As mentioned previously and as was reported in the news for several weeks, South Korea recently lost one of their warships. The Chonan warship was sunk by a torpedo fired from a North Korean midget sub. The South Koreans devoted a large part of a museum to the ship and as a memorial for the crew and rescuers who gave their lives. The museum is spectacular, full of war stories with first hand accounts and artifacts. The crew on my ship was given a tour hosted by several South Korean Officers.
Upon walking into the museum we were presented with the history of conflicts with North Korea up to the present. Most of the conflicts were decided victories for the South Korean Navy. The surprise attack on the Chonan occurred during a period of escalating tensions with the ship in South Korean territorial waters. The South Koreans are quick to blame the North Koreans since some reports speculate that what occurred was the result of an accident on board the ship. To refute this claim, they found the remains of a North Korean torpedo and put it on prominent display in the museum. Great effort was spent in finding the ship and recovering as much evidence as possible. Another large part of the museum showcased the pictures, mementos and biographies of those who gave their lives. Walking down that hallway was sobering, some lives seemed long and dignified while others were so young.
After the tour in the museum was over we were able to visit the actual ship. The ship itself was also turned into a memorial. The hole in the hull where the torpedo blast impacted is its most prominent feature. From the hole in the middle large enough to split the ship in two halves, waves radiate out in the metal. Wires and decks hang in shreds as testimony to the power of a torpedo. The propellers were actually bent backwards when the ship's forward motion was stalled. This was the first time I had seen the effects of war up close and personal, that is a reality I hope I never have to experience.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Osan Air Base and Town
Since I was caught up on all my paperwork, the ship's store was in good shape and had enough funds on hand, I was looking forward to getting out and exploring South Korea. There was not much to do in Pyeongtaek, so I took a bus to Osan Air Base. It took a couple of hours to get to Osan from Pyeongtaek so I caught up on some sleep. This would be the first Air Force Base I had stepped foot on.
I had two days to spend in Osan, the first day I wanted to get out and explore the markets. I had been hearing about special blankets obtained from South Korea since arriving on the ship and had seen them in the berthings, so I knew that was what I wanted first. Every street had a least a couple of merchants selling them. I was not prepared for the variety and different materials, some were thinner blankets with composite materials and others were thick filled with cotton. I could buy one with my favorite team or one with animals or just stick with my favorite color. I bought one of each after bargaining for the best price. I like to bargain, it is a new skill that takes a while to develop.
South Korea is known for one more major product, leather. The other major item I was looking for was a nice leather jacket. I had not seen anything I liked in Japan plus my size is a little larger than most stores carry. Right before leaving town for the night I finally found a leather jacket store next to the base. He specialized in providing jackets for the military and found one that fit me perfectly.
Getting back to the ship proved much harder than I had anticipated. The waves combined with a strong tide stirred up the harbor. My liberty boat could not depart from its mooring until they died down. My SUPPO was thinking about arranging hotel rooms for us overnight back in Osan, luckily the conditions did improve a little. The ride out was unsettling and when we arrived at the ship the waves were still bad. About midway through disembarking the crew from the liberty boat, one of the mooring lines snapped and recoiled. No one was hurt so a new plan was formed. The liberty boat was repositioned with the bow pushing against the temporary pier and the rest of the crew jumped out.
I had two days to spend in Osan, the first day I wanted to get out and explore the markets. I had been hearing about special blankets obtained from South Korea since arriving on the ship and had seen them in the berthings, so I knew that was what I wanted first. Every street had a least a couple of merchants selling them. I was not prepared for the variety and different materials, some were thinner blankets with composite materials and others were thick filled with cotton. I could buy one with my favorite team or one with animals or just stick with my favorite color. I bought one of each after bargaining for the best price. I like to bargain, it is a new skill that takes a while to develop.
South Korea is known for one more major product, leather. The other major item I was looking for was a nice leather jacket. I had not seen anything I liked in Japan plus my size is a little larger than most stores carry. Right before leaving town for the night I finally found a leather jacket store next to the base. He specialized in providing jackets for the military and found one that fit me perfectly.
