Aylwin (FF 1081) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 77 text:

-W fQ 5'WMi.- V'f ' 750+-M ff' M ' f ,r n f..w.':,z'1.f .:1- ,-,g,,f one could almost forget that her mission was not an ordinary one. The cleaning of decks, the polishing of brightwork, the scrubbing and waxing of living areas and passageways continued to occupy morning hours. Neverending painting never ended. Precisely at 4:30 each afternoon devotees of developed bodies grunted through voluntary exercises. Meals were served exactly at precisely appointed times and were consumed with unexceptional small talk seasoned with customary gripes. Nightly, after the chapIain's evening prayer, a silver screen was lowered for viewing HoIIywood's best - more often its most banal. Men worked, men read, men slept when they could, men argued, men seemed unworried. Yet here and there bits of gallows humor broke through the routine surface. No need to think of Iifeboatsg old bottomless Bill Bigbody ate all the rations out of them last week. Don't worry about those poisonous little green sea snakes, all you have to do is swim under them - for twenty-five miles. Me worried? No, my crotch always sweats heavily. An old mental device by which uneasy men cope with the unknown, their gallows humor evidenced the uncertainty beneath the routine surface. Uncertainty began to dissipate as a quick settlement in Iran became increasingly remote. It lessened even more as the time for scheduled departure drew nearer without any definite word that another frigate, the relief ship, would arrive in time to permit reaching Charleston before Christmas. Although the men continued to hope for official confirmation of a departure date, they, nevertheless, began mentally to brace themselves for an extension of the deployment. Still, they were not fully prepared for the disheartening announcement that delay of their relief meant that they would not be able to get home until January. ln minutes the hopes of months were shattered, for the rest of the day and night gloom prevailed. lt was true that the Iranian hostages were in worse circumstances, but no one could take comfort in the plight of fellow Americans. Overnight, though, there was a positive change. Men accepted the unpleasant certainty of Christmas away from home and did so without self-pity. Routine did not change, and on the surface shipboard life continued as before. But there had been a fundamental change, a deepdown reordering of priorities, a metamorphosis for which surety acted as catalyst. I cannot account for the speed and completeness of the mental adjustment a sailor makes when his role as a military man requires sacrifice, when duty supersedes personal desire. I cannot really explain it, but I am not sure a sailor can either. More than one man has remarked that his job, after all, is what he is paid for. I am sure that his explanation is a jesting oversimplificationg and I have no idea that he should endorse or perhaps even understand mine. Deep within the sailor there is a remarkable strength, a mystical strength, that is America itself, America at its best, ignoring - even if regretfully - self-satisfaction in favor of pursuing a common good. SAM MCCONNEL PACE INSTRUCTOR

Page 76 text:

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

Page 78 text:

VITAL STATISTICS Days in port 18 Days at sea 142 Days in Mideast 133 Total days deployed 160 Operated helo 268 hrs. 318 day landings 119 night landings Visited 5 Mideast ports Traveled over 34,000 miles Steamed the boilers over 2,900 hours Burned over 2,400,000 gallons fuel Distilled over 3,000,000 gallons water Generated 5,000 megawatts of electricity 100,000 meals served lcost S124,000l Consumed over: 5,000 dozen eggs 100,000 sodas 2,000 pounds tenderloin l,500 pounds steaks 1,000 pounds lobster 1,000 pounds bacon 3,000 pounds French fries 2,000 pounds pot roast Radio messages processed over 140,000 Radio messages sent 5,100 Class Easy messages sent 426 150 MARS calls made 438 miles of radio teletype paper used 4,160 malaria pills dispensed.