Aubrey Fitch (FFG 34) - Naval Cruise Book

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Floyston A. Weeks, Commanding Officer Commander Weeks was born in Damariscotta, Maine on 12 March 1944. He graduated from Maine Maritime Academy, having been awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Marine Engineering in June 1966 He ent d th U . ere e nited States Merchant Marine Service in June of 1966, shipping as Third Assistant Engineer in SS SYLVIA LYKES. He entered the United States Navy as Ensi9n on 1 January 1967, and subsequently advanced in rank to that of Commander to date from 1 October 1980. As a junior officer, Commander Weeks served as Main Propulsion Assistant in USS FRANK KNOX QDDR 7421 and as Squadron Material Officer on DESRON Twenty-Two. He participated in numerous Vietnam Combat operations as Engineer Officer in USS BROOKE QFFG 11 From October 1974 t A I 19 . o pri 77 Commander Weeks served as Commanding Officer in USS DIRECT KMSO 4301. Commander Weeks then served as Executive Officer in USS CARON QDD 9701. He has made deployments to the Mediterra- nean, Northern Europe, Western Pacific and South Pacific during his sea duty assignments. ln other assignments, Commander Weeks has served as instructor at the U.S. Naval Destroyer School, and as Examiner on Commander-in-Chief United States Atlantic Fleet Propulsio E ' ' ' , n xamimng Board. He is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School where he received a Master of Arts Degree in National Security Affairs. Commander Weeks has received the Navy Commendation Medal fthird d awar 1, the Navy Achievement Medal fsecond awardl, and various Campaign and Expeditionary Medals. Commander Weeks is married to the former Virginia Fairservice, of Wiscasset, Maine. They have two sons, Kashin and Efhan- ,5 vriwvkv, A.,-Q .A--. ,I ,..,3,-' C ,f--- ...-t -- I , - -A

