• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

GW Combat Systems Dept. Proves Readiness

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS130521-10
5/21/2013

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Eric D. Moorer

YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington's (CVN 73) Combat Systems Department recently completed a two-week readiness assessment, May 17.

A Combat Systems, Command, Control, Communications and Computer Readiness Assessment (C5RA) consists of more than 5,000 checks that verify missile fire controls, radio systems, radars and TV systems.

'C5RA is important because it improves the overall combat systems readiness of George Washington,' said Cmdr. Erik Marshburn, George Washington's combat systems officer. 'With the operational schedule that [George Washington] maintains, it is imperative that the combat systems suite is operating at peak performance.'

In order to make sure that combat systems were prepared for the assessment, the check with all the equipment began weeks in advance.

'We went through all of our equipment and systems to make sure they were all in good working condition,' said Information Systems Technician 1st Class Demario Smith.

The tests involve turning on and operating each piece of equipment in order to check for broken or missing parts.

'We receive a list of all discrepancies with costs of associated repair parts,' said Marshburn. '[Combat Systems] Sailors fix the discrepancies during the assessment when able. If they can't fix an issue, the C5RA team will put these inconsistencies in our current ships maintenance plan for tracking and parts ordering. The real power of C5RA is that it brings with it money for those repair parts.'

Combat systems performed well during this year's assessment.

'There was vast improvement from last year's assessment,' said Marshburn. 'That is a tribute to the caliber of the Sailors that combat systems has. They take a great deal of pride in their equipment.'

The successful completion of this year's assessment signifies that combat systems is prepared for the ship's upcoming patrol.

'It's a tremendous feeling to have [C5RA] completed so that we can get to sea,' said Smith. 'It was a great learning experience having the subject matter experts on board.'

The USS George Washington (CVN-73) and its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, provide a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interest of the U.S. and its allies and partners in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.