Iwo Jima (LHD 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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I had seen the Governor on TV many times. She looked different in person: tired and worn out. She told me that she was averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night, but smiled, I guess that ' s about what you get in the military. You could see the severe strain of the past week ' s events. I quoted her the famous line from Churchill the night he became Phme Minister of wartime Bntain, that it was as if I were walking with Destiny, and that all of my past life had been but preparation for this moment and this trial. The recovery from the damage of Hurricane Katrina is an unpr ecedented trial for the Governor and many, many others. My observation is that Amehca, throughout her history, has always been slow to respond, but once that powerful engine gets into gear it is massive and unstoppable. I suspect this will also be the case for the Gulf Coast. It has become our tradition at the evening Department Head meeting to go around the room and have each person list the stupidest or silliest thing they heard or saw dunng the day As you can imagine, the log book is overflowing with accounts. Yesterday it was the helos and the elephants at the zoo. Today it was me. I have been inundated with doing interviews: CNN, Pentagon press, Regina Mobley and Channel 1 3 news, the Boston Globe, Caria McCabe and the Army Times, and finally Greta Van Sustren. We did a spot with Greta on the pier this morning with the massive bow of IWO JIMA in the background and helos flying on and off the ship with great noise - an impressive backdrop for this puffed up officer. As I was being interviewed by Greta, a pair of Blackhawks swooped onto the flight deck sending up a great wind which blew off my ball cap. I instinctively scrambled after it before it blew into the water. When I turned around the FOX News photographer looked at me and smiled, I got that on film. Look for me chasing my hat down the pier on the next Fox News spot sasrri...

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, this moment and this trial... Wednesday, 7 September- We finally had a chance to have Captain ' s Call this morning. The ship has been running at full speed for 8 days straight with a myriad of changing missions and requirements piled on top of us, I thought it best to tell the crew where I thought this was going and what impact we have made. I told them that as with any contingency operation there is that initial surge of energy and inspiration that often times gives way to frustration and tedium; I did not want them to underestimate the magnitude of what they were accomplishing each day by their hard work on the flight decl , the galley, the well deck. CIC, Radio Central (MC). on the pier, and in the engineering spaces to support this great undertaking. Every job on the ship is important and the contribution of IWO J M has already been enomnous. Our contributions have been growing. Today we opened our doors to 900-1.200 Army, National Guard, and local law enforcement personnel to take showers and get hot meals. We were getting overwhelmed. There was a steady stream of 60 to 100 every hour on the quarterdeck asking to come onboard and get refreshed. The word has obviously gotten out. One Army Captain told the Command (i laster Chief that his unit of 60 soldiers had come from 60 miles away because his general told him to go to IWO JIMA and they ' ll take care of you. We couldn t say no. Not satisfied with the record-setting flight operations yesterday, the flight deck team neariy doubled the number of aircraft hits. At one point the team was bringing in Army Blackhawks two at a time, one group after another in perfect sequence. It was an impressive sight to behold, tvledical casualties continued to come onboard the ship, some by stretcher and ambulance, others by air or boat. After yesterday, the lifledical folks reworked their procedures, so today everything flowed smoothly. Supply department has served up thousands of meals; the mess line never closes. Deck department got back to their roots and conducted boat operations and a sterngate mamage with TORTUGAs LCM-8 landing craft, moving more supplies to our sister ship. But lest we forget, the bedrock of IWO Jlli IA ' s strength lies in three simple things; electricity, air conditioning, and hot water - all provided by the uncomplaining engineers. But of all the manifold capabilities of good ship IWO JIMA. medical, logistic, and air support, our command and control capabilities have moved to the forefront. It almost sounds sun ' eal but IWO JIMA has literally become the headquarters, the center of the universe for all Federal recovery efforts - DoD as well as civilian. It is on this ship that the myriad efforts have all come together Yesterday, for the first time ever, some 1 7 admirals and generals got together with the Joint Task Force Commander General Honore, face to face to coordinate the numerous and ever growing military recovery and support efforts. Today, the same cadre of admirals and generals were back onboard but this time accompanied by the civilian side. FEMA has now established their headquarters on the pier along side (and onboard IWO JIMA) to better coordinate their efforts with us. But with this has come an ever growing number of staff members embarking on the ship. Our population has grown from a crew of some 1 .200 to nearly 2.500 (including several hundred guardsmen and soldiers living onboard) with all the detachments, augments, and now senior staffs. I think we are now up to one three-star, one two-star, and four one-stars embarked good ship IWO JIMA. We are bursting at the seams. We have spent the vast majority of our days taking care of and chasing down the myriad staff members. It is like herding cats, except these cats fly on and off our flight deck periodically. I had a chance to meet Governor Blanco of Louisiana and her Lieutenant Governor today when she came onboard for the giant 1200 bnefing with General Honore and were later joined by Admiral Nathman and Vice Admiral Fitzgerald. The ship ' s Ready Room was bursting at the seams with senior officers and high officials - you had to step outside just to change your mind.

