Wainwright (CG 28) - Naval Cruise Book

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As December came upon us we were still in the Adriatic Sea , our home away from home. The same routine - starboard shaft, port shaft , General Quarters, fire drills and dull evening movies - shaped our days. As we went about our daily duties our dreams were of home. Wives, children, sweethearts decorated our Christmas wishes. Holi- day celebrations with family and friends, turkey dinners, and brightly wrapped presents danced through our minds. lt's times like this that we truly appreciate the real meaning of such important concepts as sacrifice and devotion to duty , which have kept America free. If it was easy to answer our country's call liberty would not be so dear. We go to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domes- tic. Sometimes this means leaving our DECEMBER 1992 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 2 1 2 4 5 u 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 W 25 26 27 28 29 so 31 C loved ones at a special time of year. Cruising through December we hit Trieste and Naples, ltaly, with a chance for liberty. Beautiful places to be sure. Pilgrimages to Rome, an audience with the Pope, Midnight Mass Christmas Eve in the Vatican, these were once-in-a- 'WN- .xii-l4.x,',? L' f'a .1S K , .'.- f R ff ' lg J .QQ N W we 3: 1 '--v-, V , ,I 1 - 5' . , . ,AH . X L' 'f Q .. 1 5 W nl A f ' Q T- E 1-, 11- 1 2 SM3 . fx., X r 1' if is Trieste, Italy. lifetime experiences for many. Amidst this bittersweet season of hal idays overseas, we keenly feel the low we bear for those important people back home. We learn to appreciate our lovei ones. Called upon as we are to make thi sacrifice by a nation which often does not or cannot understand the loneliness we feel and the price we pay, there is one thing we do know, God is watching ous for us and those we love. God bless Americal' Hefdd prepares for his Bonzai nm down the Italian Alpine Slopes!!

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As we steamed into November, we found ourselves floating in the Adriatic Sea going in big long ovals circles doing what we do best to serve and protect. Starboard shaft, port shaft - day by .day alternating - patrolling our sector .1 ensuring the safety of UN flights to 5Bosnia and Croatia with humanitarian 1aid during Operation Provide Promise. The Adriatic became home for the 'entire month. With few items to distract us from our routines of eat, sleep, stand your watch. Of course we can't forget our training. To be prepared and alert at :all times we enjoy GQ - General quar- 1 ters, general quarters, al hands man your fbattle stations. lt is a time to become imore proficient in fighting the ship and Gkeeping her afloat. Quick response is 'needed in order to protect lives and the 1 ship from damage. We can't forget flight quarters, .Underway replenishment, and vertical ' replenishment either. To break-up the daily routine we 1 began to create opportunities for distrac- Ation. Bingolljizza night, punctuated by .Casino night on Sundays. Cruise Book 'raffles for Cameras, VCRs, and other zprizes. A WAINWRIGHT news pro- igram was produced to recap world, . national and ship news. Movies and pop- . corn every night, along with the nightly if Scripture Studies and evening prayer. . And for the music enthusiast a Ship's 1 Chorus was started. By the time Thanksgiving arrived the 4 month had flown past. We had a beauti- ful dinner prepared by the messmen in mwhich everyone took part. It wasn't s home but it served the purpose. NOVEMBER 1992 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 cracks during mail call. J Rip Van Winkle discovered aboard WAI N WRIGHT! COve'rcome with excitement MMCM McCord checks his eyelids for

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Jmhe New Year found the WAIN- ' WRIGHT still in-port in scenic Naples, Italy, a familiar port to many of the icrew. Shortly after the festivities died zdown, we were underway again, this tie lin the Central MED, making our transit to Monte Carlo, Monaco. On the way ol hcl lellwe conducted an In-House Combat Sys- Iltems Assessment to see for ourselves efwhat the status of our training, equip- mment, and programs was. This was a 'elllship-wide effort, and every department fuicontributed to the uniformly excellent mf results. I Anchoring out in Monte Carlo meant lm lots of extra work for the Bosun's Mates .and the A-Gang crew, as small boats ran 'to shore and back day and night. We :found Monte Carlo to be one of the most ibeautiful land expensivell cities we vis- Iited. But, we were soon underway again, :this time transiting to Barcelona, Spain. Our port visit in Barcelona was cut fshort after only one day. As tensions in ilraq rose suddenly, we were called back :to perform our Adriatic mission, freeing aup other ships in the battle group to pre- :pare to launch missiles at Baghdad. This :required a full-scale effort, as Engineers :rushed to light fires in the recently -secured boilers. Combat systems gear wwas put on line, and the Operations Department prepared for a hasty Sea- eand-Anchor detail. The Supply Depart- ement put in extra hours serving addi- :tional food to the tired crew. Shore 5Patrol rounded up those out on the abeach. The word that we were getting :zunderway came in the early evening, and fthe ship left the pier minutes after mid- might. No one but WAINWRIGHT feicould have done this much this fast. fiffhankfully, the political situation aicalmed down, and the second half of ,gglanuary proceeded more calmly, in the iwattern of Adriatic steaming we had Qrown used to. ENS O'Neil has fun as boat officer during underway replenishment detail. JANUARY 1993 SUN MON TUE WED THU SAT 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 31