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Page 5 text:
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USS LA SALLE t Each day, the crew of a modern warship is faced with an unparalled challenge: to function completely and ef- fectively as the ultimate team. A group of diverse men not only must maintain and be prepared to fight a highly complex ship, but also must provide for every human need that each will have. Achieving such specialized self- ■ . sufficiency demands superior professional performance, mature flexibility and discipline. In any day, a young seaman may swab a deck, and later stand at the helm steering 13,900 tons of ship through the ocean. An engineering petty officer may train to fight potential fires, and later oversee the opera- tion of a 24,000 horsepower steam turbine power plant. A technician may do maintenance on a state of the art computer, and later compute a fire control solution and shoot 3 50 caliber guns or the Phalanx Close-in Weap- ons system. This book is dedicated to the special group of highly skilled young professionals who manned the USS LA SALLE between September 1985 and September 1986. Through the arduous forward deployment to the Persian Gulf these proud, resourceful officers, chief petty offi- cers, petty officers, seamen, airmen and firemen have consistently excelled. Through them, LA SALLE has done her part to maintain America ' s status as the only true symbol of freedom. To the men who made it happen, some memories. FORWARD DEPLOYED 1986
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Page 6 text:
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THE TRADITION OF USS LA SALLE [ - m T nr- 4- ■BI85 lt WELCOME TO THE GREAT WHITE GHOST USS LASALLE On February 22, 1964, 23 months after her keel was laid at the Mew York Maval Shipyard in Brooklyn, riew York, the present LA SALLE was commissioned LPD-3. She joined her sister ships, USS RALEIGH and USS VAnCOUVER, as the third in a class of new am- phibious transports. As an Amphibious Transport Dock, LA SALLE ' S trademarks were mobility, flexibility, and versatility. She had the capability to carry more than 800 com- bat-ready Marines at high speed to an area of am- phibious operations. In addition, she transported ammunition, cargo, vehicles, and fuel to support the Marines. Within her well deck, which can be flooded, boats are carried to transport men and materials. The off- loading of equipment and supplies is aided by the use of a deck mounted crane, elevators and con- veyors, plus a six-unit monorails, overhead crane system within the well deck. The flight deck is avail- able for lifting men and supplies by helicopter. In keeping with her trademarks, LA SALLE ' S op- erating schedule has been far from routine. In May 1965, it served as flagship for Commander, Amphibi- ous Forces Atlantic during the Dominican Republic crisis. In December of the same year, it helped evacu- ate Construction Battalion 6 from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and carried 950 tons of equipment back to the United States, including 106 vehicles, 50 miscella- neous carriers and one 41-ton crane. In November 1966 she made history by being the first ship of her size to successfully recover a Gemini capsule and the first ship ever to return a cap- sule to Cape Canaveral after recovery. In May 1 969, LA SALLE served as an experimen- tal launch platform for the AV-8 Harrier aircraft, be- coming one of the first ships to operate with the su- personic, vertical takeoff and landing tactical fighter- bomber. Through 1971, LA SALLE served as an am- phibious force flagship for various commands. Oper- ating in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean areas, it took part in numerous exercises with U.S. forces and with other MATO navies. Selected to replace USS VALCOUR (AGEl) as flagship for Commander, Middle East Force in Janu- ary 1972, LA SALLE began an extensive overhaul. Mew facilities were installed to suit its new role. It was outfitted with elaborate command communications equipment, a weather satellite receiver, additional air conditioning, a modern dental facility, sophisti- cated closed-circuit television, accommodations for an admiral and his staff, a helicopter hangar and a ceremonial awning on the flight deck. With a coat of white paint to reflect the hot sun of the Middle East, LPD-5 became AGF-3 (Miscella- neous Command Ship) on July 1, 1972 and on August 24, she assumed duties as COMIDEASTFOR Flagship. The Great White Ghost of the Arabian Coast, as she is affectionately called by the crew, steamed an average of 55,000 miles annually calling at ports in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. LA SALLE also participated in annual naval exercises with allied nations in the area. In February 1979, LA S 1 .L£ ' assisted in the evac- uation of 260 American and foreign citizens from the Iranian seaport of Bandar Abbas. The evacuees were shuttled by two British hydrographic ships to LA SALLE, which was waiting off the Iranian coast. The operation earned the ship and her crew the Humani- tarian Service Medal. At the outset of the Iranian hostage crisis in Mo- vember 1979, LA SALLE was the focal point of U.S. activity in the Arabian Gulf. While on station off the coast of Iran, LA SALLE was at sea from November 19, 1979to January 23, 1980, a total of 74 consecu- tive days, which earned the ship the Mavy Unit Com- mendation Pennant. The combination of the hostage crisis and the Iran Iraq war, which began in the summer of 1980, brought about a dramatic increase in the support re- sponsibilities placed upon the crew. For their efforts during those arduous contingency operations, the
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