Worden (CG 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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Diego Garcia Footprint Of Freedom Known as the Footprint of Freedom due to its geography and association with both Great Britain and the United States, this tiny island in the Chagos Archipelago was home to Battle Group DELTA for part of our deployment. With beautiful beaches, a tropical setting and warm weather, who could want more? For the off duty WORDEN sailor, Diego Garcia boast- ed lots of water sports such as swimming, snor- keling, fishing, sailing, windsurfing and just laying out on the beach. The gymnasium of- fered weight-lifting and basketball. There were playing fields for soccer and softball games. The library was small but adequate. Addition- ally, DGar had a four lane bowling alley, bicy- cles for rent, a phone exchange, a post office to mail home all those goodies purchased on WESTPAC, a bookstore and an exchange to satisfy the need to spend our hard earned cash. Speaking of cash, there was even a Navy Feder- al Credit Union, but none of the electronic Wizardry of the twentieth century. With sever- al time zone differences and the vast distances, finding out your current balance took at least a day and depositing your pay check consisted of asking the teller for an envelope to mail your deposit to Subic Bay. Thereis a satellite dish on the island and it did make same day television coverage of the world events possible. Diego Garcia has a large runway capable of handling the biggest cargo planes which spelled mail call. That alone would have made being tied to the pier in DGar bearable. That was the problem. It could, but it didn't. It was just a gentle reminder that we were on the other side of the world. Still, we were on land and the clubs were providing a semi-cold beer to drown our sorrows in. lt really wasn't that bad after all. Anybody hitching back to P.I.,'i say MMCS CSWJ Mi chael Dochwat and OSC CSWl Chuck Auxtef- 'a 1 0 8 2 2 ,E --1 S i !

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gm! Exotic, teeming, bustling Bombay, India , -if. 13' ,f A K 8. ' if 1, ' ' . V 1 3 -- ,W- g ,,rv'.- owl' fm' ' . ,, ,V , -, I W Y N, . .- 1, f :fr , i 'M 'iff 4, 12 pf' ,ff Q! l by ,PMG ..r t.v,,Y:-.A. af I I I l - 4 ,wwgLm..,.,.,..,,,,,' Lf '5 ' '- ' Indian destroyers at rest in Bombay Harbor. 1 ii' ' will -- ft ,Q . ar .'no I Y K, -rt ,, ,.. . l I f 'l ,- .-.i ?f me e - An eager liberty party heads for shore. L 9 1 ' O lf , if - ' . 1382 Brian Kitt, STG1 BilllRllSS9ll?lllClllS2l321ViCi Robert- son 2li.lCl' il lmrfl clay! worth ol' shopping. I II

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w D Bahrain L . . ..- i N, .ig it in Wl ll is X l'?!S'P':t' 03'-Wifi 3 lfiiif, f' 3 .is E 2 fa' I A 5- Bahrain is an independent, hereditary sheikdom formerly under British protection. The ancient desert city of Dilman was in exis- tence over 4,000 years before the birth of Christ. A major contribu- tor to the world's supply of oil, Bahrain is also known for its pearls. The 400,000 Bahrainis are mostly Arab Muslims. Under an agreement with Allied Forces in 1977, Bahrain allows the U.S. Middle East Force to maintain an Administrative Support Unit QASUJ for ships that call upon Bahraini facilities. ASU offered WORDEN a mecca of American culture - clubs and lounges, beer and pizza, video games, swimming pools, tennis court, a movie theater and gym. Most of the crew found their way to the souq, a conglomeration of small shops. Gold, textiles, rugs, perfumes, and cassette tapes were the most popular items. Purchasing was not difficult as the merchants spoke fluent English and willing to bar- gain. Though we had been briefed on the pecularities of Muslim customs, the Bahrain we saw was quite Westernized. The auto- mobiles were high-class luxury items like Porsches and Mercedes. Fast food outlets like Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Hardees were all just a corner away. Still, desert headdresses, wom- en draped from head to toe in black, and the weekend falling on Thursday and Friday, reminded us that we were a long way from home.