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ada was the classic concept of naval presence. Ambassador Gillespie of the American Embas- sy in Grenada summed up the unit's operation in the following message: R 'As the FFG AUBREY FITCH and PHM's AQUILA and TAURUS depart Grena- dian waters, I want to express our appre- ciation and admiration for their excellent work here. Not only did the ships provide a tangible and reassuring sense of securi- ty to all Grenadians, they engaged in ex- tensive patrol duties, they were able to provide crucial help in reconditioning Grenadian patrol boats and they carried out protocolary duties in an exemplary mannerf' USS AUBREY FITCH returned to Mayport in the middle of December. The ship stood down for a well-earned holiday leave period. lt is sig- nificant to note that in the first year and three months of commissioned service, the ship had been in her home port for a total of only six weeks. In January of 1984, USS AUBREY FITCH sailed on local operations which included an orientation cruise for the Prospective Com- manding Officers of USS OLIVER HAZARD PERRY and USS GALLERY. Also in that month, AUBREY FITCH went to the AUTEC Range in the Bahamas for exercise torpedo firings and earned a perfect score of 10096 against a mobile target. In February, the ship underwent her first Im- mediate Unit Commander's Inspection and passed with superior results. Later, AUBREY FITCH entered her first Intermediate Mainte- nance Availability period where various, mis- cellaneous jobs were completed for the ship. HSL-34 Detachment 7 arrived the next month and began workups for the ship's upcoming de- . .s.i .'f'.5 '-2'-f 1f:,n,... , 059- 'WJ Q' - - I, ,ga - -- . .Q 1+-ag.:-f--4 sf- Q ,f,,:Q-ng A I 1 'ww 'W ployment. The maintenance period was inter- rupted when USS AUBREY FITCH was tasked to escort a Soviet Naval Task Force steaming in the Caribbean. Prior to returning to Mayport, the ship called on Key West for a second time. After stopping briefly in Mayport to receive exercise weapons for COMPTUEX 2-84, USS AUBREY FITCH left for the Puerto Rican Oper- ating Area near Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico to participate in COMPTUEX with COMDES- RON 24 acting as Officer in Tactical Command. In addition to successful missile and exercise torpedo firings fboth SVTT and helo launchedj, USS AUBREY FITCH was the first FFG-7 class ship to qualify on the NGFS range at Vieques. Additionally, the ship came out of the exercise with M-1 operational readiness in all areas. Fol- lowing an Easter holiday visit to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, AUBREY FITCH headed west to participate in exercise OCEAN VENTURE '84. Displaying aggressiveness and a strong deter- mination to win the battle Qwhether Blue or Or- ange Forcej, USS AUBREY FITCH emerged from OCEAN VENTURE as a well recognized fighting unit. In May, Vice Admiral WALTERS, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations fSurface Warfarej visited the ship and reenlisted one sailor on- board in Combat Information Center. USS AU- BREY FITCH completed a TYCOMMEX with an overall grade of 97'Z1, the highest grade re- corded in DESRON EIGHT history. In this month, Lieutenant Commander William Robert WILLIAMS, United States Navy, was relieved by Lieutenant Commander Steven E. PILNICK, United States Navy, as Executive Officer. AUBREY FITCH completed all preparations for overseas deployment with zero CASREPS, a zero discrepancy Aviation Readiness Evalua- tion, and a Combat Systems Readiness Review which reflected a superb material condition in all weapon systems. Just prior to deployment. a group of seven midshipmen from the Naval A- cademy and NROTC units embarked for a month long training period. On June 22nd, USS AUBREY FITCH depart- ed from Mayport to join the Standing Naval Force Atlantic in Plymouth, England. The ship refueled in Halifax, Nova Scotia before continu- ing on her journey across the Atlantic Ocean. While in England, USS O'BANNON turned over their duties to AUBREY FITCH. Following a short port visit there, a week of workups with STANAVFORLANT quickly familiarized the ship with NATO operations. Other ships of the Force included FGS LUETJENS, HMS ARETH- USA, NRP COMMANDANTE JOAO BELO. HMCS FRASER, AND HNLMS PHILIPS VAN ALMONDE. A two week visit to Rosyth, Scot- land for a limited maintenance period followed the workups. STANAVFORLANT departed Scotland and underwent a week of drills and exercises prior to arriving in Luebeck, Germany along the East- West border. In Luebeck, HMCS FRASER was replaced by HMCS OTTAWA as Canada's repre- sentative to the Force. The next port visited was Copenhagen, Denmark prior to the Danish exer- cise YellowfBlind Bird '84 in the Baltic Sea. In that exercise, AUBREY FITCH furthered her ability to operate with NATO units in a multi- threat, coastal environment. STANAVFOR- LANT then visited another Danish port - Aar- hus. The NATO ships all headed westward across the Atlanic Ocean stopping briefly in the Azores for fuel and supplies and then to Bermuda prior to the start of Exercise SAFE PASS '84. During the entire transit, AUBREY FITCH continuous- ly operated with the other STANAVFORLANT ships, drilling and exercising in all areas of sur- face warfare. SAFE PASS gave AUBREY FITCH more experience in SAU tactics while escorting a high value unit. The exercise was completed in Halifax, Nova Scotia. That port visit was followed by a busy practice pro- gramme during the transit to Charleston, South Carolina. The three-week port visit to Charleston marked the ship's second Intermediate Mainte- nance Availability period. During IMAV, STA- NAVFORLANT was joined by the Dutch Oiler, HNLMS ZUIDERKRUIS. In late October, all units of STANAVFORLANT sailed for Savan- nah, Georgia for a few days visit. All NATO ships then headed for Mayport for a two day visit prior to getting underway for COMPTUEX 1-84. COMPTUEX was hindered by hurricane Klaus though AUBREY FITCH successfully fired an exercise missile to complete all her SE- LEX requirements for this competitive cycle. Prior to heading for New Orleans for a Thanks- giving port visit, AUBREY FITCH visited St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles along with HNLMS PHILIPS VAN ALMONDE. On November 28th, STANAVFORLANT ar- rived in Mayport for a five-day visit prior to the EASTLANT unit's journey back to Europe. In December, USS AUBREY FITCH participated in Battle Force Inport Training IBFITJ which simulated mobilization and tactical scenarios of Atlantic Fleet units in the event of a major con- flict in the Northern European Theatre. On De- cember 7th, the ship hosted veterans and their guests for a wreath laying ceremony. Vice Ad- miral William F. MCCAULEY, Commander Na- val Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet visited the ship on December 11th. 3

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. f Wkfiwgww f rwrft ,fgx LCDR Steve Earle Pilnick Executive Officer LCDR Pilnick was commissioned in September 1970 at Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, and accepted immediate augmentation to the regular Navy. He served at sea as MPA and DCA in USS MCCAFFERY QDD 8601, Material Officer on the staff of COMDESRON 26. Weapons Officer in USS CONYNGHAM QDDG 175, and Operations Officer in USS BIDDLE ICG 343. His assignments ashore have included a tour as a Tactical Development and Evalu- ation Project Officer with Surface Warfare Development Group. LCDR PILNICK has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the State Univer- sity of New York at Stony Brook, and a Master of Science in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School where he completed the Weap- ons Systems Technology curriculum. LCDR PILNICK's personal awards include two Navy Achievement Medals. and the NAVSEASYSCOM Award for Weapons Engineering Excellence. LCDR PILNICK is married to the former Mary Lou Cortright of Middletown, New York. They have two children, David and Michael. LCDR PILNICK is presently serving as Executive Officer in USS AUBREY FITCH QFFG 341. SENIOR Euusrisn orricians fl- LCDR Steven Earle Pilnick BMC QSWJ Houston HMCS QSWJ Edwards CHIEF ENGINEER COMBAT SYSTEM OFFICER SHIP CONTROL OFFICER SUPPLY OFFICER . - ,gl e if L fv- I i LCDR c. Fair LT J. Stevenson LT c. DemP59V LT K- Bwifdf 5