Barney (DDG 6) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDING OFFICER COR George G. Bailey

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PSSWUIItySIIMKiTIS!! ' . ' ' Y . • ' J ilv ' ; ' ! eyes of the Fleet Training Group. Upon completion of Refresher Training, she con- ducted a missile firing exercise at the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range off Puerto Rico. BARNEY followed this with Gun P ' ire Support drills at Culebra and a pleasant visit to Saint Thomas, V.l. BARNEY re- turned to Norfolk on 19 December 1966 and remained there for the holidays. BARNEY was selected as the first missile ship from the Atlantic to deploy to Vietnam waters. Departing Norfolk in Mid-February, BARNEY joined with Mayport, Florida based ships to become a unit of Destroyer Division ONE SIX TWO for a seven month deployment to the West- ern Pacific, Throughout most of the de- ployment BARNEY served as Flagship for the Division Commander. Transiting to the Pacific via the Panama Canal, brief stops were made in Gunatanamo Bay, Cuba and Balboa, Canal Zone before reaching Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, After undergoing a brief underway training period off Hawaii, the ship arrived in the Far East visiting Midway Island, Guam and Subic Bay, Phillippines en route. Diversity became the hallmark of BARNEY ' S participation in Southeast Asia and she was utilized in the broadest range of assignments available to a destroyer in the combat area. Her first assignment with the U.S. SEVENTH Fleet was to provide rescue services for carrier strike groups in the Tonkin Gulf, More demanding assignments soon fol- lowed, as she completed several tours on SEA DRAGON off the coast of North Vietnam, interdicting enemy supply lines, destroying waterborne logistic craft and shelling selected targets in North Vietnam. These operations often brought her within range of shore batteries and on six occasions under enemy gunfire. Although never hit by this gunfire, one crewman was wounded by shrapnel from a near-miss , BARNEY also provided naval gunfire support for U.S. ground forces ashore in South Vietnam. These missions combined with the SEA DRAGON Operations resulted in more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition being fired from her 5 inch guns against hostile forces and targets in both North and South Vietnam. BARNEY also served as Flagship for the North Sea Air Rescue Commander for a brief but busy period. Her air controllers di- rected the rescue of eight downed U.S. airmen. While serving in the Far East, BARNEY crewmen visited the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan. Her transit back to the Atlantic led the ship to Okinawa, Midway Island, Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, Acapulco and the Panama Canal. When the BARNEY pulled into Norfolk on 19 September 1967 she left behind her more than 56,000 miles of ocean. She re- armed and conducted material or personnel transfers underway more than 100 times during her deployment. The 270 officers and men of the USS BARNEY returned wearing the Vietnam service Medal for their efforts of the past seven months in the Far East. Following a post-deployment leaveperiod BARNEY con- ducted anti-submarine warfare exercises in the Charleston operating areas and returned to Norfolk for the Christmas Holidays.

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Commander George G. BAILEY joined the Navy in 1943 and was commissioned as Ensign from the Naval Reserve Of- ficer ' s Training Corps, Tufts College at Medford, Massachusetts in March of 1946, After commissioning. Commander BAILEY was ordered to his first tour of duty on the USS TOPEKA (CL-67) where he served as Gunnery and Navigation Division Officers. During the Korean conflict he was as- signed duties as Gunnery Division Officer aboard the USS SICILY (CVE-118) and spent a year at Guided Missile School in Fort Bliss, Texas. In 1955, Commander BAILEY reported aboard the USS TOLEDO (CA-133) as Guided Missile Officer, He left the Toledo in 1957 and became an Instructor at the U.S. Naval Line School. Teaching only lasted a year, however, for Commander BAILEY was selected for U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1958, He graduated in 1960 with a masters degree in Electrical Engineering. His next set of orders took him back to sea again as Executive Officer of the USSHARLANR. DICKSON {DD-708). Following two years of duty on board DICKSON, Commander BAILEY reported to the USS PRESERVER (ARS-8) in 1962 as Commanding Officer. With his extensive guided missile and engineering background, he was well-qual- ified for the last billet which he held before reporting to the BARNEY, Chairman of the Systems Engineering Committee and In- structor in the Weapons Department, U.S. Naval Academy, from 1963 until 1966. Commander BAILEY is married to the former Joanne Smith of Berkeley, Calif- ornia. They have three children. Sherry, Kent, and George, and reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia.