Iwo Jima (LHD 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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Behind the Scenes Saturday, 17 September- For the first time in three weeks, the ship was able to catch her breath today. We restricted flight operations in the morning to let the Flight Deck team sleep in and pushed reveille and breakfast back an hour to give some small amount of relief to the Culinary Specialist and Food Service Attendants. I ' m almost embarrassed to admit it, but I got six hours of uninterrupted sleep last night. . and I think others did too. Teams of Sailors went out on their vahous repair projects and the good work of the ship continued. They are signs that our participation in recovery efforts is winding down. Sister ship BATAAN was detached this evening to head back to Norfolk. She had been the very first ship on station, having dodged Hurricane Katrina herself, and carried the burden of rescue and relief operations until IWO JIMA and TORTUGA arrived on 3 September, and she supported the lion ' s share of the recovery efforts in Gulfport and Biioxi, First Army has evacuated IWO JIMAs Landing Force Operations Center (LFOC), having set up their Operations Command Post (OOP) ashore. The Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) on IWO JIMA is slowly migrating ashore as well. Our neighbors in the 119th Military Police unit of the Rhode Island National Guard depart tomorrow en route home to the Ocean State. A delegation of firefighters from the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) paid a call on the ship this morning: they are heading back as well in a few days. On my way back from manning the grills at Eddie ' s Soup Kitchen, I talked to a platoon from the 86nd Airborne Division, They expect to be headed back to Fort Bragg soon. They also passed along their thanks for the hot showers and hot meals they routinely received onboard IWO JIMA. And the opening of the Golden Arches down the street seems to have drawn off a significant number of servicemen anwomen dining on the mess decks. Dunng flight operations this afternoon, we offered up opportunities for crewmembers to conduct ' fam flights ' over New Orieans. About 150 IWO JIMA Sailors had the chance to take a short 15 minute flight around the city on an SH-60 (a most elegant and superb aircraft according to the XO) to survey the destruction caused by and the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina. They witnessed the still flooded neighborhoods, the miles of smashed houses and downed trees, the recently repaired levees and dewatering operations, and an area slowly but surely clawing its way back. The traffic across from Eddie ' s Soup Kitchen has picked up over the past few days. There are a lot of contractor trucks, trailers, and construction vehicles moving into the city. For every overt success we have there are numerous behind the scenes actions that support that successful event. We have been able to fulfill 100 percent of our flight requirements because of the superb maintenance and performance of the aircraft and their crews. The maintainors have done a terrific job in keeping the birds full mission capable (FMC) Thanks to their efforts IWO JIMA has been in the green (all birds FMC) for the past few days. IWO JIMA is blessed with an Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) responsible for maintaining and repairing aircraft. For the past year, AIMD has been fixing mostly shipboard things because we have had few aircraft onboard. The full flight deck of aircraft, has given the various aviation maintenance and repair ratings (AD, AE, AM, AO, AS, AT AZ, and PR) a chance to ply their trade. One group of maintainors helped repair on the President ' s CH-53 helicopters the other day But ever flexible and creative, another group AIMD folks helped manufacture a base for the President ' s podium for his Jackson Square speech to the Nation, In the Hangar is an AV-8B carcass that we use for training for the Aviafion Boatswains Mates in moving, spotting, and arming aircraft. Given another week, I expect the folks from AIMD will have it up and flying .we just need to find a spare engine someplace...

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Farewells Sunday, 18 September- The Wardroom officers wanted to give the hardworking culinary specialists (CS) and food service attendants (FSA) a break this Sunday morning, so they volunteered to take over their duties for breakfast and allow them to sleep in. IWO JIMA is blessed to have a large cadre of limited duty officers who have not forgotten where they came from. The LDO ' s led the operation. It was interesting to watch the engineers take over the scullery. I observed the Chief Engineer supervising his team, operating the scullery machine as though it was one of the ship ' s 600 lb boilers, and chastising the Boilers Officer when temperatures were out of designed specifications. The CSs and FSAs appreciated the break. The 119th Military Police Company of the Rhode Island National Guard departed this morning. We held a ceremony onboard the ship to formally see our shipmates off and wish them well. The marched onboard a little after 0800 this morning and formed up on the flight deck. They presented the XO with a framed emblem of their unit and In return we gave them a large framed picture of Hotel IWO JIMA. their home for the last two weeks. They were our first line of defense in secuhng the ship dunng the first few uncertain days of our arrival. In the end, they all marched off, 140 of them, in single file, and the XO and I had the pleasure and honor of shaking each and every hand as they departed for home. I told them that in recovering from the biggest natural catastrophe in American history, it was America ' s smallest state that was one of the first to respond. We wish them a safe flight home to their families and loved ones. There has been a steady stream of visitors to the ship, delegations from both the NYPD and FDNY, dozens of local officials, and a myriad of state national guardsmen seeking to tour IWO JIMA. We had a delegation of the Navajo Scouts from Arizona onboard this morning for a tour. One of their members was a relative of the Marine Ira Hayes, the Pema Native American who helped raise the flag atop Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945. It is extraordinary to see the scope of volunteers who have come to New Orteans help out in the recovery. The Chaplain held a service at the recently restored Holy Trinity Church this morning. The parish ' s pnest had evacuated the area during the storm and was not able to return in time. The National Guard still has road blocks up near the church as there are still flooded neighborhoods nearby. The service was attended by a number of IWO JIMA Sailors who had helped out with the restoration project as well as a number of stalwart parishioners who came to rejoice in seeing their saved church and to thank Father Gianulis and IWO JIMA for their efforts. We hosted a Congressional visit by 16 members of Congress this morning. It followed the same format set by the Senate visit on Friday, but the logistics of getting everyone onboard proved challenging: one member showed up an hour eariy, without much notice, so the ship had scrambled, but we were able to get everyone flown onboard and settled into the wardroom for the traditional brief by VADM Allen. I have heard the brief 4 times now. It is the same brief provided to the President, Vice President, Senate, and now the Congressional Delegation, only each time it is updated to the minute with fresh nformation . In the past, VADM Allen would defer to his subject matter experts (Army Corps of Engineers, etc.), but has emerged as the master of virtually every detail of the recovery effort. As soon as his obligation with the Congressional delegation was complete, he raced off back to work, then later he flew off the ship to his headquarters in Baton Rouge. As with his brief to the Senate, the admiral fielded a barrage of questions from the representatives. Local elected officials and the Parish Presidents made impassioned pleas to the Congress for all kinds of aid and assistance - including the cutting of bureaucratic red tape in order to get recovery efforts moving faster. As before, the admiral explained how the storm occurred and the catastrophic impact it had on first responders, helping to provide insights as to why certain decisions were made. The Governor also spoke, strongly defending the actions of state, local, and federal authorities in the eariy stages of rescue and recovery efforts and condemning the press for distorting what was actually happening on the ground. She challenged the assembled Congressional members to put aside the blame game and political infighting and to work together in this monumental recovery effort. I remember the first time I met Governor Blanco 1 1 days ago. She looked worn from exhaustion and drained by events, all dressed in dark clothes that reflected her spirit. Today