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Wasp Air Department Proves Capabilities During AVCERT

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS050617-09
Release Date: 6/17/2005 2:04:00 PM

By Journalist First Class(SW/AW) Mark C. Schultz, USS Wasp Public Affairs

ABOARD USS WASP (NNS) -- For the first time in several months, the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) has proven its readiness to take on aircraft during an Aviation Certification (AVCERT), completed June 17.

Conducting day and night helicopter operations for a week straight, H-46s, MH-53s, UH-1s and MH-60s landed and tested each spot on Wasp’s flight deck.

“The helos were testing each spot to make sure everything was good-to-go,” said Chief Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Jamie Holt, flight deck leading chief petty officer. “It also gave our new directors and chain gang the opportunity to practice.”

Having recently completed its aviation readiness qualification (ARQ), Wasp was able to prove that its personnel were fully qualified and that the aircraft equipment was in proper working order.

“ARQ checks out all of our systems, including AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam), flight deck paint and tower operations,” said Wasp Commanding Officer Capt. Todd Miller. “They made sure our tower could handle aircraft traffic and our crash team was ready to respond in an emergency.”

Wasp's air department was at a high state of readiness, even prior to focusing on AVCERT.

“We knew this was coming and engaged early,” said Holt. “We didn’t wait to make sure everything was in place, and ended up getting qualified 15 days early. That’s time that we could have used if something had gone wrong.”

After completing a three-month maintenance availability and resurfacing the flight deck, there was still work that needed to be done.

“Coming out of the yards required us to rework all of our equipment, and it all had to be done before AVCERT,” said Aviation Support Equipment Technician 2nd Class(SW/AW) Howard Williams. “The biggest thing is making sure the P-25 crash truck is up and running. If it goes down, we have to man all the hoses on the flight deck during flight operations.”

With AVCERT out of the way, “there is no limit to what we can do,” said Holt.

Aviation certification is just one of many steps Wasp must take before becoming surge deployable.

“The training environment we are in is just one building block,” said Miller. “We are early in our training phase and will add more complex blocks to our schedule until our final evaluation problem in late July.