Getting back to the ship proved much harder than I had anticipated. The waves combined with a strong tide stirred up the harbor. My liberty boat could not depart from its mooring until they died down. My SUPPO was thinking about arranging hotel rooms for us overnight back in Osan, luckily the conditions did improve a little. The ride out was unsettling and when we arrived at the ship the waves were still bad. About midway through disembarking the crew from the liberty boat, one of the mooring lines snapped and recoiled. No one was hurt so a new plan was formed. The liberty boat was repositioned with the bow pushing against the temporary pier and the rest of the crew jumped out.
Pyongtaek, South Korea
The next underway started a few days after the stores on load. The two weeks in between underways was nice but I could not shake the feeling that my crew had not had much time in port to recover. That is the big difference between being stationed on a forward deployed ship in Japan or being on a ship back in the states. Many times we do not have a long stand down period before and after a long deployment.
This was to be a more routine operation, we were to cooperate with the South Korean Navy in at sea operations. We did add quite a few new Sailors and Officers to the crew. Unfortunately, the majority of them were assigned to us as Temporary Assigned Duty (TAD). They would leave the ship as soon as we returned to homeport. Many Officers lost their staterooms and moved into berthing. I had enough seniority to avoid the initial move. We did conduct several scenarios with ships and submarines from the South Korean Navy prior to arrival. They were mostly designed to test US and South Korean abilities to avoid detection and launch attacks.
We arrived in Pyongtaek and anchored out since most of the piers are not deep enough to support our draft. Another US Destroyer was already there as this particular operation required assets from two ships. While I was on watch as OOD, I watched the ongoing project to deepen the port so the seventh fleet can moor their ships. Getting supplies and people from anchor to shore and back again is much harder at anchor than a simple walk off the brow. I had loaded enough supplies to avoid a stores on load while at anchor. Future port visits will be much easier, that will allow for better coordination with South Korean Forces.
South Korea is a critical alley, especially when it comes to North Korea. Their navy is quite capable when it comes conducting small scale operations and patrols. They have an excellent record when it comes to skirmishes with North Korean Forces, having won every engagement without US assistance. The one exception being the surprise attack and subsequent sinking of the Chonan warship. When I found out the Chonan ship had been turned into a museum and monument, I was very interested in adding my name to the tour.
This was to be a more routine operation, we were to cooperate with the South Korean Navy in at sea operations. We did add quite a few new Sailors and Officers to the crew. Unfortunately, the majority of them were assigned to us as Temporary Assigned Duty (TAD). They would leave the ship as soon as we returned to homeport. Many Officers lost their staterooms and moved into berthing. I had enough seniority to avoid the initial move. We did conduct several scenarios with ships and submarines from the South Korean Navy prior to arrival. They were mostly designed to test US and South Korean abilities to avoid detection and launch attacks.
We arrived in Pyongtaek and anchored out since most of the piers are not deep enough to support our draft. Another US Destroyer was already there as this particular operation required assets from two ships. While I was on watch as OOD, I watched the ongoing project to deepen the port so the seventh fleet can moor their ships. Getting supplies and people from anchor to shore and back again is much harder at anchor than a simple walk off the brow. I had loaded enough supplies to avoid a stores on load while at anchor. Future port visits will be much easier, that will allow for better coordination with South Korean Forces.
South Korea is a critical alley, especially when it comes to North Korea. Their navy is quite capable when it comes conducting small scale operations and patrols. They have an excellent record when it comes to skirmishes with North Korean Forces, having won every engagement without US assistance. The one exception being the surprise attack and subsequent sinking of the Chonan warship. When I found out the Chonan ship had been turned into a museum and monument, I was very interested in adding my name to the tour.
Commissary and 1Q Orders
I had scheduled my stores on load to coincide with the stores on load for food service. Looking back that might have been a mistake since food service was receiving a large shipment that morning. The general idea was to get all the stores loaded at the same time. We just ended up moving more than anticipated.
First my receipt inspector needed to check my 1Q stores while they were still at the warehouse to verify we were receiving everything correctly. After he was done with that inspection, he and I went over to the Commissary to inspect the special order there and pay for the items in advance of delivery. There were a few problems that required me to replace items and that changed the total.
