Bowen (FF 1079) - Naval Cruise Book

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Med cruise ends where it began Charleston It ended nearly six months after it had be- gun. On riovember 17, 1987, the men of USS BOW- ED returned to the piers of Charleston naval Base — the same piers they had left on June 6, 1987 for a Medi- terranean deployment. The only feeling that comes close to it is the feel- ing when you ' re a small boy right before Christmas, CDR Richard Robbins, Com- manding Officer of USS BOWEN, told local television Crew members assembled on the flight deck, top left, man the rails as the ship pulls away from the pier in Charleston on day one of the cruise; ICl Jim Monday, left, hugs his wife for the first time in nearly six months; below, from left to right, Margery noble, mother in law of CDR Robbins, Vicki Robbins, wife of the Commanding Officer, Mary Kay Allen, wife of LCDR Allen, Gail Reed, wife of QMCM(SW) Reed, Julie Kowalski, wife of BTl Kowal- ski, and Becky Tuttle, wife of SKI Tuttle, pose for a group photo- graph while awaiting the ships re- turn to Charleston Maval Base fol- lowing the six month deployment. and newspaper reporters in describing the return home The reporters had embarked on the ship near the en trance to the Cooper River in order to record the crew ' s re turn to Charleston. As part of the USS SARA TOGA battle group, BOWEn participated in training exer- cises in the western Mediter ranean, operated with war- ships from Spain and Egypt and participated in a large riATO exercise called Dis play Determination ' 87. I think our allies appreci ate our role in the world now more than they did five years ago, CDR Robbins said in discussing battle group op- erations with the reporters. As BOWEN approached the dock, the atmosphere was different from when the ship departed in June. Hun- dreds of friends and family members cheered, waved and flashed placards bear- ing greetings to sailors they had not seen for over five months. Bowenlife 47

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Clockwise, from above: 1 ) Mark and Richard Robbins, Jr.. sons of BOW- EMS Commanding Officer, await the ships return from the Mediter- ranean with a clown who provided entertainment for the crowd; 2) Ra- quel and Maya Millin. daughters of rC2 Murillo Millin. shortly before being reunited with their father.- 3) family and friends wait to board the ship; 4) the brow is crowded as BOWen family members hurry to- ward the flight deck; 5) as the ship departs for the Mediterranean on June 6, 1987. the Cooper River Bridge begins to fade in the ship s wake; 6) many family members and others made signs to welcome home their BOWEM sailor; 7) line- handlers on the fantail watch silent- ly as the ship leav es its Charleston pier. 46 Bowenlife

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ET3 Bobby Ford, above, solders a transformer for the AN SPS lOr surface search radar. iverse crew embarks on Mediterranean deployment D iverse is the word that best describes the crew of USS BOWEN. The 25 officers and over 280 enlisted crew members who were aboard for part or all of the Medi- terranean deployment represent- ed all of the 50 United States and three foreign countries — Cuba, Peru and Columbia. Crew members are assigned to one of four departments on the ship: Weapons, Operations, Sup- ply or Engineering. Administra- tion, or xn division, comprises a fifth department. The ship also embarks an en- tire helo detachment, including 4 officers and 12 enlisted techni- cians, during any major cruise. Departments are further divid- ed into divisions, and divisions are divided into workcenters. Enlisted crew members are assigned to a department and divi- sion based on their rating or spe- cialty. At the head of the shipboard chain of command are the Com- manding Officer and Executive Of- ficer. Below, from left to right, BT2 Jack Maas, BT2 Garry Wright, BTC Rickey Dawson and BT3 Colt Doster in the fireroom console booth. Automatic controls for fireroom equipment are located in the console. The large gages in the background indicate steam pressure in lA boiler. 48 Crew members