Ashland (LSD 48) - Naval Cruise Book

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where the Navy ' s premier amphibious gator will spend Christmas and New Year ' s. 26 December: Mount Vesuvius was in the distance and tlags were tlying in the breeze as forty crewmembers of Little Creek-based USS ASHLAND (LSD 48) were promoted to Petty Officer or the next rank of Petty Officer on December 24th. The promotions were not gifts, though they were awarded on Christmas Eve. They were the result of training and tests conducted during ASHLAND ' s Mediter- ranean deployment. The promotions were appreciated during this holiday spent far from home. It was kind of ironic, being frocked on Christmas Eve, said newly promoted BM3 Todd Faulkner. The snow was on the mountains, and it was a nice background. It would ' ve been nicer to be frocked at Little Creek, but if we couldn ' t be there. Naples is a good place for it. ASHLAND moored at Naples December 21st, beginning a two week visit to this southern Italian city, over the Christmas and New Years holiday. During the rest of this Christmas week, ASHLAND sailors and embarked Marines toured the city and surrounding areas. One of the largest tours went to Rome for the Christmas Midnight Mass at the Vatican. There, under ceilings painted by Michelangelo, Sailors and Marines listened to Pope John Paul M ' s Christmas message as the leader of the Catholic church said mass, it was an incredible experience, said ETl Juan Merencillo. We were right behind the altar, and we could see everything. I felt like I was dreaming. It affected every- one the same way. Other tours included an on again off again ski trip to the Italian mountains. Originally the trip was cancelled due to a lack of snow, but a late snowfall made the tour a possibility again. Weather also affected ASHLAND at it ' s moorings, as hig h winds and rough seas rocked the eight-story tall LSD. ASHLAND ' s hard- working deck division was called out late at night on the 23rd to rig more mooring lines as seas roughened. Neither weather nor distance from home prevented Christmas however. At midnight on the 24th, word was passed that Kris Kringle was arriving. The next day. some lucky ASHLAND Sailors and embarked Marines dined with local families, while the rest of the crew ate a deluxe Christmas dinner complete with turkey, ham, eggnog, and 45 boxes of Christmas cookies sent to ASHLAND by the students and faculty of Worthington Elementary near ASHLAND Kentucky, and Bourbon High School of Paris, Kentucky. Worthington Elementary has been adopted by ASHLAND as part of a Partnership of Excellence program be- tween the crew of ASHLAND and the students. Hard driving individuals once again forge history on board USS ASHLAND. Cpl. Michael Hauptly. assigned to the ship ' s deployment of Amphibious As- sault Vehicles, was awarded the coveted Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) decoration on Christmas Eve. Cpl. Hauptly absorbed the entire cumcu- lum in just over four months. Knowledge of a variety of subjects such as amphibi- ous operations, weapons, engineering, administration and flight operations is needed to attain ESWS status. m Widsivitilh I ' lihlisluNii (kiiujMiiiy 05 February: A voyage of firsts came to an end February 5th. as USS ASHLAND (LSD 48) returned to Little Creek. VA. from a six-month deployment to the Mediterra- nean. A crowd of several hundred rela- tives and friends braved freezing winds and rain to welcome ASHLAND back from it ' s initial deployment. During this first deployment. ASHLAND took part in United Nations Operation Restore Hope, off the coast of Somalia. Opera- tions Provide Promise and Deny Flight in the Adriatic, and a series of exercises with US and NATO ships, including Bright Star off the coast of Egypt, and Dynamic Guard in Turkey. While going through these operations. ASHLAND made it ' s first passages through histori- cal waterways such as the Suez Canal, the Bosporus and Dardanelles, the Straits of Messina and the Straits of Gibraltar. The 8th and last of the Whidbey Island class of LSD ' s, during this maiden de- ployment. ASHLAND made port calls in Rota and Barcelona. Spain: Toulon. France: Izmir. Turkey: Constanta. Ro- mania: and Naples. Italy. A favorite stop for many of the ASHLAND crew was Contanta, Roma- nia. I ' ve been to all the other ports we visited on the deployment before. said EM2 James Poole. This was the first time I ' d ever been there. I like being at sea so long as I ' m going somev here i e never been before. For me. that ' s what the Navy is all about. While visiting Constanta. Romania. ASHLAND hosted Admiral Anghelescu of the Romanian Navy, who toasted the ship and it ' s crew. ' Just a few years ago, this visit may not have been possible. said Admiral Anghelescu. commenting on the visit to this formerly communist country. Today, sailors of both na ies become ambassadors of goodwill. ASHLAND spent Thanksgiving in Toulon. France, w here it was visited by Major Dad star Geralil McRane .

