El Paso (LKA 117) - Naval Cruise Book

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DECK DEPARTME -I I LCDR Sz-imuel Epstein FIRST LIEUTENANT I I I I LTIG Eric Smith LTIG Whitney Kemmey ASSISTANT FIRST ZND DIVISION LIETENANT I I eeeee I I 'K ENS Greg Magrisi ENS Alex Wright CWO2 Iames CaI1I10I1 3RD DIVISION 4TH DIVISION SI-IIP'S BOS'N 6 USS E1 Paso

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n 72. Q. nz. .ms ffm -X - 2'3 if gf U? M? 31 M-I 5553 df- ng ff, ,. sv? 5251 4,6 r' if ' 1 ff V 4 I To the crew, both Navy and Marine, of the USS EL PASO ILKA-1171 during our CARG 2-93 deployment, families and friends. This was not my first time to spend a summer vacation in the Indian Ocean. However, it was my first time to deploy with a Marine contingent on board, to actuallyenter the ArabianfPersian Gulf and be involved in real life operations fOperation Restore Hopel. We had the opportunity to actually perform the mission we are designed for -putting Marines ashore with their equipment and support and sustain them over a period of time. Not only did we perform our mission, but we had the opportunity to provide hu- manitarian aid to a country in desperate need of help. We can all feel good about our role in providing this assistance. It wasn't all work and no fun, though. We did get to meet King Neptune and Davy 'Iones when we crossed the equator and cleanse our ship of over 400 polliwogs. We also got to visit some ports that many of us had never seen before - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, toasty Ku- wait, sunny Iebel Ali fall located in the Arabi- anf Persian Gulfj and finally we got to hit the ports of Rhodes Greece and Benidorm Spain 1n the Med iterranean Sea The Family Support Group helped keep our spirits up with their monthly calendar of photos and cards THANK YOU for th1s deplay of support and love I would like to express my personal pride in each one of the members of this crew for a 1ob well done I have been a part of the Navy virtually my entire life first as a dependent and for the past 21+ years as an active duty member During my active duty time I have been assigned to many different commands to include Navy bases Ioint Service Commands and ships working w1th some very profess1onal and ded icated men and women serving the United States However I Sald all of that to say this I have never been associated with a group of young men that have displayed the dedication, ability to change plans on a moment's notice, pride in their workmanship, pride in their jobs, pride in their command, or pride in their country as the young men that served on board EL PASO during this deployment. They started off by getting EL PASO ready for deployment a month early, with only 10 days in port to do so, then overcame numerous schedule changes and week after week of 100+ degree heat while meeting every commitment that was thrown at them with typical EL PASO pride and professionalism. BRAVO ZULU to each and every one of you. nsfi' Executive Officer! Command Master Chief 5

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