Navy Deploys Amphibious Hovercraft to Transport Relief to Katrina's Victims
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS050902-24
Release Date: 9/2/2005 5:14:00 PM
By Dan Broadstreet, Naval Sea Systems Command Warfighting Center Panama City Public Affairs
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (NNS) -- Supported by local merchants’ donations, Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City (NSWC PC) rallied personnel Aug. 31 to load Landing Craft, Air Cushion, (LCAC) with food and fresh water for transport to residents devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
Currently, three LCACs from NSWC PC are participating in the relief effort. They are being crewed by NSWC PC civilian and Navy personnel and by Navy personnel from Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 4 from Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, Norfolk, Va.
“The [LCACs] are capable of operating in relatively shallow water,” explained Capt. Vito Jimenez, the warfare center’s commanding officer. Jimenez explained that that and the craft’s heavy load bearing capability made it an ideal platform for the transport of people, heavy machinery, and emergency relief supplies.
Official tasking for NSWC PC’S mission came from the U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Task Force early Aug. 31, according to Jimenez.
Steve Segrest, head of the expeditionary warfare department organized the acceptance of goods from the local community and coordinated efforts to load supplies aboard the LCACs. The LCACs are operating from USS Bataan (LHD 5).
Segrest commended Panama City’s merchants for their rushed contributions of non-perishables.
“Panama City’s response was overwhelming,” Segrest said. “Almost all of our major supermarkets, as well as Bay County’s District Schools, donated so generously that we just want to thank them for their compassionate assistance,” he said.
Donations also came from Sarasota, Fla., according to Lt. j.g. James Bostik, officer-in-charge of LCAC 8, assigned to the Little Creek, Va.,-based ACU 4. He added that a Sarasota company had donated collapsible water bladders capable of holding up to 20,000 gallons of water.
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