Nitro (AE 23) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDIN G OFFICER COMMANDER DAVID B. J ENN INGS 5 1X'.',vll -xx' - , 'ffl Qs' f' . -' -N ff, X ' f , K V... ff, Q ' 1, The oss ,NITRO is 'commanded by Com- mander DL B. Jennings. Commander Jennings took Qomman-d2forr July 27,-1'9i8'7. Commander J ennings graduatedflfrom the3IES. Naval Acad- emy fn 1969 and reportedfiiitially to USS PERIQNS QDD-87 7 J wherephe served as Elec- tronics Material Officer. Follow-on tours were to USS CHICAGO QCG-115 as Assistant CIC! NTDS Officer and USS HALSEY as CIC Offi- cer. In 1974 Commander Jennings joined the staff at the Royal Australian Naval College as a Ca- det Division Officer and Instructor of Naval Science. Following this assignment, Command- er Jennings reported for duty as Operations Of- ficer aboard USS LUCE QDDG-385. Opera- tions on board USS LUCE included duty as Flagship of NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic. In 1980, Commander Jennings re- lieved as Engineer Officer, USS WICI-HTA QAOR-lj, deploying to both the Western Pacif- ic and Indian Ocean. 2 Following his department head assignments, Commander Jennings reported for duty as EX- ecutive Officer, USS BUTTE QAE-275. During this tour, USS BUTTE completed North Atlantic and Mediterranean deployments, and was awarded the battle efficiency E',. In 1984, Commander Jennings was assigned to the Operations Directorate of the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for opera- tional planning of Southwest Asian contingen- cies. Concurrently, Commander Jennings ear- ned a Master's Degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University. Com- mander Jennings is married to the former Shar- on Gallant of Berlin, New Hampshire, who is a Lieutenant Commander, Nurse Corps, aS- signed to Navy Recruiting District, New J ersey- The Jennings have a son, Robert, and reside in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

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rw-'BV' rf m qw -Q TWH' ... .2'--1' USS NITRO QAE 235 was commlssloned 1 May 1959 and was then homeported at Davlsvrlle Rhode Is'and on Narragansett Bay In February 1960 NITRO set sa1l for the flrst of many successful Medlterranean deployments In September 1962 the shlp made a good w ll v1s1t to Northern F nope and returned 1n November of the same year to partlclpate 1n the quarantme of Cuba NITRO averaged one Medlterranean deployment per year m the followlng years unt1l May of 1966 when she was placed ln a reserve status for an extenslve overhaul Durmg thls overhaul N1TRO s Cargo transfer system was modernlzed and two gun mounts were removed aft and replaced by the helo deck that IS present today NITRO contmued her Medlterrane an rotatron unt1l 1972 when she made one deployment to the Paclflc durmg the Vletnam confhct In 1974 NITRO s homeport was changed to Naval Weapons Statlon Earle at Colts Neck New Jersey becommg the fxrst shlp to be homeported there NITRO contmued her Medlterranean deployment cycles untll January 1977 when a one year overhaul started whlch reworked the engmeerlng plant and the majorlty of the shlp s cargo handllng equlpment The commumcatlons center on board was also remodeled at that trme Upon completlon of overhaul NITRO once more entered her Medlterranean deployment rotatlon but was taken out of actxon rn June 1981 when a f1re swept through her mam engmeermg space causmg 6Xt6HSlV6 damage After essentlal repalrs were completed m Greece NITRO returned to the Umted States and entered the Coastal Drydock ln Brooklyn NY where the mam engmeermg space was rebullt and varlous other repalrs were accomphshed Leavmg Brook IYII on September 30 1982 NITRO once more began servmg the Unlted States Second Fleet and makmg regular deployments to the Medlterranean as a Moblle Loglstlc Support Force unlt of the Unlted States Slxth Fleet After conduct1ng sea trrals and extensive tralnmg NITRO deployed 1n October 1983 to the Medlterranean 1n support of the Multl Natronal Peace Keepmg Force ln Belrut, Lebanon Durlng th1s deployment NITRO was the flrst replemshment Shlp to upload the USS NEW JERSEY QBB 625 smce her recommls S101'llI1g NITRO was also awarded the Navy Expedltlonary Medal durxng thls deployment In March 1985, NITRO once agaln deployed to the Medlterranean and HSS1St6d the battle group IH support of the response to the TWA hrjackmg cr1s1s 1n Belrut, Lebanon NITRO returned to her homeport 1n Earle, NJ On October 3, 1985 In January 1986 NITRO entered Coastal Drydock 1n Brooklyn NY for a four month Phased Malntenance Avallabllllty In August 1986, NITRO de lo ed to the North Atlantlc for Operatlon Northern Weddlng '86 NITRO operated wlth U S Naval and NATO forces, makmg port v1s1ts ln P Glen Douglas Scotland Portsmouth England, and Dublln, Ireland, returnlng to Earle on October 16th In December of 1986, NITRO once agaln deployed h h d to the Medxterranean abd supported the battle group NITRO entered the shlpyard 1n Brooklyn, NY IH September of 1987, f1n1s mg t IS yard perlo ln March of 1988 Summer of 1988 found NITRO IH Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for Interlm Refresher Trammg, followed by FLEETEX 1 89 1n Fall of 1988 NITRO was tasked w1th a short notlce deployment ID December of 1988 and departed on Med Crulse 1 89 1

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LCDR Berthrong was born at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia on 30 March, 1953. His father is a retired Navy Cap- tain Csubmarine skipper during WW II, served in Destroyer Force after the Warl. He graduat- ed from Langley High School, Mclean, Virginia and in 1975, he was commissioned through the NROTC Program at Villanova University near Philadelphia, where he received a B.A. in Politi- cal Science. Immediately after commissioning and training at ASW School, Newport, R.I., LCDR Berth- rong reported aboard USS LEAHY QCG-167, where he served as ASW Officer and Gunnery Assistant from August 1975 to July 1978, ear- ning his Surface Warfare Qualification in Octo- ber 1976. From August 1978 through January 1981, LCDR Berthrong was assigned to Com- mander, Naval Military Personnel Command, Washington D.C. as a Rating Assignment Offi- cer in NMPC-406. Following this shore tour, he X EXECUTI E OFFICER attended Department Head School in Newport, Rhode Island and was assigned as Engineer Of- ficer in USS BREWTON QFF-10865, home- ported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii from November 1981 through July 1983. His second department head assignment was as Operations Officer in USS HALEAKALA QAE-255 from August 1983 through May 1985. While serving in USS HALEAKALA, LCDR Berthrong completed his Command at Sea qualifications. Following this tour of sea duty, LCDR Berthrong was as- signed to the Personnel Exchange Program in the United Kingdom, where he served on the instructional staff of the British School of Mari- time Operations near Portsmouth, Hampshire, U.K. from June 1985 through August 1987. Fol- lowing this overseas tour, LCDR Berthrong at- tended the Prospective Executive Officer course in Newport, R.I. and reported for duty as Executive Officer, USS NITRO QAE-233 in December 1987 . 3 LIEUTENANT COMMANDER WILLIAM E. BERTHRON G