By Cpl. Jeffrey Daniel
KUWAIT NAVAL BASE, Kuwait - The 824th Transportation Company, an Army Reserve unit from Morehead City, N.C., just arrived in Kuwait to start their yearlong deployment. The home away from home has a unique feature, it floats.
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| Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tom Heald (right) speaks to Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Close about Close's licensing process. Close is part of the 1st TSC and is deployed to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, as the Mobility Maritime non-commissioned officer. Heald is the skipper of the U.S. Army Vessel Kennesaw Mountain, a landing craft utility, and is part of the 824th Transportation Company, a Reserve unit from Morehead City, N.C. The unit just started a yearlong deployment to support Operation Enduring Freedom. (Photo by U.S. Army Cpl. Jeffrey Daniel) |
The unit’s floating home for the next year is onboard the Landing Craft Utility 2002 – U.S. Army Vessel Kennesaw Mountain, a 174-foot landing craft utility 2000-series vessel. The crew totals only 17 soldiers, and their mission is to carry material throughout the Persian Gulf. The crew members consist of seven on the deckside, seven engineers, two cooks and a medic.
Since the crew just arrived, they had to do an extensive check of the vessel's safety equipment and mechanical equipment, and even complete one mission with the vessel's previous crew. In between missions, the crew polishes their vessel operation skills and makes sure their operating licensing requirements are met. This enables the crew to be in a constant state of readiness ensuring they are prepared for any mission.
Early in the morning on Jan. 20, the crew loaded up the food order that just arrived and prepared to depart for a day of training and licensing exercises. Just after 9 a.m., Sgt. Robert L. Wallace from Beaufort, N.C., and the vessel's boatswain blew the horn to alert anyone within earshot that they were pulling away from the pier at the Kuwait Naval Base. A full-time North Carolina state trooper, Wallace joined the unit in July 2006. He maneuvered the controls on the vessel’s bridge to pull the vessel off the pier, turn it around and depart the harbor unassisted. Even though he was under the watchful eye of the skipper and first mate, he handled the vessel like a pro. He, like many of the other soldiers on the vessel, all have a common story. They had no idea that the Army had a fleet of watercraft until they went to the Military Entrance Processing Center.
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| Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Close calls out distance reports to the bridge of the U.S. Army Vessel Kennesaw Mountain, a landing craft utility, as it approaches the beach. (Photo by U.S. Army Cpl. Jeffrey Daniel) |
“We are the Army’s best-kept secret,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kenneth “Neil” Styron, Jr., the vessel’s chief engineer from Davis, N.C. He spent six years as enlisted before becoming a Warrant Officer. He said most people, even soldiers, do not realize that the Army has watercraft. His big grin shows his appreciation for finding this unique opportunity to continue serve the people of the United States as a Reserve soldier.
Sgt. 1st Class Ronald E. Buffkin, the vessel’s first mate is from Wilmington, N.C. He served with the Navy in the mid-’70s and was out for 18 years before he knew about the Army Reserve unit near his home that operated watercraft. He has been with the unit since 1996. Buffkin said he is reluctant to be promoted to the next rank, as master sergeants have to come off the LCUs and become part of the land-based crew.
“We have a saying,” said Buffkin. “If it ain’t got water under it, we don’t want anything to do with it.”
The youngest soldier on board the vessel with the least experience is 18-year-old Pfc. Tyler M. Morrow, a vessel engineer from Jacksonville, N.C. “I volunteered for this deployment while I was still in AIT,” said Morrow. “With all the training, I have only been home for maybe three weeks sent I shipped off to basic training.”
He recited the all too familiar story about how he did not know what job he wanted to do in the Army. His recruiter sent him to MEPS, where the position of watercraft engineer was offered. When he told his recruiter what MOS he took, the recruiter had to look up the job to see if that was an actual job.
These are just a few examples of how the Army watercraft section is not so much unpopular but an unknown specialty of the Army.
“The Army has more boats than the Navy,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Tom Heald, vessel master of Kennesaw Mountain, who hails from Morehead City, N.C. “Most people don’t realize the size of our fleet,” continued Heald.
Besides the common theme of having a job that is mostly unknown, the crew also loves what they do. Most of the crew has lived around coastal Carolina area for years. Many have had family in the marine industry.
“A lot of people on here enjoy their jobs and love to talk about it,” said Styron.
Buffkin added to that sentiment by saying, “Most people in this field, you can’t run them off.”
As Heald watched Sgt. 1st Class Daniel A. Close, 1st TSC Mobility Maritime non-commissioned officer from Coolville, Ohio, perform an anchor maneuver, part of Close’s licensing process, Heald said, “It doesn’t matter if we are licensing or delivering something, we are out here doing what we love.”
Both Close and Wallace were working on their licensing packets on this trip. They were both advancing their skills to take them to the next level of Army watercraft operation.