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Sailors and embarked Marines, and signed autographs on photos or. in one case, on a sailors cowboy hat. The visit was the climax of a Thanksgiving day on which the Sailors and embarked Marines of ASHLAND were treated to a full Thanksgiving meal with turkey, cranberry sauce and all the trimmings. This traditional American meal, served far from home, was a reminder of home after two months of service in Operation Restore Hope off Somalia and recently concluded exercise off Egypt. ASHLAND began this week by holding a Celebrity Mess Cook Night , a charity event in which crewmembers, by donating to the Combined Federal Campaign (CEC), can hire their favor- ite officer or chief to work in the ship ' s galley for a night. The winner of the competition was ETC(SW) Boucher, who spent the night cleaning pans and bowls in the galley deep sink, alongside the Executive officer. Good-natured fun for a good cause, Celebrity Mess Cook Night raised nearly $2,000 pledged to USO through CEC. The following day, ASHLAND en- tered port at Toulon, France. ASHLAND off-loaded the landing craft and Amphibi- ous Assault Vehicles ( AAV ' s) carried in the well deck. The AAV ' s landed at Ar- senal, Toulon, a French naval base, in preparation for an exercise with the French Army planned for next week. Exercises at Camp De Canjuers will give the men of Marine Expeditionary Unit 22 practice in mountain and winter warfare in the nearby Maures Mountains. After 48 consecutive days at sea, ASHLAND Sailors and embarked Marines were eager to see Toulon and the surrounding southern French countryside. Sailors and Marines enjoyed USO-sponsored tours of the Provence area, Paris, the Alps and nearby Monte Carlo. Many sampled local dishes and wines in the sidewalk cafes, or competed in a variety of amateur sporting events with other U.S. ships, French military teams, and teams from local schools. ASHLAND ' S first stop in France, it was also the first visit to France for many of the Sailors and embarked Marines, a welcomed stop on ASHLAND ' s first deployment. 19 December: Six bells are not nonnally rung for a visiting chaplain, but the chaplain visit- ing USS ASHLAND (LSD 48) wasn ' t just any chaplain. Rear Admiral (Upper Half) David White, the Navy ' s Chief of Chaplains, visited ASHLAND on the week before Christmas, while it was moored in Barcelona, Spain. ASHLAND Commanding Officer Captain D. W. Keith gave RADM White a tour of ASHLAND, last of the Whidbey Island class of Landing Ship Docks. I ' ve been in the Gator Navy before, said RADM White. I had a squadron of LST ' s at Guam, years ago. The LST ' s were designed to be used once and left on the beaches. They were never intended to be used for a long time, so habitability wasn ' t a real concern. The difference between tho.se ships and ASHLAND are night and day. This ship is quite a different configuration from anything else in the fleet. Our thought in being out here is to let the people in the fleet know that what they do is appreciated. They are not forgotten, said RADM White, a 26-year Navy veteran. There are a lot of people back home who care about the folks out here. I try to get that message out as much as I can. We visited four ships today, we ' re visiting another one tomorrow, and then we fly off to the next group of ships on our C- 12. I spend about five months out of the year on the road, making sure the word gets out to the fieet. ASHLAND was moored at Barcelona for four days, during which ASHLAND Sailors and embarked Marines toured this historic Spanish city, riding the cable car that passes high over the city, visiting the .stadium and athletic sites used for the 1992 Summer Olympics and touring the famous Monastery of the Holy Grail at Montserrat. A one-day ski trip to An- dorra in the nearby Pyrenees Mountains also drew many participants. A more solemn event drew many participants also, as Quartermaster Senior Chief (SW)Revin Thayer retired from the Navy on December 14. after 20 years of service. An ASHLAND plankowner, QMCS(SW) Thayer is the first person to retire from ASHLAND and leaves behind a Navigation Depart- ment that he trained and organized from scratch. He taught us everything, said QM2 Sean Beeman. who served under QMCS(SW) Thayer from ASHLAND ' S precommissioning detachment, through the challenging process of commission- ing, to ASHLAND ' s first Mediterranean deployment. We ' re all happy for him, and we wish him the best of luck, but we will miss him. As always, training continued throughout the port call, with ASHLAND achieving another first December 17 when, with the ship ' s officers standing by. Captain D. W. Keith placed the coveted Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) pin on LT Sean P. Higgins. An ASHLAND Plankowner. LT Higgins is the first officer to qualify for SWO on ASHLAND. The qualifica- tion was awarded after an exacting process of training, watchstanding and boards which all ASHLAND officers are pursuing during ASHLAND ' s busy operational schedule. With training continuing, ASHLAND proceeded west to Naples,

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Christmas and New Year ' s were spent in Naples. Italy. The deployment was not only the tlrst tor ASHLAND, but for many of it ' s crew. On its first deployment. ASHLAND made it ' s first transits of the Suez Canal, the Bosporus and Dardanelles, and the Straits of Gibraltar. ASHLAND also took part in the ancient nautical tradition of Crossing the Line , commemorating it ' s first time crossing the equator. For the crew, crossing the line is celebrated by a ceremony where any sailors who have not crossed the equator, known as Pollywogs . are de- clared Shellbacks , or true sailors after the crossing. My knees still hurt from the shellbacking, said PNSN Dale Forsythe. whose work during the deploy- ment earned him a Navy Achievement Medal. None of us expected to go that far south. It was all done in fun. but 1 think I earned my Shellback . Although the crew appreciated travel, homecoming was eagerly antici- pated. Everybody was happy to be com- ing home, especially the new fathers. said EN3 Darcey Beyer, himself return- ing from his initial deployment. I took a sea and anchor station for a guy whose family was on the pier. It was incredible how many people were out there, even though the weather was pretty bad. But once the brow was open, nobody cared about the weather. With it ' s initial deplo yment com- pleted. ASHLAND now becomes a vet- eran ship, part of the Navy ' s From the Sea strategy. Carrying on the traditions of the Gator Navy and of the first ASHLAND (LSD 1). the first Landing Ship. Dock. ASHLAND has come of age. As Winston Churchill said, during the war in which the first ASHLAND was built. This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is the end of the beginnins. Why, come today so full of tears of weary hearts and unknown fears. Why, come today with heavy hearts, when on a glorious journey I start. Yes, my friends I know you grieve, for surely I too did not want to leave. But we must accept the blessed truth, that God sometimes takes us in our youth. Dear Friends, your memories you keep, of our happy moments and never weep, be happy and strong willed and you ' II get through your strife. For I am with you in both spirit and soul. So in this hour of despair and grief, cling to God ' s word and you ' ll find relief. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name ' s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.