Bataan Completes First Underway Replenishment in Year
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS080624-09
Release Date: 6/24/2008 4:46:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class (SW) Patrick Gearhiser, USS Bataan Public Affairs
USS BATAAN At Sea (NNS) -- The multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) conducted her first replenishment at sea (RAS) in a year, June 20, with the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Leroy Grumman (T-AO 195).
"To help gets us back into the habit, we only took aboard 24 pallets of supplies," Cmdr. Frank Hruska, Bataan's supply officer said. "This gave us more than enough time to walk through the steps with no pressure while allowing us to test the equipment."
"On the next un-rep, we will bring aboard 50 pallets and soon we will be ready for a [regular] un-rep again," he continued.
This preparation helped remind Sailors aboard Bataan of the procedures and dangers involved in conducting a RAS.
"In a RAS, the pallets are very heavy; the wires between the ships can be very dangerous, and a person could fall overboard," Hruska added. "Like anything else you do for the first time in a long time, you have to take it slow, in incremental steps so people get into the habit of doing it again."
Even though it has been a year since Bataan's last RAS, the crew performed admirably, according to the ship's leadership.
"I could not tell that it had been 364 days since our last RAS," said Hruska with pride. "Deck department has been well-trained and it showed during today's evolution. It's a great accomplishment and a reflection on our training that we did so well after not doing it for so long."
During the RAS, Bataan also took aboard 323,000 gallons of aviation fuel and 158,000 gallons of diesel fuel for the ship. The ship is on her way to Boston to take part in Harborfest 2008.
For more news from USS Bataan, visit www.navy.mil/local/lhd5/.
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