Fort Fisher (LSD 40) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 6 text:

SUPERGATOR SUPPORT FROM SEA TO SHORE

Page 5 text:

SHIP ' S HISTORY FORT FISHER takes her name from the Confederate stronghold which stood at the mouth of the Cape PVar River in North Carohna, t,aiarding Wihuin rton, the last major sea port to be closed by Union forces. The December 1864-Janu- ary 1865 battle for Fort Fishei was the most extensive am- phibious campaign of the American Civil War, involving 57 warships and over 8000 Union troops. The landing ship dock (LSD) which bears the name FORT FISHER was built in Boston ' s Naval Shipyard, Quincy, Mas- sachusetts. After commissioning on 9 December 1972, FORT FISHER set sail from the East Coast on 2 February 1972, reaching her new homeport of Long Beach, California, by way of the Panama Canal. On 15 August 1973, her homeport shifted to San Diego, from where FORT FISHER has since operated. From January until July 1974, the ship made her first ex- tended overseas deployment as a unit of the Amphibious Forces, United States Seventh Fleet. To date, FORT FISHER has completed nine extended deployments to the Western Pacific and two to the Arabian Gulf and Somalia. During one of the latest overhauls for the purpose of mod- ernization, from September 1986 through May 1987, FORT FISHER was modified to operate and support the newest ad- dition to the U.S. Navy ' s amphibious fieet, the LCAC (land- ing craft, air-cushioned I, designed to carry United States Marine Corps troops and equipment at high speed from over-the-horizon. The capability to employ up to three LCAC ensures FORT FISHER ' s place in the amphibious fleet into the 21st century. Due to her versatility, FORT FISHER has received a vari- ety of unusual assignments in addition to her primary am- phibious duties. While deployed in 1978 off the coast of Viet- nam, the ship rescued a U.S.-fiagged yacht temporarily held by the Vietnamese. In 1988, she twice transited the Panama Canal to ferrv new LCAC from Panama City, Florida, to Camp Pendleton, California, and in 1991, FORT FISHER supported counter-narcotics operations off the coast of Mex- ico and Central America. In September 1992, FORT FISHER deployed with the first ARG (Amphibious Ready Group) to patrol off the coast of So- malia in support of humanitarian relief efforts. Preceding Operation RESTORE HOPE, FORT FISHER assisted in the insertion of the first United Nations forces into Mogadishu. During her most recent deployment from October 1994 through April 1995, the ship was again assigned to the re- gion and was a highly visible part of Operation UNITED SHIELD, as the United Nations closed out operations in So- malia. FORT FISHER was a cornerstone in what developed mto a 23-ship, 7-nation coalition of naval, gi-ound and an- forces, executing a night-time amphibious landing and sub- sequent withdrawal under non-permissive conditions from the Somali capital. This was the first amphibious withdrawal conducted by United States forces in an operational, non- permissive environment since the Korean War nearly 50 years ago. Performing both conventional as well as unconventional missions with customary excellence and panache, FORT FISHER has earned a well-earned waterfront reputation for professionalism and versatility. THE SUPERGATOR is the 4.0 ship of the Navy.

Page 7 text:

UM ii U ■i II 1 II Pi COMMANDER WILLIAM EDMUND JEZIERSKI UNITED STATES NAVY Commander William Edmund Jezierski, the son of Edmund and Jessie Jezierski, was born and raised in Galway. New York. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma at Norman, Oklahoma, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education and was commissioned through the Naval ROTC Scholarship Program in April 1976. Commander Jezierski ' s initial sea dutv assignment was as Missile Gunnery Officer and Navigator in USS BROOKE (FFG 1), followed by subsequent afloat tours in USNS SATURN (T-AFS 9) as Military Detachment Officer-in-Charge, USS ST LOUIS (LKA 116) as Deck Division Officer and Operations Officer, USS DENVER (LPD 9) as Operations Officer and USS FREDER- ICK (LST 1184) as Executive Officer. During the latter tour, Commander Jezierski deployed with the largest amphibious task force to be assembled since the Vietnam War and participated in operations conducted in support of Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. He later served on the staff of Amphibious Group Three as Surface Operations Officer. His as- signments afloat have included three Mediterranean Sea and seven Wetern Pacific Arabian Gulf deployments. Ashore, Commander Jezierski has served at Landing Force Training Command, Pacific, as an Amphibious Planning Instruc- tor and at Naval Amphibious School, Coronado, as Director of Wargaming. He has earned a Master of Business Administration Degree from National University, San Diego, and has completed Joint Professional Militar ' Education requirements as a grad- uate of the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia, and has been designated a Financial Management sub-specialist. While in command in USS FORT FISHER, the ship completed a comprehensive interdeployment work-up cycle and deployed to the United States Central Command as a member of the USS ESSEX Amphibious Ready Group under the operational com- mand of Commander, Amphibious Squadron Five. FORT FISHER participated in numerous bilateral amphibious training ex- ercises in the Arabian Gulf with allies of the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as a variety of contingency opertions, most nota- bly, Operation UNITED SHIELD, the final withdrawal of United Nations troops and equipment from Mogadishu. Somalia. Commander Jezierski has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star, the Navy Commendation Medal with two Gold Stars, and various service and campaign medals and ribbons.