Jarrett (FFG 33) - Naval Cruise Book

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Change of Command On October 15, 1987, CDR Carl E. Weiscopf relieved CDR Leslie S. Blankinship as the Commanding Officer of the USS JARRETT. The change of command ceremony took place aboard the JARRETT while anchored in Hong Kong Harbor, Hong Kong. . 15 October 1987 Commander Carl E. Weiscopf Commander Carl E. Weiscopf was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia on August 21, 1948. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and was commissioned in June 1970. Upon completion of Naval Guided Missile School, he served as Fire Control Officer and Navigator aboard USS WADDELL (DDG 24) from November 1970 to July 1973. In December 1974, he graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California with a Masters Degree in Computer Systems Management. He completed the Surface Warfare Officers School De- partment Head course in Newport, Rhode Island in July 1975. He served as Operations Officer aboard USS TOWERS (DDG 9) from September 1975 to January 1978. From March 1978 to August 1979 he served as First Lieutenant aboard USS FREDERICK (LST 1184). In September 1979, he reported to the Navy Mili- tary Personnel Command for duty in the Management Information System Requirement Division. He was or- dered to the commissioning crew for USS ARIES (PHM 5) in September 1 98 1 and served as the first com- manding officer from September 1982 to October 1984. Returning to Washington D.C., he served on the Chief of Naval Operations Staff in the Enlisted Plans and Poli- cy Branch (OP-135) until April 1987. Included among Commander WeiscopFs decora- tions are the Meritorious Service Medal with gold star. Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V and gold star and various other ribbons. Commander Weiscopf is married to the former Charlene Garland of El Paso, Texas. Together with their children, Christopher and Jennifer, they reside in Foun- tain Valley, California.

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Executive Officer Commander Robert K. Blanchard United States Navy Commander Robert K. Blanchard, was born in Corpus Christi. Texas on February 8, 1 950. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Oceanography. Following graduation he attended the Navy ' s Nuclear Power School in Bainbridge, Mary- land and the Nuclear Power Training Unit at Ballston Spa, New York. His initial sea tour was as a member of the Engineering Department on USS LONG BEACH (CGN 9). In 1976. he reported to the pre-commissioning crew of the USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69). Following commissioning and initial operations on USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, Commander Blanchard served as an instructor at the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps Unit, University at Houston, Texas. In September 1 980, he attended the Surface Warfare Offi- cer ' s School Department Head Course at Newport, Rhode Island. In 1981, Commander Blan- chard reported to USS NIMITZ (CVN 68) as Damage Control Assistant. Operations Officer on USS ARKANSAS (CGN 41) was his next assignment prior to reporting to USS JARRETT (FFG 33). Commander Blanchard is married to the former Deborah Ann Ryan of Franklin, Massa- chusetts.

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Chaplain LT Dean Allen, CHC, USNR jiii c- l ' oui:ht .1 good I ' iehi. I hjvc finished my course. I have kept the t ulh. - New Testament. 11 Timothy. IV. 7 One of the privileges of being a Navy Chaplain and a pastoral counselor is that 1 belong to a tra- dition that valves to a ' two way ' ministry. In any short or extended deployment I had better know that I don t have all the answers and that I need to be supported by the crew as much as I will seek to sup- port them! I begin any mutual pil- grimage with the hope and almost expectation, that my shipmates will give me courage, humble me, anger me, make me think, and keep me sane, as much as I will do the same for them! As 1 lived with you on a daily ba- sis, especially on a major deploy- ment, I often felt like I was tread- ing on holy ground in accepting someone that 1 inay not have previ- ously known for who and what you were. Knowing that over the course of weeks or months we could move each other to tears, laughter, rage, silence and back again, was both scary and threat- ening, but exciting at the same time. A major deployment is an in- between time, a space between preparation and the event, be- tween the over-and-done-with and the not-yet, the place where we stand after we have given of our- selves and wonder if it will all come together! There were always ele- ments of testing involved but there never seemed to be a final exam. It was a time that beckoned us to learn more about ourselves and to deepen our grasp on our identities and the meaning of our lives. This in-between time offered us an opportunity to express faith in God, each other, our sh ip and also to make an act of faith in ourselves. This was not an exaggerated com- mitment to ego, but a willingness to have enough confidence in our abilities that we could withstand inevitable failures and disappoint- ments. It wasn ' t easy to live with hard knocks and disappointments. but we held on to a sense of our- selves, building on the fact that we did our best with as much integrity as possible, and that we overcame any obstacle. If we had not risked ourselves and tested what we were made of, we would have been like the person in the Gospel who bur- ied his talents in the ground, des- perately afraid to find out what could be done with them. Now that it is all over, we are sure of one thing, we are different in one way or another. The direc- tion and the meaning of this change is uncontrollable, only if we ignore ourselves, shrug off the ex- perience, or fail to take it as a time to act on the lessons learned. It has been an ardous six months but with the grace of God and us pul- ling together we made it! It is an experience that I will never forget nor will I forget any of you. The USS JARRETT will always occu- py a special place in my heart.