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USS O'Kane underway for deployment

Hawai'i Navy News

1/18/2003

By Lt. j.g. Andrea Oac USS O'Kane Public Affairs Officer

Families and friends said goodbye to the officers and crew of USS O'KANE (DDG 77) January 17th, as they began their second deployment. The ship deploys as the United States is repositioning some of its military forces where required to prepare for and support the President's campaign against terrorism and to support efforts to identify, locate, and hold accountable terrorists and those who support and harbor them.

After an innovative work up period, the crew of USS O'KANE is prepared to set sail on Pearl Harbor's newest and finest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, eight months ahead of her scheduled deployment date. O'KANE's crewmembers are top notch, all with exceptional achievements in the Navy and the community. Testimony to this is that the ship was just recognized as the CNO Good Neighbor Community Service Flagship Award Recipient for 2002.

During pre-deployment training in San Diego, O'KANE demonstrated her proficiency in multi-mission platform capabilities against land, air, surface and subsurface targets. She returned to Pearl Harbor in early December, just in time to participate in the Pearl Harbor December 7th Commemorative events. During the month long stay in Pearl Harbor; O'Kane's crew hosted many visitors including the men's basketball team from Tennessee Tech, social workers from the Honolulu's Veterans Association, and countless family members and friends.

The crew of over 350 Sailors also took advantage of the holiday stand down period to spend time with loved ones. The command hosted two family informative nights to prepare Sailors and their families for deployment. Representatives from Chaplain, Family Services, Navy Legal, Tricare, and the Public Affairs Office presented informative briefs to their families on services available on the island. The focus of family night was to equip Sailors and their families to handle pressing matters such as filing taxes, replacing ID cards or registering motor vehicles.

"I'm ready to get out there and join in on the action," said FC2 McQueen. "Deployment, that's where the rubber meets the road," he added.

And so the next chapter in the ship's command history begins. History will mark this day, January 17th, 2003, when O'Kane departs Pearl Harbor and sets sail across the Pacific.