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USS Bataan Passes Final Evaluation Period

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050408-04
Release Date: 4/8/2005 2:13:00 PM

By Journalist Seaman Joanne Devera, USS Bataan Public Affairs

ATLANTIC OCEAN (NNS) -- USS Bataan (LHD 5) completed Final Evaluation Period (FEP) earlier than scheduled while underway off the coast of Virginia March 28 through April 1.

FEP was the final step Bataan needed to complete the Basic Phase of training. The Type Commander is responsible for the training criteria, mainly focused on basic command and control, weapons employment, mobility (navigation, seamanship, damage control, engineering and flight operations) and warfare specialty.

"Passing FEP means we are certified and able to deploy at a moment's notice," said Information Systems Technician 1st Class (SW/AW) Bryan Elliott, the ship's training department leading petty officer. "If a big incident occurs overseas and a ship needs to be there, Bataan can go. Her crew proved itself to be proficient enough, so she is surge-deployable."

Along with FEP, Bataan had to complete the Command Assessment of Readiness and Training (CART II), Tailored Ship's Training Availability (TSTA I/II/III), and Specialty Training in order to complete the Basic Phase.

CART II is a performance-based assessment of readiness in all mission areas with the exception of the amphibious, mine and salvage areas. CART II identifies which areas need further training during TSTA, which focuses on the ship's self-training capability through training teams. Specialty Training consists of specialized warfare training for amphibious-class ships. FEP demonstrates a ship's ability to conduct multiple simultaneous combat missions and survive complex casualty control situations under stressful conditions.

"Earning the certification speaks very well for the crew, its leadership and the training teams who got us exactly where we need to be," said Capt. Nora W. Tyson, Bataan's commanding officer. "We've met our goal and once again, Bataan has set the standard."

Bataan deployed to the Persian Gulf for three months in January 2004, then had a six-month shipyard maintenance availability period. She began preparing to tackle and pass FEP before she got out of the shipyards in the Fall.

"We underwent a fairly long yard period, and in those six months, we had a large personnel turnover," said Elliott. "It was very important that we got all of those new people the training they needed."

"About 230 new Sailors checked onboard while we were in the yards," said Chief Personnelman (SW) Joseph Gomez, executive department division officer. "Training each one of them was very critical, because most of them didn't really get the chance to even walk around the ship until we moved back there from the barge in early October."

With the numerous drills, there were Sailors who had questions about why so much time was spent training. They may not have realized that FEP was just one part of a much bigger picture.

"Our mission is warfighting, and everything we do is in support of that mission," said Tyson. "It is to ensure that this ship is the most capable warfighting platform to help win the global war on terrorism in order to preserve our freedoms, the freedoms of our families and future generations."

As Bataan carries out her everyday missions, the Sailors aboard can carry a sense of pride, knowing all of the drills they just wanted to "get through" made the mighty warship a certified surge-deployable warship.