St Louis (LKA 116) - Naval Cruise Book

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,f ' -N4 vn- Qt! FUN IN THE SUN 2, , . 1 X mx CLEANEST SPACE ONBOARD

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S GNAL 'ay -1- 5 . rr rr Z al Q 1' . Q , , ' l P - -. I A-'W , iifg.-'HL 'v ,lfifl Q, ss., 3-'JJ l. aka- bl I , Vxiiiiv. 'v-fr-ttyl'-1151 M. ' ' ' .is 1,4'fs Si ' - 'vffs':1zl, -23,1 fd All 'hes . ' . . Qiwcwg . .,,., JP ' Q1 , Qs ..ef,, ' :fx 4. 4 , , IST ROW, L TO R, SM2 MARTIN, SMSN CHASE, SMI LINDGREN, 2ND ROW, SM2 VICK, SM2 HOWELL, SMSN FORDICE, SMI HESSON. DIVISIONAL HISTORY OF THE SIGNAL BRIDGE fOS DIV? Un 9 September 1983, the USS ST. LOUIS departed San Diego, California for it's new homeport of Sasebo, Japan. At that time, OS division had five men assigned I SMI Donnell, SMI Hesson, SM3 Vick, SMSN White, SMSA Fordice. ST LOUIS travelled in company with Phibron Seven to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Upon arrival in Pearl, SMI O'Donnell was transferred to USS FRESNO. While in Hawaiian waters, ST LOUIS participated in two amphibious exercises. After a five-day port visit upkeep period, ST LOUIS, Phibron Seven, and USS COCHRANE departed on the transit to Japan. During this transit the signal bridge handled upwards of 300 pieces of administrative traffic ranging from position reports to daily opsums and tactical signals, all in a thirteen-day period. During the transit, SMI Hesson received his Enlisted Surface Warfare quali cation. Upon arrival in Sasebo, SMSA Vlfhite was transfered to USS OKINAWA, and we received SMI Lindgren from USS FRESNO. After arrival in Sasebo, SM3 Vick and SMSA Fordice completed an extensive rehabilitation of the signal bridge in ten days, including chipping up and relaying all the nonskid and repainting the bridge. SMI ISWJ Hesson, SM3 Vick, and SMSN Fordice all received letters of commendation from the commanding officer for outstanding performance during the transit. December 83 marked some significant events for OS division. We received SM3 Martin from USS DULUTH, SM3 Howell from USS PYRO, SM3 Vick was advanced to SM2, and SMSA Fordice to SMSN. In February 84 ST LOUIS participated in TEAM SPIRIT 84 off the coast of Korea with units of the US Seventh Fleet, and the Republic of Korea navy. We also had another addition to the signal gang- SMSA Chase, who came to us from SM A School. March and April were spent in hauling cargo from place to place. In May, SMSA Chase was advanced to SMSA, and in JUIY, SM3's Martin and Howell were both advanced to SM2' During the year, ST LOUIS was visited by many high ranking officers of various countries, and services, all of Whom commented on the sharp appearance of both the 1 bridge and the signalmen. Also, during this time, OS divi- sion received the highest praise during all inspections and 1 . assist visits. During the Command Inspection in September A ,I - 84' the Signal bridge was rated as one of the best spaces on , the Ship by COMO Butcher and received no hits during the E- Shilfs 3M inspection.

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OPERATION SPECIALISTS iv 1 ,xx . K, kv, , ,if . 5 ,AVO .fs '- me 3 , 6 if , ' 'lv I Qfss ,kk .. , ! K4-fy A E 41' ' V, ,..-.,..:af 7:55 yi . Qrigfi 5,521 Q 1 . Y A I , , IW, ii., Q- gf, 2 f T iff Q- If-9 fa, , ws A J J V ' V I E 53 'wwf'-2' 'V ' v 'lu X 4 'mfr .Ji'L.,- L TO R, OS2 SULLIVAN,OS1 SCHNEIDER, OSSA HOGUE, OSSA KER- FOOT, OS2 BREWER, OS2 SMITH, OSSA ALEXANDER OI DIVISION OI Division is composed of operations specialists COS'sD who are trained to operate search radars, electronic identification equipment, special coordination plots, communications equip- ment and much, much more. OS's are the ones who sit in a darkened room watching their scopes for the purpose of maintaining a continuous tacticl picture in order to be ableto advise the bridge, conn and weapons control stations as well as the commanding officer, Combat information center CCICD is the place where about 75 Z of all information received by the Ship is sent to be evaluated, sorted, displayed in one form or another and then passed on to those people who rely on that information to fight a U.S. naval vessel. CIC, like the bridge, radio and engineering stations is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days 3 Week by the OS's and the EW's who work together to detect and identify any and all radar, ESM and other contacts while the Ship is underway. Sounds like a big job ? It is indeed and that's only part of it, There are many evolutions, too numerous to Mme here, that CIC plays a vital role in. Suffice it to say that the creed of an OS is, In god we trust, all else we track. 5 - ,a W ,Q . H y E or u an ,Q-f - I :fl K .ilff ':,- ' ' , tm , I I J A 4- ' Q A ', 'za , 1 2 s 1 fy 4 an K EQ' 9, H H - A ' '.:rr11tl7l l'l nut' F ' H W' z',j.1.'QN 7 1 I 'V ,wwf :'f-'W-ffiilmali www ' ' , ' ,Q 'ip fl 4- fgr, 5 ' x ' 1 TELL US ABOUT TAIWAN