Shreveport (LPD 12) - Naval Cruise Book

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DER AY AUGUST 11, 1993 On August 11th, 1993, USS SHREVEPORT proved a point. It had been a long 8 months for the crew of this great ship, and it took a lot of hard work to get her ready. There was an Opera- tional Propulsion Plant Examination to pass fwhich we didj, an inspection by the Board of Inspection and Survey to pass fwhich we didj, an Amphibious Refresher Training Exercise to pass fwhich we didj, numerous short underway periods, fast cruises, and of course, Blue Green workups. And even after that, there were some that still thought that SHREVEPORT might not be ready to deploy. We knew better, and on August 11th, we proved it. Amid the tears of farewell, there was a certain excitement that only sailors going to sea feel. This was what all the hard work was for - this was the point. The big question for many of us was, will we go to Somalia, or the Adriatic? Little did we realize the unique journey we were embarking on, and the unique things we would do during the next 6 months. 'EQ I, 14125 v lv

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xxx gn, -x. GREHEAD CITY Our first stop on the way was Morehead City, North Carolina, to onload our main battery - the Marines of the 22 Ma- rine Expeditionary Unit. It was a busy day, because in a few hours we had to embark almost 500 Marines and all their equip- ment, and then get underway. The Marines came by bus from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina - they said their good-byes there that morning, we said ours the day before and spent our first night at sea making the final preparations for welcoming our new shipmates aboard Whether driving vehicles into the well deck or manhandlxng seabags up the brows every Marine was involved and many SHREVEPORT sailors were kept busy that day It was hectic but it hap pened quickly and as we de arted Mor p e head City we knew that we were finally on our way