Sierra (AD 18) - Naval Cruise Book

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ecember 2, I 99 I Haze Grey and Underway December 2, 1991. started asa dull, grey morning for most people in Charleston, S.C. However, the day had a different meaning for 935 crewmembers of the 47 year-old battletender USS SIERRA QAD- 0181, commanded by CAPT Robert Kamrath. For many veteran members of the crew. it seemed like only yesterday that the ship returned from refresher training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Young crewmembers were eager to go on the cruise and visit far away lands, while well seasoned sailors of many cruises knew that the sooner the cruise begins, the sooner it will end, Unfortunately, the cruise didn' t start off as planned, with the weather playing havoc with S ierra, s sched- uled departure time of 0900. The morning fog had gradually reduced visibility down to only half a mile, thus delaying Sierrcfs departure from Naval Station Charlestonis Pier Papa by over an hour. On hand to watch Sierrals departure, were more than 'l 00 family members and friends, gathering on the pier to say their last good-byes to husbands, wives, sons, and daughters for six months. Loved ones received areprieve from separation when the fog moved in. Little lily children gathered on the pier and waved to theiramothers or fathers on the ship. AS- the mominrg. progressed, the fog finally den parted andit became apparent that the ship would finally get underway, Happy voices and smiles on the piereventually became tearful realizations of the impending six5month1 serparation. At 10:20 AM, the words Underway, shift colors, echoed through the mighty tender the last of her mooring lines were pulled aboard. Little children waved and said their Hnal good-byes. Crewmem- bers stayed on deck until they could no longer see their loved Ones. The Med deployment had finally begun. z ' ' N' 3. fi ' ' ' lf ..t ' 'ii

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Sierra Support Group The Sierra Support Group was founded in Novemf ber ICN l, prior to the departure of llSS Sierra for its six month deployment to the lvlediterranean. The purpose ofthe support group, first of all, is to support the morale, welfare and recreation of the ship's crew and loved ones. And second, to extend friendship to all members, future members, and others we meet in the course ofourgroup activities. With this in mind, we began working towards our halfway point by having fundraisers and social events such as a bake sale, t-shirt sale and a pot luck bingo night. to help each other through the first hall of a long haul of the deployment. Once the halfway point was over, all our attention was devoted toward the homecoming of the USS Sierra. Over the next three months we raised money with car washes, yardsales, bakesales and a hot dog sale, all in cooperation with the public. We sold buttons, t-shirts. and first kiss raffle tickets through Support Group sales, enabling us to fund our home- coming projects. During the work that was involved in homecoming preparation we set aside some special time for the children to enjoy themselves and the spouses to regain their sanity, by having an liaster picnic at the Air lforce Base picnic grounds in April. Homecom- ing parties were held in May for both the spouses andchildren tocongratulatethemon a very success- ful completion ofa long six month deployment. To the crewmembers of USS Sierra: We hope you enjoyed our display s ofloy e. affection and support we provided through such things asi banners, billboards, leis, pennants. and aerial ban- ner tow. We're proud ofyfou and your accomplish' ments during the deployment and yy e're glad yy e had the opportunity to help. Sierra Cmbudsman l Carolyn Smith, USS Sierra Ombudsman Sierra's ombudsmen assisted spouses and family members in filing complaints. pros iding counsel- ing and directing individuals in finding assistance. The ombudsmen made themselyes ayailable 24- hours a day' during the deployment. They had contacts with COMt'Rl'SDliSGRl' TWU and under special circumstances. sent messages from spouses or parents and in most cases receiy ed quick replies from the ship When problems with pay occured at home or allotment checks got lost. the ombudsmen assisted in tracking it doxsn and pros itling assistance umil the situation yy as resolyed.

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