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Curts Sailors Bring New Capabilities, Friendship to India

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS030715-08

Release Date: 7/15/2003 3:08:00 PM

By Lt.j.g. Leonardo Giovannelli, USS Curts Public Affairs

ABOARD USS CURTS, At Sea (NNS) -- The crew of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Curts (FFG 38) logged a couple of firsts July 8-12, as the first surface combatant to take part in the annual South Asia Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX), and the first U.S. Navy ship in more than a year to visit Chennai, India.

The port visit was in conjunction with the third SAREX, a multilateral exercise designed to train exercise participants and enhance cooperation on regional nighttime search and rescue procedures. The exercise included forces and observers from India, La Reunion, Mauritius, Maldives, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and the United States.

Along with a large crowd of Indian media, the Honorable Michael Thomas, acting U.S. consul general in Chennai, as well as representatives from the Indian navy, greeted Curts on the pier July 8 and toured the ship.

Cmdr. Bryan T. Caraveo, Curts' commanding officer, called on Commodore T. Hari, Indian navy officer-in-charge of Tamil Nadu, India's most southern state. Meeting aboard the Indian ship INS Adyar, Hari and Caraveo spoke about their experiences in the Navy, and both commented about the many similarities between the two countries' navies.

After their meeting, they met with representatives from the other participating nations, and each outlined the search and rescue organizations in their countries.

During a press conference held that afternoon aboard Curts, Caraveo commented to the Indian press that "the purpose of the exercise is to learn how to better save lives at sea, and to continue to develop the relationships between the participating countries."

The underway phase of the exercise consisted of the Indian Coast Guard ship Varaha simulating a vessel in distress at night. Its emergency signal was detected, and a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion from Patrol Squadron (VP) 40 based in Whidbey Island, Wash., which was also participating in the exercise, was vectored in to search for the distressed vessel. Once the P-3 found the distressed vessel, the Indian OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel) Sukanya launched its Sea King helicopter and simulated rescuing survivors. Once its mission was completed, the Sea King flew to Curts, where it landed, was refueled and then returned to Chennai.

At daybreak, after intercepting the Varaha, Curts launched its small boat and a team led by Lt. j.g. Scott Maloney, the ship's damage control assistant, boarded Varaha to demonstrate damage control and life saving techniques.

"The crew of the Varaha was very interested and asked many questions during our demonstration," said Engineman 1st Class (SW) Gary Wilson from Brooklyn, N.Y.

After the demonstration, Varaha's commanding officer invited the boarding team for refreshments.

After their return to Chennai, all the participants met to discuss the exercise and see how it might be improved in the future. "This exercise is a good beginning," Hari said. "Every unit involved has done well in this exercise, and when we learn together, we will be able to work together."

During each of their debriefs, all of the participants commented that there was a need to standardize rescue and firefighting equipment throughout the countries, so as to allow for compatibility when operating in a combined environment.

In addition to their exercise participation, Curts Sailors had the opportunity to enjoy some rest and relaxation in Chennai. Many of them explored the local shopping, food and landmarks. Approximately 40 crew members also took part in two different community-relations projects. The first was at Rasa Center, where the Sailors helped renovate the bathroom facilities to make them handicap accessible for the children, as well as handing out toys and playing with the children. The second site was the Vidya Nivas Primary School, where the Sailors made a sandbox and benches for their courtyard and also painted the outside walls of the building. They concluded their stay at Vidya Nivas by handing out toys, new chairs and tables for the classroom.

"It was a wonderful experience. At one point, the children grabbed some paint brushes and started helping us paint," said Operations Specialist 1st Class (SW) Leland Urdy, an Austin, Texas, native. "When we finished all the work, they sang us a song. I'm really happy I had a chance to help the kids like this."

Curts, in the midst of a scheduled deployment to 7th Fleet, is currently participating in the Singapore phase of exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), and earlier took part in CARAT's Thailand phase.

The ship was commissioned in 1983 and named after the former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Maurice E. Curts, and has been part of the U.S. Naval Reserve since Sept. 30, 1998. Curts is based in San Diego.