Aylwin (FF 1081) - Naval Cruise Book

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P R 1823292 DEC 79 ZFF4 FM SECDEF WASHINGTON DC TO RUHGZFFIUSS KITTY HAWK RHMPMBBIUSS JOUETT HRHTMMIIIUSS AYLWIN INFO RUENAAAISECNAV WASHINGTON DC ZENICJCS WASHINGTON DC RUENAAAICNO WASHINGTON DC RUHQHQAICINCPAC HONOLULU HI RHHMBRAICINCPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI PAGE02 LMMM00127CONFlDENTIAL RUHGOAAICOMSEVENTHFLT RUHGPBAICTG SEVEN ZERO PT TWO BT UNCLAS 2888 SUBJ: MESSAGE OF APPRECIATION I KNOW AND UNDERSTAND YOUR DISAPPOINTMENT AT SPENDING THE HOLIDAYS UNEXPECTEDLY AWAY FROM HOME AND LOVED ONES. I HOPE YOU FIND CONSOLATION IN THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE THAT YOUR SACRIFICE IS IN THE SERVICE OF OUR MOST URGENT NATIONAL OBJECTIVE - THE RELEASE OF FELLOW AMERICANS FROM CAPTIVITY, AND THE PRESERVATION OF OUR NATION'S REPUTATION AS A FORCE FOR REASON AND MODERATION IN THE CONDUCT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. I SPEAK FOR PRESIDENT SELFLESS CONTRIBUTION TO THE CAUSE OF PEACE ON EARTH DURING THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON. HAROLD BROWN SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CARTER, AND FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS EVERYWHERE IN ExPREssINC OUR APPRECIATION FOR YOUR BT ' :.e .f ,, .C JA N, wgwkydgajf -- fvff . .

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VZCZOLMIIOST24 R 170717Z DEC 79 FM COMIDEASTFOR TO USS AYLWIN INFO CINCUSNAVEUR LONDON UK COMNAVSURFLANT NORFOLK VA COMCRUDESGRU TWO COMDESRON FOUR BT CONFIDENTIAL MIDEASTFOR DEPLOYMENT IUI 1. ICI AS YOU DEPART THE MIDDLE EAST FOR HOME WATERS AFTER A DEMANDING AND EXTENDED FIVE MONTH DEPLOYMENT, I WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION MADE BY AYLWIN TO THE MIDDLE EAST FORCE. IN THE HARSH ENVIRONMENT OF THE MIDDLE EAST, WHILE STEAMING 82 PERCENT OF THE MEF DEPLOYMENT, YOU CARRIED OUT ALL OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND FULFILLED ALL DIPLOMATIC COMMITMENTS. THE COMMON DENOMINATOR TO EACH OF AYLWIN'S SUCCESSFUL ENDEAVORS WAS FLEXIBILITY. THIS IMPORTANT VIRTUE WAS EVER PRESENT THROUGHOUT YOUR ARDUOUS MIDEAST DEPLOYMENT. AYLWIN'S CAN-DO SPIRIT AND OVERALL FLEXIBILITY WERE THE MAIN INGREDIENTS TO THE SUPERB CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CONTINGENCY OPERATIONS REQUIRED DURING THE LAST FOUR WEEKS OF AYLWIN'S DEPLOYMENT. 2. ICI AYLWIN'S PORT VISITS THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST WERE SUCCESSFUL AND IN TOTAL SUPPORT OF THE MIDDLE EAST FORCE MISSION OF PROMOTING AFFIRMATIVE POLITICAL, MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS. 3. ICNFI USS AYLWIN CONDUCTED SEVERAL HIGHLY IMPORTANT OPERATIONS DURING HER DEPLOYMENT. OF NOTE, WERE THE TRANSITEX WITH RSNF MSC'S DURING THE FINAL STAGES OF THEIR TRANSIT FROM MUSCAT TO JUBAIL IN SEP, AND THREE VERY SUCCESSFUL PASSEXES WITH TH SULTAN OF OMAN'S NAVY. ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT OPERATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF AYLWlN'S DEPLOYMENT WAS THE CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT AND REFINEMENT OF HARPOON OVER THE E HORIZON TACTICS USING THE EMBARKED LAMPS HELO, SIGNIFYING AYLWIN AS AN INNOVATOR IN THIS FIELD. FINALLY, AYLWIN'S PRIMARY OPERATIONS DURING HER DEPLOYMENT CONSISTED OF DIRECT SUPPORT SURVEILLANCE OPERATIONS. YOUR ABILITY TO GET UNDERWAY ON 04 NOV WITH MINIMAL NOTICE TO CONDUCT URGENT OPERATIONS AND THE OPERATIONAL PROFESSIONALISM THAT CONTINUED UNSLACKENED WHEN AYLWIN'S DEPLOYMENT TO MIDEAST FOR WAS EXTENDED ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS DESERVE SPECIAL MENTION. 4. ICI AS AYLWIN STEAMS TOWARD HOME WATERS EACH MEMBER OF THE AYLWIN TEAM CAN JUSTIFIABLY FEEL PROUD OF THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. I EXTEND TO EACH OF YOU MY SINCEREST APPRECIATION FOR A JOB WELL DONE. 5. IUI BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY AND JOYOUS HOLIDAY UPON YOUR RETURN HOME. RADM R. W. CHEWNING, USN. DECL 31 JAN 80 BT 575124 NNNN

