"Hands-On" Training Sustains Proficiency for Chung-Hoon VBSS
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS080328-26
Release Date: 3/28/2008 5:00:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James E. Foehl, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs
PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Sailors from the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) team conducted non-compliant boarding and search training March 26, while at their homeport of Naval Station Pearl Harbor.
The hands-on training served as an opportunity for the VBSS Sailors to maintain their proficiency while in port and evaluate the ship's ability to conduct boarding operations in preparation for their next deployment.
Visit, board, search and seizure is "one of the major roles the Navy plays in the global war on terrorism," said Lt. j.g. Lawrence Heyworth, force protection assistant and boarding officer for the Chung-Hoon.
As the ship entered a training environment, the VBSS team quickly manned up and dispatched via Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) to the training site, the decommissioned amphibious transport dock USS Duluth (LPD 6).
Using the "hook and pole" method, the VBSS team boarded Duluth safely from the RHIB as quickly as possible.
"What the Duluth offers us is a different and unfamiliar platform," said Master Chief Storekeeper (SW) Bryon Eichelberger, a VBSS training team member and senior enlisted advisor for the ship. "Each vessel is unique in its own way. This gives us an opportunity to get on board, practice our movements and get to the main areas that we're trying to control."
Once aboard the simulated suspect vessel, the team formed a security perimeter and moved to their objectives executing their assignments as laid out by mission planning.
"Depending on the size of the ship, we'll board with either one or two squads. A smaller boat we might go with one squad, a larger boat we'll go with two," said Heyworth.
A standard squad consists of six Sailors - a boarding officer, an engineer, a breacher and three security team members. All who are fully qualified and completed VBSS school.
The senior boarding officer on the mission is responsible for the whole team, the actions of the team and getting the mission accomplished.
"The engineer's primary role is the initial safety inspection to make sure the ship we're aboard is going to stay afloat."
Carrying the necessary equipment, the breacher has the responsibility of opening up locked spaces when they're encountered.
"Everyone else on the team is considered a security team member. Their job is to hold security and ensure the security of the boarding officer and the engineer," said Heyworth.
While searching suspect vessels, the squads look for any cargo that's not on the manifest along with any other items briefed prior to their mission.
"A lot of terrorists fund their organizations through drug money," said Heyworth. "We're specifically interested in anything that could be associated with the global war on terrorism – weapons, money, or large amounts of drugs."
During the Chung-Hoon's last deployment, their VBSS team played a critical role in the ship's mission to protect oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.
"During that time we did a lot of boardings on oil tankers that would come in to load up at the platforms. We sent our teams to board the tankers, sweep them to make sure they were safe and secure, then clear them for the oil terminal," said Eichelberger.
"Today's training was very successful. It's important for us to keep up our proficiency, especially in the non-compliant area," said Eichelberger. "You never know when you're going to get called on."
The U.S. conducts maritime interdiction operations and VBSS in international waters to prevent terrorists around the world from using the sea to transport weapons, drugs and personnel illegally and to thwart piracy.
For more news from Commander, Navy Region Hawaii, visit www.navy.mil/local/cnrh/.
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