Iwo Jima (LPH 2) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 10 text:

Captain William Dclugherly CapTain William A DougherTy was born in PoTTsville, Pennsylvania He received an appoinfmeni To The U.S. Na- val Academy where he earned a commission in The U.S. Navy in June 1958 Subseauenfly, he commenced flighT Training and was designaied a Naval AviaTor in January 1960 Flying S2F TRACKER aircrafT wifh VS-27 in Norfolk, Vir- ginia he made deploymenTs To Europe, Soufh America. and The Caribbean while flying aboard USS VALLEY FORGE, USS RANDOLPH USS ESSEX and USS INTREPID. ln Augusl 1963 CapTain DougherTy maTriculaTed in The OperaTrons Research curriculum aT The U.S. Naval PosT- graduaTe School Monferey, California. AfTer earning a MasTers Degree in OperaTions Research, he reporTed To Johns Hopkins Applied Physics LaboraTory, Silver Spring. Maryland where he was The STraTegic Forces AnalysT for The Navy s Long Range STraTegic ObjecTives STudy Group. He was awarded The Navy AchievemenT Medal for his work wiTh ThaT group In November 1967 he reporred To VA-125 Lemoore, California for TransiTion To The A-A SKYHAWK . He subse- quenTly had Two combaT cruises in SouTheasT Asia, The firsT aboard USS TICONDEROG-A and The second aboard USS BON HOMME RICHARD During These cruises he flew over 1 A n rr - 1 1 1 1 1 Q' Q r 200 combat missions. From December 1970 To December 1973 CapTain Dou- gherTy was a member of The Chief of Naval Operafions' ExecuTive Panel To WashingTon, D.C. During This Time he was CNO Advisor and STaff Analysi for sTraTegic nuclear docfrine and sTraTeglc arms limiTaTions. He was awarded The Meriforious Service Medal by The CNO. In July 19711, afTer complefing A-7 'iCOSAlR Training in VA-125, CapTain DougherTy joined The VA-93 BLUE BLAZ- ERS on USS MIDWAY as Execufive Officer and SubsequenT- ly Commanding Officer. AfTer a brief Tour as Associaie Chairman MaThmaTics Deparimenf, U.S. Naval Academy, CapTain DougherTy complefed nuclear power Training aT Orlando, Florida and idaho Falls, Idaho. Prior To his arrival on USS IWO JIMA, CapTain DougherTy was Navigafor and Operafions Officer aboard USS NIMITZ. In addifion To The Meriforious Service Medal and The Navy Achievemeni Medal, CapTain DougherTy's personal awards have included STrikefFlighT Medals and Navy Com- mendaTion Medals. CapTain DougherTy, his wife PaTricia and children Linda, Laura, Richard and Chrisiopher reside in Norfolk, Virginia. Susan, William and Charles reside in Fairfax, Virginia.

Page 9 text:

OTher EasT CoasT high- lighTs include her parTicipa- Tion as hosT To 4,200 official guesTs aT The 4976 Bicen- Tennial Mardi C-Bras celebra- Tionsg her parTicipaTion in The evacuafion of civilians from war-Torn BeiruT, Leba- non in June 49765 she con- ducTed The firsT shipboard cerTificaTion Trials for The CH-53E Super Sed STallion helicopTer, The largesT air- crafT of iTs kind in service To- day: and in May 4979 she was hosT To such guesTs as Don KnoTTs, Diane Carroll, Charo, Henry Kissinger and Mrs. Happy Rockefeller in New York CiTy for The Tap- ing of The Bob Hope BirTh- day Special ThaT aired na- Tionwide. wr The Mission . . . Iwo Jima's main baTTeries are The 4200 embarked Marines and Their helicopTers. Her mission is To deliver These combaT ready Troops and Their supplies inland, bypassing enemy beach defenses To engage The enemy in a Two pronged assualT by air and by sea. The auesTion for The nead of This Type of delivery was answered early in The 4950's when helicopTer operaTions in amphibious warfare came in To Their own. The value and effecTiviness of helicopTers was proven conclusively in The Korean conflicT and heloborne assaulTs soon became an inTegral parT of amphibious operaTions. ,, ri.,

Page 11 text:

The Captain Only a seaman realizes to what great extent an entire ship reflects the per- sonality and ability of one individual, her Commanding Officer. To a landsman this is not understandable and sometimes it is even difficult for us to understand. But a ship at sea is a distinct world in herself and in consider- ation of the protracted and distant operations of the fleet units, the Navy must place great power, respon- sibility, and trust in the hands of those leaders chosen for command. ln each ship there is one man, who, in the hour of emergency or peril at sea, can turn to no other man. ihere is one who alone is ul- timately responsible for the safe navigation, engineer- ing, performance, accurate gunfire, and morale of his ship. l-le is the Commanding Gfficer. He is the ship. This is the most difficult and demanding assignment in the Navy. There is not an instant during his tour as Commanding Officer that he can escape the grasp of command responsibility. His privileges in view of his obli- gations are almost ludi- crously small, nevertheless, command is the spur which has given the Navy its great leaders. lt is a duty which most richly deserve the highest, time-honored title of the seafaring world . . . Cap- tain. Joseph Conrad