Bataan (LHD 5) - Naval Cruise Book

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In the air

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On the beach I

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II Glory Gator Supports Commissioned September 20, 1997, USS BATAAN (LHD 5) is the fifth ship christened into the WASP (LHD 1 ) class and serves as the flagship of an Amphibious Ready Group (ARG). BATAAN is the second U. S. Navy ship to bear the name BATAAN, following a Light Aircraft Carrier USS BATAAN CVL 29 which served in the Pacific theater during WWII and again during the Korean Conflict. BATAAN, with its complement of 1 ,200 Sailors, is the first U. S. Navy surface combatant ship fitted to accommodate a mixed-gender crew. Fully loaded, BATAAN weighs in at 40.500 tons and is powered by two geared turbines and two shafts capable of producing 70,000 horsepower to drive the ship in access of 25 knots. As a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship. BATAAN ' s primary mission is to enable the Navy-Marine Corps Team to accomplish a seamless transition from the sea to the land battle, primarily as the centerpiece of an ARG. During Operation Enduring Freedom, BATAAN ' s ARG, Commanded by Commodore Kenneth Rome Commander of Amphibious Squadron EIGHT, consisted of USS BATAAN (LHD 5), USS SHREVEPORT (LPD 12), USS WHIDBEY ISLAND (LSD 41), and the 26 th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). As Flagship for the ARG, BATAAN hosted a myriad of support elements to include the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team, Detachment 18; Fleet Information Warfare Center representatives; SEAL Team EIGHT; and Naval Special Warfare Group TWO. Accompanying the crew were units assigned in support of the LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion vehicle) operations: Naval Beach Group TWO, Assault Craft Unit FOUR and Bcachmaster Unit TWO. On the aviation side was Marine Medium Light Helicopter Squadron 365, with its complement of six AV8 Harriers (Jump Jets), four CH-53E Sea Stallions, two UH-I Hueys, four AH-1 Cobras, and 12 CH-46D Sea Knights. In control of the ARG ' s air space was the staff from Tactical Air Control Squadron 21, along with the pilots and crewmen from Helicopter Support Squadron SIX (HC-6) assigned to BATAAN ' s Search Air Rescue unit. 2J6 itf-IK-m A BATAANs medical facilities, second only in size and capability to those aboard U S. Navy hospital ships, were fully utilized by BATAAN Sailors and Marines from the 26 th MEU(SOC) during the deployment. Its six fully-equipped operating rooms, hospital wards and the intensive care facilities were continually at the ready. The ship ' s four dental suites, medical laboratories and hospital facilities, capable of caring for up to six-hundred patients, provided routine care to 3,200 crewmembers and embarked troops. Doctors and Hospital Corpsmen from the Fleet Surgical Team FOUR embarked BATAAN to augment the ship ' s medical team during the deployment. On 6 December 2001, nine Northern Alliance casualties were received from Camp Rhino, south of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Treatment of the casualties involved 29 surgical procedures that took more than 60 hours and five days of intensive post-operative care. Six of the casualties were transferred for further care and two were returned to Kandahar. As the ARG Flagship, the Amphibious Task Force Commander, Commodore Rome; and Landing Force Commander, Marine Colonel Andy Frick fully utilized the ship ' s Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) system capabilities. The 844- ' foot-long amphibious assault ship ' s flight deck saw very few no-fly days as both Navy and Marine Coips pilots and crewmen worked the flight deck at all hours of the day and night, conducting SAR (Search and Rescue), surveillance, reconnaissance and bombing missions. While maintenance and aircraft handlers below decks used the ship ' s two. 50- by 47- foot 75,000-pound capacity deck-edge aircraft elevators to bring the helos and Harriers down to the Hangar Bay where scheduled, unscheduled maintenance and periodic checks were performed. fie: The: 3ied!o BATAAN ' s well deck is 13,600 feet at the ship ' s stern and 267 feet long and 50 feet wide. By design, it simultaneously accommodates three LCACs or two conventional landing craft It can ballast more than 1 5,000 tons of sea water to allow craft to tloat in and out, or troops and their cargo can be flown out of a dry well deck aboard the LCACs. The over-the-horizon ability of the LCAC to provide high speed, ship-to-shore and ii] c sbi|