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Center of the Universe Thursday, 8 September- As the Center of the Universe for recovery efforts, IWO JIMA has been attracting her fair share of attention and then some - Vice President and Mrs. Cheney came onboard for a short visit and brief in the wardroom along with Governor Blanco (I think she l nows her way around the ship now), Senator Vitter, and Secretary of Homeland Security Chertoff, as well as other Congressmen and local officials. We had gotten the word the day before from the Secret Sen ice, so we had a chance to prepare - compared to the 20 minutes heads up we got in Portland when former President Bush visited the ship. The primary purpose of the visit was for the Vice President to get a brief from the senior Slate, Federal, and DoD officials on the status of the relief efforts in Louisiana and surrounding areas. But as always, I think it is an opportunity for the Vice President to meet with the Sailors and thank them for their contributions to the recovery efforts. Vice Admiral Allen, the Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard, and now the Principal Federal Official (PFO) - the senior official responsible for all Federal recovery efforts (including FEMA) - gave a half hour presentation to the Vice President, the Governor, Senator Vitter, and the assembled officials, admirals, generals, and staffers on the Recovery Plan. It was superb. The press seems to always condemn the government and Federal agencies for not having a plan. What VADM Allen outlined was detailed, extensively researched, extraordinarily organized, thorough, and forward-thinking. They had modeled out when all the flood waters would recede, identified the vast majority of infrastructure that had to be rebuilt or replaced, addressed and anticipated environmental concerns and hazards, established a timeline for recovery, and identified and put in place the resources needed to execute the plan as rapidly as possible, I was left with the belief that the government had assembled the right people for this massive undertaking and the great American engine of recovery was starting to turn over and gather steam. I had a chance to talk to the senior FEMA official on the pier this evening and he expressed the same optimism in spite of the fact that it will be a long road to recovery. The entire visit went extremely well. It is always a pleasure to work with the United States Secret Service. These folks are always ON TIME! (Note: I ' ve spent a huge chunk of my naval career waiting on the quarterdeck for someone to show up). The XO and the Command Master Chief did a masterful job in coordinating the entire event. They both seemed to be everywhere all at the same time. The Master-At-Arms folks and the security teams did a superb job of establishing security and working closely with the Secret Service. And the Culinary Specialists did a magnificent job of setting up the wardroom in short order. And it is always a pleasure and a great relief when a senior officer gets up to show a brief and all the audio visual equipment works perfectly (especially in front of the Vice President) - my thanks to the Intelligence Specialists. But the unsung heroes of the visit were PH2 Metzger and her back up photographer, PH2 Stratchko. As the Vice President was departing, he stopped to greet and thank about 50 IWO JIMA Sailors lined up in Upper Vehicle Stowage ( Upper V ). The National Press was onboard covering the visit and descended on the Vice President like vultures. But PH2 Metzger pushed in front of them all and held them at bay while she snapped pictures of every single Sailor shaking hands with the Vice President, Mrs. Cheney, Governor Blanco, and Senator Vitter while the press angrily backed out of her way. I had a chance to walk through the ship and the pier this evening with the schedule of events of the day having wound down to dull roar. Most of the city is dark but here and there one sees lights. Most of the big hotels, Sheraton, Hilton, and Embassy Suites have some of their lights on though it was amusing to note that some of the letters on their big red signs are missing - destroyed by the hurricane winds. From a distance SHERATON is SH T . On the flight deck, the aviation boatswainsmates were hard at work moving aircraft and respotting for the next day ' s air plan. Despite the incredibly long, hot hours they have put in over the last 4 days, they had smiles on their faces and were pumped for the next challenge. I caught all the purple shirts (aircraft refuelers) late at night cramped in the Fuels Shop conducting PQS training. . .of all things, taking advantage of a slightly eariier conclusion to flight operations. The boatswainsmates were sitting around in Upper Vehicle Stowage, probably solving worid peace as best as I could tell. Throughout the day there has been a steady stream of Army and National Guard personnel coming on and off the ship for hot showers and some hot chow. The pattern repeated itself over and over all day long: they stumble onboard with their heads down and walk off the ship with heads high and smiles on their faces and full of gratitude for a simple courtesy. And the engineering plant continues to run smoothly with an overflow of air conditioning, hot water, and power despite the high demand. I won the stupidest thing of the day contest for the second straight night. I must be getting tired or I am loosing my mind. After the Vice President arrived at the quarterdeck and we completed all the introductions with the welcoming party, I escorted the Vice President and Mrs. Cheney up the ramp to the Hangar. Taking advantage of this God-given opportunity to talk to the Second Most Powerful Man on the Planet in one- on-one conversation, I asked the Vice President if had been on this type of amphibious ship before. He stopped for a moment, turned to me, lowered his head so that he could look at me over the top of his glasses and said, You know. Rich, I WAS Secretary of Defense at one point. As Homer Simpson would say Dowh! Mrs. Cheney had christened our sister ship ESSEX. The crew remains engaged and inspired and eager to get out and do some hard work in the city and local neighborhoods. I hope to have some projects ready to go in another day and will get our Sailors out and on the job. Despite the intensity of our support operations, considerable work is getting completed around the ship. Some 200 plus Third Class Petty Officers took the Second Class Navy-wide Advancement Exam today under very challenging conditions and with not a whole lot of study time. We all wish them well