Downes (FF 1070) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 46 text:

WEAPONS The Weapons Department, headed by LT Jack Chastain, con- sists of three divisions, 1st Divison, AS Division and G Division. Collectively, these divisions are responsible for all of the ship ' s of- fensive weapons, small arms, deck and boat operations and the prosecution of submarines. The latter, detecting, chasing and kill- ing submarines is the primary mission area of the Frigate from Hell. Weapons department is the largest department on the ship. Boatswain ' s Mate (BM) Weps and STGCS Eichenlaub

Page 45 text:

■Ig-Wijpl- ET3 Militello JHI T li — ' t«d 1 — — r RMl Rice

Page 47 text:

MC Abshere received his ESWS pin, which included a free salt wa- shower 1st Division aboard the DOWNES consists of 1 Officer 1 Chief and 24 Boatswain Mates and Strikers. We drive the ship from the bridge as well as provide lookouts fore and aft while underway. Deck force, as we are commonly referred to, is re- sponsible for all of the main decks aboard the DOWNES. This includes all painting, firestations and general PMS. Deck force is the leading ele- ment in most evolutions underway. We rig king posts for highline package and vt|| n||nliK JPU; . 1ST DIV personnel transfers at sea as well as light lines for small objects. We also rig and man fueling stations for under- way replenishments at sea. 1st Division is responsible for dropping the anchor or mooring to a buoy, whichever is re- quired at the time. We are very profi- cient at both. Our greatest compliment this year came from the harbor master in Hong Kong. He said in all his years on the sea, he never observed anyone moor to a buoy safer or quicker than the DOWNES. The forecastle and boat crew completed the evolution without any glitches in 27 minutes. With the DOWNES being as old as she is, many things are not as modern as they could be. For example, our kingposts do not pop out of the deck with a push of a button. Our men must lift and carry it through very tight pas- sageways and doors to the main deck. There it must be set up. 6 months ago this would have taken about 6 hours, today we can do it in only 2. The deck Force aboard the DOWNES is one of the best trained, highly qualified, hard chargingest, ass kickingest 1st divisions afloat today! anding: Left to Right: LTJG Geof Bissell, SN Chad Womack, BM3 Robert Strohmeyer, SN Maurice Taylor, BM3 Leonardo Morales, SN Dustin idson, BM3 David Durst, SN Daniel Swainston, SA Robert Sutton, BM3 Perri Finn, SA Frank Grayson, SN Christopher Haynes, SA Randy Colvin, k Michael Morgan, SA Rodney Winder, SN Ruben Hivick, SN Tony Turgeon, SN Leonardo Levita, BMC(SW) Harley Abshere; icneeling: BM3 chard Rodriguez, SM3 Mark Ferguson