Claude V Ricketts (DDG 5) - Naval Cruise Book

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N A first look Greece, the Netherlands, Italy, Turkey and United King- dom expressed interest in participating in such a demon- stration with the United States. A sub-group of naval officers from interested coun- tries met in Washington during the last months of 1963 to work out details of the Mixed Manning Demonstration. A Memorandum of Understanding, signed by these officers in February 1964 and subsequently approved by the national governments, set forth basic commitments and procedures. 7

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, Y, ,Ll I -..,.:...u.:-, V, I ,.,..:xi:-,....-,-...,.-.-. ,........nz:-,,.,- 535- Federal German Republic T Greece ltaly The Netherlands United Kingdom United States The origin of the Mixed Manning Demonstration can be traced back to Dec. 1960. At that time, U.S. Secre- tary of State Christian Herter introduced the concept of the Multilateral Force CMLFJ to the members of the NATO Council. Interest in his proposal of a jointly shared and jointly controlled fleet armed with nuclear weapons was expressed by the Federal Republic of Ger- many, Belgium, The Netherlands, Turkey, ltaly, United Kingdom and Greece. One of the major features of the proposed MLF was .3 l . l E USS CLAUDE V. RICKETTS DDG-5 that each ship would be mix-manned throughout with personnel from at least three participating nations. Al- though the principle of multi-national manning was not new or revolutionary, it seemed a useful idea to gain some practical experience in mix-manning a modern warship with complicated weapons systems. Accordingly the late President John F. Kennedy offered to provide a U.S. guided missile destroyer to demonstrate the fea- sibility of this principle. The governments of the Federal Republic of Germany,

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living together IVIANNING UP Among the points resolved by the memorandum were the following: C13 The demonstration would commence on June 1, 1964, and terminate Dec. 1, 1965. C25 Participation in the demonstration did not involve any commitment to par- ticipate in the NlLF. C35 Participating navies would bear the expense of training, transporting and sustaining their personnel assigned to the demonstration. C41 The demonstration ship would remain a unit of the U.S. Navy throughout the 18 month period. C5J English would be the official language used on board ship. Also resolved were questions concerning billet structure, pay, discipline, cul- tural and ethnic differences. At the outset it was emphasized that there were important differences between the lVlixed Manning Demonstration and the proposed NILF. Because of the -ship's status as a unit of the U.S. Navy, it was decided that the commanding officer executive officer operations officer communications officer supply officers and electronic material officer would remain U S National complements projected by the Nlemorandum of Understanding provided however that approximately 5Ofki of the crew of the demonstration ship would be non U S Officers Enlisted The Republic of Germany ta y Greece United Kingdom Turkey United States ' ................,........ ,,,..... 2 47 ii ....................................,. ,,...... 2 3G ' ' ............................... ,,,,,,,, 2 24 The Netherlands .------4--.--..-.---.....-,.... ........ 1 17 ' ...........................,..... ........ 1 0 164 8