Air Defense Cruiser Lives in the Shadow of America's Big Stick
Story Number: NNS030219-09
Release Date: 2/19/2003 12:38:00 PM
By Journalist 3rd Class Kathryn J. Whittenberger, USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs
ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND USS ANZIO, At Sea (NNS) -- "All engines ahead full."
"All engines ahead full aye. All engines ahead full."
"Very well."
This exchange is common on any ship's bridge, but aboard USS Anzio (CG 68), it takes on an earnestness seldom seen on other ships.
"We protect the carrier battle group," said Anzio's first lieutenant, Ensign Kevin Ducharme, a New Englander. "Our job is to protect it from hostile aircraft, ensuring the battle group can launch its strike packages successfully."
Anzio is the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Battle Group (TRBATGRU) air defense commander.
"Anzio is dedicated to looking at the air defense capabilities of the battle group," TRBATGRU Commander Rear Adm. John Harvey said.
Anzio has to sort out all air traffic for the entire battle group, including who is in the air, where they are going and if they are a threat, he said. With TRBATGRU moving into the Mediterranean Sea, Anzio will have to identify both civilian aircraft and all of the military aircraft in the area.
"In terms of maintaining situational awareness, it's going to be very, very busy," Harvey said.
"Our ship's mission is to act as air defense commander for the carrier and to provide air support," Personnelman 1st Class Christopher Sutherland said.
The Commander Destroyer Squadron 2 Sailor of the Year and Duluth, Minn., native has been aboard Anzio for two years.
"Our other responsibilities are Tomahawk strikes and anti-submarine warfare," he said.
An additional role played by Anzio is plane guard, during which the cruiser stays 3,000 yards astern of Theodore Roosevelt. They are positioned so they can best recover downed aircraft, as well as act as an extended set of "runway lights" for pilots at night.
In executing its mission as plane guard, it was Anzio that swung by and picked up the salvageable pieces of the F-14 Tomcat that went down a week ago.
It's all part of a day's work to the crew of Anzio.
"The crew is filled with quiet resolve," said Anzio's Command Master Chief Roger McCormack, a native of Dumont, N.J. "We know what we have to do to get our job done."
"We're here to do a job, and we're really good at it," said Seaman Kevin Brinson.
The Rochester, N.Y., native is Anzio's Bluejacket of the Quarter.
"You can tell we're improving. When we first started workups, there were a lot of officers and chiefs sitting at the consoles," he said. "Now, the 1st and 2dn classes stand the watches, and they are training even more junior folks to take their positions."
"I like our assignment in the battle group," said Sutherland. "We're very involved operationally. It's definitely a full time job. When we get into the Med, everyone's focus will be on combat."
Even with the focus shift, training is a priority on Anzio, and everyone has a role to play when it comes to damage control.
"We need to be able to save Anzio. If a missile comes in past our defenses, we're going to be hit by it to protect the carrier," Brinson said.
With a crew of fewer than 400, Anzio has a unique environment in which everyone gives each other a hand.
"I think that with the small crew, you get the full benefit of the Navy," Seaman Kevin Batson, from Forestville, Md., said. "You work with everyone on a face-to-face basis."
"On a carrier, you might have airedales who only know some of the other airedales," said Ducharme. "Here, the guys down in Damage Control Central know all of the guys in the Combat Direction Center by name."
Even with the tight-knit crew, there are still a lot of questions about what the future holds.
"We have a lot better quality of life than my other ships I've served on. It took me coming here to realize how important that is," said Sutherland. "But it's hard not knowing what's going to happen next week."
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
