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Mine Watch: The First Line of Defense

Navy NewStand

Story Number: NNS030307-15
Release Date: 3/7/2003 2:17:00 PM

By Journalist 1st Class Sonya Ansarov, USS Bataan Public Affairs

ABOARD USS BATAAN, At Sea (NNS) -- Since the Revolutionary War, naval warships have sailed in fear of an "unseen" weapon. As technologically advanced as the Navy is today, it still haunts the oceans and seas, lurking below the water's surface, quietly waiting for just the right time to strike.

Over time, mines have been recognized as an effective instrument of war, one that is still a very real threat to today's Navy.

Several thousand underwater mines were placed in the Gulf waters during the first Gulf War, and even though U.S. and coalition minesweepers removed more than 13,000 mines from the Gulf, some could still remain.

Bataan's crew understands the threat and is ready to detect these mines through its first line of defense, the mine watch.

"The mine watch is stood daily from sun up to sun down on the bow. During flight quarters, the watch is moved to the forecastle," said Senior Chief Operations Specialist David Brown, leading chief petty officer for the ship's operations department. "The Bataan saw fit to establish this watch after USS Tripoli (LPH 10) and USS Princeton (CG 59) were hit by mines during the first Gulf War."

The crew of Bataan went a step further when establishing the watch - creating a mine watch chair to protect watchstanders from the elements, particularly the heat of the Arabian Gulf.

"I was asked to create a chair with a canopy to help shade and protect the watchstanders from the intense heat of the sun, which, in the summer time, temperatures can reach as high as 120 degrees in the Gulf. The watch will be out there all day broken into shifts, with one person standing the watch for three to four hours," said Hull Maintenance Technician 1st Class Ronnie Patillo.

With the help of Hull Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Thomas Higginbotham and others from their shop, Patillo designed and created a canopy frame for a chair that came out of the damage control shop. "We just looked at the chair and started building the canopy frame, and the PR (aircrew survival equipmentman) shop sewed the actual canopy for the frame," said Higginbotham. "We also made the canopy frame removable to make the chair easier to carry."

Cryptologic Technician (Communications) 3rd Class Keyla Garcia says she is thankful for the new mine watch chair. "I stood this watch during the last deployment, and I found it hard to see when the sun was bright," said Garcia. "Since the chair has a canopy, I'm protected and shaded from the sun, and it improves visibility by decreasing the glare on the water."

The combined effort of the operations department, hull technician shop and the aircrew survival equipmentman paraloft helped make this very important watch more effective.

Patillo concluded, "It makes me feel proud knowing that I built something that my fellow shipmates can use to help keep us safe from a threat that's so lethal."

The ship and embarked Marines are components of Amphibious Task Force East. The ship and crew left its home port of Norfolk, Va., in January for an unscheduled deployment in support of the global war on terrorism. This is the ship's third deployment since its commissioning in September 1997.