Germantown (LSD 42) - Naval Cruise Book

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t VBSS team lbeloxxl returns to Cieriiiamtowii alter providing liealtli and I'llvOl'l inspections lor several ships. llNl2 licetlles tru 1 lit ne 1il'Ierpi'ox'iding medical care for sick mereliunt sailors on an lraqi dlioxxp Who says Marines get to have all the fun? Certainly not the Visit Boarding Search and Seizure CVBSSJ Team Thev did their part to help restore order to Iraq by inspecting merchant vessels in search of stolen oil as well as weapons drugs or any other illegal cargo They also helped provide for the basic needs of crews on suspect ships identified by other United Nations C oa lition VBSS teams Our team took food and water to such vessels and provided medical care to their sailors as they waited in a pre trial penalty box USS Germantown played a unique role in ending smuggling when an Iraqi merchant ship sank in the penalty box Eight sailors on board the ship had been accused of smuggling oil out of Iraq Instead of waiting for trial they decided to sink their ship to destroy the evidence. The sailors were pulled from the water by boats from an Australia ship and another American ship The coalition sailors handed the wet and oil covered mer chants off to a Germantown boat crew, who brought them here for medical care and safe keeping A few days later, we sent them on their meriy way We donlt know what happened to them, and we weren't allowed to take any pictures with them while they were heic But we kmd ot' miss our eight, chain smoking Iraq friends who came for a visit early in the deployment MQ . .- 30:-N' BM2Stoek tleftl and EN3 Kuykindall labovel debate over who looks more hard- core with the M-I4 riflle. ll

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--...nv--L, ---.--,-...---..... ..,,.....-.,,.... - ..-.-..., ,...- .i ....,. ,........,.-...,.--..-...,. ,p.qQ.m-:1 llt ENS Richard Ferrari Cabovel prepares to board a merchant vessel for an inspection. fRightJ Our rigid-hull inflat- able boat nears an Iraqi dhow where a merchant sailor is in need ofmedical care. 1 l O oardlflg earch XL CIZUTQ The VBSS team tabovel inspects a merchant ship offthc southern coast of lraq. tRightl VBSS team members on a brand new, state-of-the-art dhow.

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EN3 Kuykindal trightl prepares to fuel a heli- copter tBelowJ Flight quarters crew members carry the fueling hose across the flight deck. Flight Quarters Designated Personnel Man your Flight Quarters Stations tEverybody else, stay the heck out of the way.l While 'all hands not in- volved in flight quarters' were 'standing clear of weather decks aft of frame 63,' the flight deck crew was hard atwork. They removed Foreign Object Debris, or 'FOD,' before helicopters landed. They chalked, they chained, they even fueled. Unfortunately, we can,t afford to show you the flight deck crew in color, but if we could, you'd see more col- ors than a bag full of Skittles on our flight quarters people. The fire fighters wear red vests and cranials. The fuels folks wear purple. CWe call them grapes... if you squeeze 'em,you,ll getjet fuel.J The Landing Si gnalman Enlisted she do. The chalkers and chainers wear blue, and both the Flight Deck Officer and the on-scene corpsman wear white. CThe corpsman has a red cross on his cranial. The officer has a microphonej Sometimes our flight quarters crew had to get up extra early in the moming. Other times they stayed up late at night waiting for in- bound helicopters. But don't let them sob about it too much. For all these incon- veniences, and for the inher- ent danger involved in heli- copter operations, they get an extra S110 a month. Thatis not a bad deal. wears yellow. He or tells the pilot what to HTFN Holmes wraps himselfinalil' minum foil so he'll bake evenly in the event ofa fire. tHe's also read? to rescue survivors if there's a crash-l