Joseph Strauss (DDG 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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Bommanding Ufficer Commander Layman, a naTive of Lebanon, Missouri, is a graduaTe of The U.S, Naval Academy and was com- missioned an Ensign on 6 June l952. I I-lis firsT assignmenT included duTies as EirsT LieuTenanT and Damage ConTroI AssisTanT in The USS MARSI-IALI. COD-676l. Commander Layman Then served as ExecuTive Officer and Navigafor of The USS CAYUGA COUNTY lI.ST-529l for 22 monThs and as ExecuTive Officer and Navigafor of The USS OIRECT IMSO-11305 for a year. I-Iis nexT assignmenT was To The Bureau of Ships from April T957 To Eebruary V959 as Surface AssisTanT in The Applied Sciences Branch for Research and OevelopmenT Commander Layman reTurned To The Pacific l:IeeT in April l959 as The OperaTions Officer of The Commissioning Crew of The USS SOMERS COO-91l7l. Following a nineTeen-monTh Tour in SOMERS, he served a one-year Tour as Communicafions Officer on The Sfaff of Commander OesTroyer Elofilla SEVEN. SubseauenTly, Commander Layman was associafed wiTh The Naval TacTical Oafa SysTems as a senior programmer aT The l:leeT CompuTer Programming CenTer unTil April l964. Commander Layman successfully compleTed The Nuclear PowerTraining program in May l965 earning aualificaTion as a ReacTor OperaTor. This school included six monThs of TheoreTical sTudies aT Mare Island, California, and six monThs of operafional Training aT Idaho Ealls, ldaho. I-le reTurned To The Pacific OesTroyer Eorce in June T965 as ExecuTive Officer of The USS KING COLO'-IOI. Prior To hiis dleTachmenT, KlNOhTwX3e deployed as a uniT of The SevenTh EIeeT in supporf of VieTnam operaTions. Com- man er ayman enTered T e ir War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, in AugusT IQ66. AfTer graduaTing in June IQ67, Commander Layman reporfed for duTy as Commanding Officer of USS JOSEPH STRAUSS QDDG-lol, a Pearl l'larbor-based guided missile desTroyer. I Commander Layman's reflecTions on The cruise included: I When we deparfed I was confidenT ThaT we were well Trained and fully capable of performing any missiOnS assigned. Your sl4ill in a varieTy of missions was always marked by The very besT in performance. In many areas you have received well deserved recogniTion. The professional slaill and experTise in conducTing shore bombard- menT in NorTh and SouTh VieTnam was second To none. The readiness and effecTiveness of The 5 f51l baTTery WGS ouTsTanding and a TribuTe To The ersonnel wh d ' D . p o man an mainTain ThaT sysTem. CIC personnel were noTed noT only TOT' TIWSIV Slslll In Shore bombardmenf buf fOr ELINT Collecfions and a number of oTher diverse areas. Our com- municaTors conTin all I4 d Th f ' ' ' ' - - ' I lu y ran e as e oremosT in The desfroyer fIeeT. Similiarly The precision and excellence in conducTing replenishmenT has been noTed.

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,.'- : - , f,. .,1 e Y-,- ,--, 1, . v-.-.f ,, ,.,...7.:2 -,..- 1. . ..-.- 1. Q, -,:,-'- .--q,-.M 5- ,f N.- ,',-1 -ft.,--, Dedication A cruise To Toreign londs no rnoTTer how new ond ToscinoTing is ineviTobly o soiurn of loneliness A To The wives ond girlfriends whose consTonT encourogemenT l4epT Us sTrong To The porenTs whose ThoughTs ond onxieTies were doily wiTh Us . 4 To our children whose beckoning oUTcry of' Dod gove Us o reoson Tor being There, To friends whose regord was moniTesT regulorly oT moil coll' - This eTforT is dedicoTed . I . I Il 11 I I .

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There are Two oTher areas To whichl would like To express special recogniTion. l:irsT To our engineers who provided us The mobiliTy To meeT every commiTmenT. DespiTe Their mini- mum numbers in manning level, adverse working condiTions, and mainTenance reauiremenTs reTlecTing our 8075 underway Time, Their performance has been splendid and above re- proach. This includes The Repair Division 'personnel and parTicularly The shipTiTTers who were required To make a large number of diTTiculT repairs. All supply deparTmenT personnel are likewise deserving of recogniTion. Besides providing a sTeady sTream of repair parTs and consumable iTems, They provided hoT meals on shorT noTice and oTher services viTal To our heaITh and comTorT. A ship is a maze of equipmenT and sysTems. They are inanimaTe and require skilled seamen To operaTe and main- Tain Them. No one parT oT a ship sTands alone. lT always has been and always will be ThaT a combaT eTTecTive ship reTlecTs Teamwork, The abiliry of each man of The crew To conTribuTe his share. Commander Layman was awarded The Bronze STar Medal wiTh CombaT ' ' V aT The conclusion oT The cruise. The ciTaTion noTed Commander Layman's excepTional insighr and leadership while direcTing his ship in such Tasks as OperaTion Sea Dragon, Naval Gunifire SupporT, Task Group Commander Flagship, special operaTions and carrier escorT Trom 29 AugusT T968 To 9 January l969 and on several occasions when his ship was Taken under Tire, his skill, calmness, and ,iudgmenT enabled The ship To escape unscraTched and To Take prompT and eTTecTive acTion To counTer The aTTacks. Commander Layman is married To The Tormer Carmen Meyer oT Memphis, Missouri. Commander and Mrs. Layman and Their Tour children, Linda, Larry, l-larry and John.