We were in two-section duty the whole time," he said. "You'd work
a regular day on your nonduty day, and like 18 hours on your duty day. But it all paid off
... we're out to sea."
Years of neglect?
Henderson wouldn't comment on what he feels was the cause for the Kennedy's
poor showing on its December INSURV. Many crewmembers, however, said they think the blame
lies with years of neglect. The Kennedy was a reserve carrier for several years before it
was brought back to active duty in October 2000.
In news reports, Capt. Maurice Joyce, the ship's commanding officer at the time of
the inspection, defended his ship's abilities. He said the inspection occurred on
"a bad day for the Big John and she burped. But, the week before, she was
glorious."
Joyce told a Florida Times-Union reporter in December the ship had spent the week prior
to INSURV at sea, qualifying more than 200 pilots to land on carriers. Problems with the
catapults and other equipment developed during these qualifications.
"We had a really bad day when we had INSURV," said Petty Officer 2nd Class
Tony Slover, an interior communications technician. "The day before, the majority of
everything was working. But the day the inspectors came aboard, a lot of stuff crapped out
on us. And we got hit really hard for that.
"We're paying for 15 years of neglect."
Several Kennedy crewmembers say Joyce was railroaded by the Navy, and the blame for
years of disrepair was pinned on him. Joyce had been in command for a year. Many sailors
said the problems that sunk the Kennedy on INSURV took years to develop.
"Capt. Joyce got screwed from Day 1," Slover said.
"All I can say [is], he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," said
Petty Officer 1st Class Kenneth Kawalek, 43. "It could have been anybody, but it just
happened to be Capt. Joyce."
Naval Air Forces Atlantic spokesman Mike Maus refused to comment on the allegations.
Rear Adm. Mike Malone, commander of Naval Air Forces Atlantic, based in Norfolk, Va.,
fired Joyce days after the inspection.
Joyce, who has since been reassigned to the staff of Commander Navy Region Southeast in
Florida, said he could not comment on what his sailors thought about his being relieved.
"I appreciate the concern and support from my former shipmates," he said.
He agreed, however, that some of the problems existed before he arrived.
"I will say that most of the problems noted by the INSURV team were already well
documented and, as acknowledged by the chain of command, many were long standing from
years of underfunding.
"Overcoming the backlog of maintenance required significant funding and time,
neither of which we had during my 13 months in command."
Confidence is high
Henderson said he's hopeful the public has not lost confidence in the ship or its
sailors. One letter to the Virginian-Pilot, a Norfolk newspaper, expressed concerns about
the ship.
"Will the Kennedy crew come home after it leaves?" wrote Karen Moore, whose
husband is attached to the ship. "I worry that this ship is destined for
disaster."
Still other letters voiced support for the ship, accusing reporters of blowing the
problems out of proportion. In commenting on reports of an accident aboard ship during a
refueling exercise earlier this month, Jess Elliot said, "It was a clear example of,
'If there isn't a story, let's create one.'"
Regardless of what's been published about the Kennedy, Henderson said he believes
in the ship and his sailors.
"The crew has got a lot of dedication," he said. "They know what
they're doing . and that they're focused."
The consensus among sailors is their ship is finally ready to deploy.
But that "thumbs-up" is made with some hesitation.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Giovanni Quiroz, 26, assigned to VFA-131 at Oceana Naval Air
Station in Virginia Beach, Va., said he was "skeptical" about when the carrier
would deploy.
"I was pretty nervous about it," he said. "I was worried the ship
wouldn't be able to support the mission we were expected to do."
But Petty Officer 1st Class Jim Fails, assigned to VF-11 at Oceana Naval Air Station
said he's "not one bit" worried about the Kennedy going to the Persian
Gulf. The 41-year-old aviation machinist's mate said all the controversy surrounding
the Kennedy "doesn't bother me. I knew we were going to have to go out sooner or
later."
Petty Officer 1st Class Jerry McCammon, 43, said what happened to the Kennedy
wasn't as bad as people make it out to be.
"In my 19 years in the Navy, this wasn't the worst situation I've
seen," McCammon, a hull technician, said. "Did the ship perform poorly at
INSURV? Yes. Is it enough to hold the ship back from doing its job? No, not in my opinion.
There were problems, and even after all the repairs, there will be more problems.
It's a 34-year-old ship. What do you expect?"
Joyce said he believes his former crew is special because of the unique problems that
come with older ships.
"JFK was, and is a great ship because she has a magnificent crew that has to work
harder then most. They remain in my thoughts, and my wife and I wish them Godspeed on
their mission."
The USS John F. Kennedy's Web site is at
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