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USS Peleliu Begins Training Cycle

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS021119-11

Release Date: 11/19/2002 9:31:00 AM

By Journalist 2nd class Joshua Smith, USS Peleliu Public Affairs

ABOARD USS PELELIU, At Sea (NNS) -- Over the last few months, amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) underwent a comprehensive overhaul at National Steel and Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard in San Diego.

After wrapping up operations in the shipyard, Peleliu is now back at Naval Station San Diego putting the finishing touches on the overhaul.

Now that the overhaul is nearly complete, Peleliu Sailors have the daunting task of getting the ship and new personnel up to speed and ready for their deployment to the Western Pacific in 2003.

Peleliu's first milestone since pulling out of dry dock was successfully passing the light-off assessment (LOA) administered by Afloat Training Group (ATG) Pacific.

LOA is an important process for a ship. Before a ship can light off, its engineering plant must be inspected by ATG to ensure that it is in proper condition for light off. During LOA, ATG also assesses the crew's firefighting capabilities by running general quarters (GQ) drills.

For weeks, Peleliu Sailors put in extra hours and came in on the weekends to prepare for the upcoming LOA. During those weeks, the crew ran countless GQ drills as part of their light-off assessment.

"I was kind of worried about passing the LOA, not because I don't think we had trained hard enough, but because we have so many new personnel on the ship who have never been through one before. The more senior guys in the repair lockers worked really hard getting them trained at their new jobs in the lockers, and it paid off," said Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Christopher Mundt, a repair locker investigator. "We even got some of the new junior personnel qualified in multiple locker responsibilities."

Although everyone on the ship contributed to the overall success of LOA, Peleliu's engineering department deserves the lion's share of accolades.

Each Sailor in engineering had a vital role in the successful completion of the assessment. The machinist's mates got the main spaces up to speed. Engineman took care of the auxiliary spaces, and the damage controlman, hull technicians and machinery repairmen made sure repair locker personnel were qualified at their GQ stations.

LOA is just one step in Peleliu's long road to readiness to carry out another deployment in defense of the nation. In the months to come, Peleliu will face many more challenges, but through proper training and leadership, the crew will be ready to meet them head on.