Kearsarge (LHD 3) - Naval Cruise Book

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Ke e FS G G f N li At 10 a.m. on the morning of 12 January, with only 72 hours notice,USS KEARSARGE deployed for an uncertain mission, more than 12 months earlier than originally scheduled. A gloomy day, the crew's mood resembled the weather. Although there were some families on the pier, the crew did not man the rails. There was no celebrating. As the mooring lines were taken in, there were more questions than answers and for the crew, the previous 72 hours had taken its toll. However long the to do lists were, that was all behind us. The ship was now at sea and no one knew when we would be home. KEARSARGE deployed as the Flagship for Commander, Amphibious Task Force EAST, a seven-ship task force. The seven ships joined to carry the Marines from the Second Marine Expeditionary Brigade 42D ME:Bl from Camp Lejeune, N. . The ships that sailed with KEARSARGE included USS BATAAN QLHD 57, USS SAIPAN QLHA 23, USS PONCE QLPD 151, USS GUNSTON HALL QLSD 443, USS ASHLAND QLSD 483 and USS PORTLAND QLSD 37l. Commander Amphibious Task Force EAST, RDML Michael P. Nowakowski, dubbed the ships the Magnificent Seven because ofthe collective group's incredible effort to surge deploy. UNDERWAW2 l

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th Jonuo lewd laurfwl' 2005 Murine Qnlood On 12 January, KEARSARGE deployed, headed for Onslow Beach to on-load the 2D MEB. With minimum planning, the on-load took only three days,from 13-15 January. Combat Cargo on-loaded 13 LCAC loads of vehicles and cargo and 20 Helo lifts of personnel and equipment. All totalled, KEARSARGE embarked 1,812 Marines and Sailors, 107 vehicles Q57 HMMWV's, 24 LAV's, 13 7-TON's, 2 Foxes and 11 Trailersl, and 24 aircraft 110 AV-8's, 7 CH-46's, and 6 ch-53'sj from the 2D MEB. lt was loaded down with 1,980 short tons of cargo and equipment. Despite the limited amount of planning, the entire evolution proved training pays off. The entire on- load was conducted with zero mishaps and 100 percent accountability of every person and piece of equipment. 5 JAN UARYXQ3