Wasp Operations Department Makes Changes Under ESG
Navy Newsstand
Story Number: NNS031230-02
Release Date: 12/29/2003 11:00:00 PM
By Journalist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Derrik M. Ingle', USS Wasp Public Affairs
ABOARD USS WASP, At Sea (NNS) -- The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and six other ships have formed the Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 2, which will be the East Coast's first ESG.
About 6,300 Sailors and Marines completed an Expeditionary Strike Group Exercise (ESGEX) Dec. 19, testing the new concept and learning new ways to operate.
While many roles aboard Wasp remain the same, the ship's operations department is now working double-time being the eyes for not only Wasp's operations, but for all seven ships. From intelligence specialists to cryptologic technicians, the ship's most vigilant department is on the lookout for friends and foes of ESG-2.
"We have many more responsibilities to adjust to under the ESG," said Chief Operations Specialist (SW) Zachary Williams, the Combat Information Center's leading chief petty officer. "The biggest difference in going from and ARG [amphibious ready group] to ESG is the command and control structure. We're a set up a lot like a modified aircraft carrier group. Our focus is still landing Marines, yet with the addition of the other ships, we have more responsibilities. It's more complicated than an ARG. However, the other ships enable us to cover more warfare areas, which makes us less vulnerable to attacks."
The three-week exercise, which ended Dec. 17, made use of Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and operating areas in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, and involved complex strike group training events, naval surface fire support training and air-to-ground bombing. ESGEX was designed to forge the strike group into a cohesive, fighting team and is a critical step in the pre-deployment training cycle.
Wasp ESG will be the first expeditionary strike group to deploy from the East Coast and was the first ESG to exercise using the range at Eglin Air Force Base as part of the comprehensive Training Resource Strategy. Under this plan, ships and aircraft will use existing East and Gulf Coast range training facilities and improved simulation technology now available to the fleet.
As an ARG, Wasp typically went out to sea with two other amphibious ships. Today, the flagship is guarded by two cruisers, USS Yorktown (CG 48) and USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55); the destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74); the attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22); and two traditional amphibious ships, USS Shreveport (LPD 12) and USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41). The ESG is superior to the ARG with its anti-air, surface and subsurface capabilities.
"The submarine, cruisers and destroyer will give us the offensive threat we lacked as an ARG," said Electronics Warfare Technician 3rd Class Vincent Roesch, a weapons technician in operations. "We are now able to use a Light Airborne Mapping Projection System [LAMPS], which enables us extend the range of our defense equipment through helicopters. It lets us use over the horizon targeting by enabling us to launch weapons from other ships within the group. We'll be able to see what they see. We'll fire from the ship closest in range which means quicker countermeasures, more enemy interception, and a safer drop off for the Marines."
With Wasp approaching its second deployment in support of the global war on terrorism, operations' personnel were anything but reluctant to leave Norfolk for ESG exercises.
"During ESGEX, we've been training on our capabilities to track down the enemy," said Cryptologic Technician (Collection) 2nd Class Ralph Godwin, a native of El Paso, Texas. "This is our most intense training phase. It's not just about transporting Marines anymore. As a CT [cryptologic technician], we have to know who's in the water, who's our ally and who's not. We've been drilling on spotting low flying aircraft and enemy vessels. We have to ensure the security of six ships along with our own. Being out to sea gives us a realistic picture of how to defend the group."
From jets leaving the flight deck, to LCACs in the well deck, the department's air traffic controllers, operations specialists, and even the photographer's mates maintain a watchful eye on both the surface and aviation side of the strike group. However, it is the department's meteorologists who truly have a preview of the big picture.
"We provide the most accurate weather data to dictate operations that can be executed within the strike group," explained Aerographer's Mate 1st Class Richard Rainer of Burlington, Vt. "We brief the commanding officer, the strike group commander and the commander of Amphibious Group 2 six times a day regarding meteorological reports. We use solar-lunar, tide and radar data.
"Weather is a crucial part of all shipboard operations," Rainer continued. "We're sending aviation reports to USS Leyte Gulf and anti-submarine data to USS Connecticut. Wasp is a weather lab for the entire ESG. This exercise has been rough, yet three weeks is a small sacrifice to be better prepared for a six-month deployment."
Aside from long exercises, longer hours and bigger responsibilities, personnel are honored to be a part of the Navy's second expeditionary strike group.
"We're setting the pace," said Intelligence Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Wade Gettle, who's in charge of intelligence imagery indication. "We already have external IS [intelligence specialist] professionals seeking us for tips on how our roles changed as an ESG. As an IS, we have to disseminate more information to various war commanders in 5th and 6th Fleets. We've gone from one work center to three: imagery, all source and expeditionary plot.
"With the new ships, we have a better tactical look at each scenario and possible enemies," Gettle continued. "We're implementing power projection over the horizon now. I'm proud to be a part of this. We're giving terrorists the message that the Navy is ever-changing and ever-expanding."
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