“The boat field is run by license type, instead of rank,” said Spc. Devan C. Foley, one of the vessel's deck hands and from Gloucester, N.C.
Foley, who is also a landing craft mechanized 8000-series vessel operator, commonly referred to in the Army as a mike boat, assists with all deck operations including emergency drills, cargo loading and unloading and battle stations.
“The mike boat is run by all NCOs,” Foley explained.
Referring to the point of the size of the vessel dictates the size of the crew. The Army largest watercrafts are the logistic support vessels and have a crew of 32 versus a crew of three to operate the mike boat.
On this day of training and licensing, Foley will be on deck with three others to perform their tasks as proficiently as possible.
Styron said that about ninety percent of the crew has worked together prior to this deployment. “Unlike most Reserve units, during AT, we do real-life missions, and they usually last about 28 days,” said Stryron. He recounted the missions that the unit has had, from Haiti to moving cargo to and from the Caribbean to using one of the vessels in the recovery operation to raise the USS Monitor.
After the crew takes Kennesaw Mountain beyond the Kuwait Naval Base’s high-water barrier, they open up the engine to allow the engineers to check some work that was recently completed on the vessel. Then, over the loudspeaker, a voice bellows, “Man overboard, man overboard, blue coveralls, port side.” The young, but efficient crew races into action. Out of nowhere, the deck is full of crew members all pointing in the same direction.
“Everyone points in the direction of the person in the water so we don’t lose sight of them,” said Foley as he was getting his recovery gear ready to pluck the lifeless figure out of the water.
The medic was standing-by to administer any life saving skills that the unsuspecting swimmer might need. As the vessel turned around, the deck listed as the vessel raced back to where the floating figure bobbed up and down in the waves. As the vessel approached, the deck crew moved into their recovery positions to pull the figure out of the water.
Today, the first pass was a success. As the lifeless figure is pulled onto the grey steel deck, there was a quick laugh as everyone joked with the medic about what to do next to “Oscar,” the mannequin. Yes, they just saved Oscar’s life. Even though this was a drill, anyone of the 17 crew members knows that it could be them someday and take the drill very seriously. On the bridge, Wallace and Close take turns at maneuvering the vessel as the man overboard drill is repeated over and over until the skipper and first mate are satisfied.
Next Wallace and Close starts the duty performance test. Buffkin elaborates that the licensing process is very extensive. There are 22 tasks that must be evaluated. Heald places an “X” on the electronic charting system and tells the expected licensees to drop the anchor on the “X." First up was Close, as he is maneuvering into position, the added stress of having a battery of questions being asked by Buffkin and Heald while Close is trying to communicate with the deck crew appears to weigh on him. He calls out for wind direction and he checks the water depth to determine how to approach the target without damaging the boat. But Close performs as if he has been born to do this. As the deck crew spots the tension of the anchor chain and reports back up to Close, he smiles and says is nearly famous, “All right.”
Finding a good way for the entire crew to break for lunch has been formulated into Heald’s master plan for the day’s operation. While at anchor, he can afford to have only one soldier on the bridge to perform anchor watch, their version of fire watch. The vessel has two Army cooks on board. Wallace explains that they can place an order for just about anything.
“We don’t have access to a PX or MWR, so we stay well stocked,” said Wallace.
Heald added, “We do what we can to give the cooks a break and have the crew eat in the chow hall while in port, if possible.”
The cooks provide three hot meals a day. Today’s lunch menu: fried chicken, mixed vegetables, rice with gravy and a cinnamon streusel cake for dessert.
Close remarked, “After eating food this good, it’s hard to go back to eating at the chow hall every day.”
Close, being with 1st TSC, deployment home is Camp Arifjan, Kuwait.
Close and Wallace pass their anchor test. Next they will simulate a beach landing. Heald explains that the LCU is like a barge, its depth in the water or draft, is very shallow and therefore the vessel is capable of landing on a beach to onload or offload cargo. Today, however, they will pull up to a large concrete ramp. Wallace goes first, Close stands on the front of the vessel assisting the deck crew. Close uses a radio to call up distance reports. As the large vessel nears the shore, the front ramp is lowered slightly to help the bridge see where they are going. As inexperienced as Morrow is, he is very well versed in how the ballast tank system work. How they can raise the nose to aid in a beach landing. So as the vessel approaches, the nose rides high and just as the vessel stops, the huge ramp is lowered and falls within a foot of the waters’ edge. The crew raises the ramp, throws the huge vessels into reverse with ease and turns around. Now its Closes turn, he is just as successful.
The last duty performance test for this trip will be bumper drills. Repeatedly pulling along a dock to show proficiency in using all of the tools in the vessel’s maneuvering arsenal. The arsenal includes two propellers or screws, two rudders and a bow thruster which can steer the nose 360 degrees. Both Close and Wallace pass this test - time to head back for the day.