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21611 ff' '71 CNE MAN'S VIEW Few civilians can be found at sea with the U.S. Navy. Even less common is to find a civilian, especially an E0Q'iSh professor, on a Naval vessel assigned to patrolling hostile shores. But since boarded the frigate USS AYLWIN at Bahrain on November 10 I have been in that unusual position. Sent by Florida State University under the Navy s program to provide college courses to its men at sea, I had no idea until I reached my destination that I was headed into an area of crisis. Only once after leaving Charleston on November 4 to catch my flight in New York did anyone mention Iran - my seatmate, who said that he had heard something-in an airport bar about turmoil there but that he did not catch what it was about. When I reached the small Naval facility at Bahrain, I learned that trouble in Tehran had caused AYLWIN to be sent to sea on very short notice and that I would have to walt until she returned to refuel. Five days later she came into port, I went aboardg and since then she has almost constantly plied the waters off Iran. My experience with her has been one that I shall not soo-n forget, not because of any action I saw ll did notl, nor because of any danger I might have been in ll never felt threatenedl, but because of the insight I got into more than 200 men whose home is currently Charleston. Previously I have known sailors as students and individuals. Now I have had the chance to see them at close range as both very human and very professional. In my month on AYLWIN I have witnessed these twin aspects of her men in internal conflict, and I have seen the outcomeg a response to duty proving stronger than personal desire. This struggle between the sailors' human and professional sides, the pull between wanting to spend Christmas at home as originally scheduled and wanting to carry out whatever mission America deemed necessary to bring about the release of American hostages - this struggle and its resolution can be traced in the ship's changing moods. The mood of AYLWIN for roughly the first two weeks was one of uncertainty. Uncertainty about what was going On in Iran, although Captain J. T. McCormick shared all news with his men as he received it. Uncertainty about the ship's getting home for the holidays from its nearly five months' deployment. Uncertainty about the feelings and fears of families at home. Uncertainty about the dangers posed by an American-trained Iranian navy and air force armed with American weapons systems. Uncertainty about the intentions of our government: whether, when, how the United States would respond to a flagrant breach of international law. Uncertainty, of course, about the fate of fellow countrymen in Tehran. But overridingly - and most humanly - uncertainty as to Charleston and Christmas. During those weeks nothing inspired confidence, little discouraged hope. Wireless summaries of world news, lacking the fullness of newspapers and the concreteness of television, were unsatisfyingly vague Letters from home, written well in advance of Middle East troubles, were concerned with plans for Christmas. Men wondered, and wonder increased with several appearances of Iranian jet fighters over the ship. What were lran's intentions concerning m n erlcan s ips twenty-five miles off her coast? Would she dare attack vessels in international waters? What would it be like to be shot at? lSo wondered the younger crew members.l How would the ship fare? Strangely, amid all the usually unarticulated wondering, life on AYLWIN proceeded so routinely and unalteringly that