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Monterey, HSL-46 Wrap Up Work-ups

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060418-02
Release Date: 4/18/2006 11:12:00 AM

By Journalist 2nd Class (SW) Katherine Favell, USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs

USS MONTEREY, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Monterey (CG 61) and Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron (Light) (HSL) 46 "Grandmasters” Det. 1 completed “Week one work-ups” (WOWU) April 11 while operating in the U.S. Southern Command.

WOWU is the qualification period necessary to validate the basic flight proficiency of Air Department crew members, from maintenance personnel to pilots.

During WOWU, personnel are graded on their ability to perform basic flight operations and flight-based damage control efforts on a non-carrier platform safely and efficiently.

“The small-deck environment is a little more confined and can be more dangerous than that of an aircraft carrier,” HSL-46 Det. 1's Operations Officer, Lt. James Williamson, said. “We have to make sure we stay up to speed and can work together with the ship’s crew to perform any flight operations necessary.”

The assessment is a week of day and nighttime flight quarters and various safety exercises, like a lost aircraft drill and smoke-guided landing.

Williamson said as a team, interaction and integration between flight deck crew, pilots, air crew members, maintenance personnel, damage controlmen and navigation personnel have to be nearly seamless to be successful.

The WOWU qualification is requisite for any deployment of two months or more, and will qualify Det. 1 and Monterey for flight operations throughout the next year.

“It feels good to have that completed so we can move on to more advanced training,” said Ensign Charles Egli, Monterey’s Combat Information Center officer. “We are not a complete warship without our Air Department. By supporting them, we ensure we’re fully capable of narco-terrorism operations or anything else that might come up.”

Monterey deployed April 4 as part of the George Washington Carrier Strike Group and is operating in the U.S. Southern Command region, returning to her homeport in Norfolk, Va., later this spring. The deployment is in support of “Partnership of the Americas,” designed to enhance regional maritime security and strengthen ties through operations and exercises with Caribbean and Latin American partner nations.