Upon returning from the Commissary, I found the ship had already started the stores on load for the food service stores. I started supervising that operation while I waited for my stores to arrive from the warehouse and Commissary. The pier had close to fifty full pallets at one point with the additional arrival of parts. That starts to approach a carrier level stores on load. Unfortunately my destroyer does not have the equivalent manpower to support an on load of that size. The working party started taking water breaks every so often so they could rest.
About midway through loading food service's supplies, mine arrived from the warehouse. That really got the working party discouraged, the arrival of supplies from the Commissary had them at an even lower point. Since it was approaching lunch and the stores had not been completed everyone took a longer break to eat before finishing the on load. I took turns with my SHs monitoring the remaining stores on the pier until lunch was done. They wanted to continue moving the stores by themselves but I ordered them to take a break. I was worried they were going to work themselves too hard for little gain.
The last project for the day was to organize the stores. My storeroom had overflowed into the ship's store. That needed to be organized so everything was documented and organized correctly in the storeroom. The ship's store could not be opened until all the supplies had been crammed back into the store room. Only my SHs could work with the supplies while they were in the storeroom and ship's store. Luckily, everything did manage to fit, there was not much room to spare, we packed it to the bulkheads. That was one of the busiest and most physically taxing days I have had on board so far.
First my receipt inspector needed to check my 1Q stores while they were still at the warehouse to verify we were receiving everything correctly. After he was done with that inspection, he and I went over to the Commissary to inspect the special order there and pay for the items in advance of delivery. There were a few problems that required me to replace items and that changed the total.
Upon returning from the Commissary, I found the ship had already started the stores on load for the food service stores. I started supervising that operation while I waited for my stores to arrive from the warehouse and Commissary. The pier had close to fifty full pallets at one point with the additional arrival of parts. That starts to approach a carrier level stores on load. Unfortunately my destroyer does not have the equivalent manpower to support an on load of that size. The working party started taking water breaks every so often so they could rest.
About midway through loading food service's supplies, mine arrived from the warehouse. That really got the working party discouraged, the arrival of supplies from the Commissary had them at an even lower point. Since it was approaching lunch and the stores had not been completed everyone took a longer break to eat before finishing the on load. I took turns with my SHs monitoring the remaining stores on the pier until lunch was done. They wanted to continue moving the stores by themselves but I ordered them to take a break. I was worried they were going to work themselves too hard for little gain.
The last project for the day was to organize the stores. My storeroom had overflowed into the ship's store. That needed to be organized so everything was documented and organized correctly in the storeroom. The ship's store could not be opened until all the supplies had been crammed back into the store room. Only my SHs could work with the supplies while they were in the storeroom and ship's store. Luckily, everything did manage to fit, there was not much room to spare, we packed it to the bulkheads. That was one of the busiest and most physically taxing days I have had on board so far.
Back In Port
With the homecoming finished and a few days of relative rest, it was time to start prepping for the next underway in about two weeks. I had spent countless hours underway trying to figure out how to approach resupplying my store. The methods I had used prior to the last underway did not work. I was minus a chief with no prospects of a replacement for him any time soon. The other issue was the port visits, I needed to find and organize all the paperwork for various provisions, government vouchers, treasury checks and returns. I had gotten behind on a few reports.
My first priority was to the crew so I started emailing the Yokosuka NEX and Commissary to figure out the process for ordering special items from them. These would be items not carried by resupply vessels, meaning they are not considered essential stores. This process ended up being long but definitely paid off. I needed to go the the stores on base and look at each item I wanted to buy. My SH who was with me wrote down the UPC code (bar code) and the quantity I would be buying per box. After filling up close to a dozen pages with individual brands we turned in the paper work and waited patiently to see how this would work.
While I was waiting for my Commissary order to be finished, I went over to the uniform store on base to get additional items like undershirts, socks and various uniform items. This was a little different from the Commissary since I was only interested in buying what they had on hand in much smaller quantities. Most of the items I wanted were already in the store but a few would need to be delivered to the store from warehouses. That would only take a couple of days though.
One more important errand and then I was done. I needed a new supply of towels. The crew had been complaining about the quality of the towels I was currently stocking. When I resupplied from the Singapore NEX, I had bought a better brand of towels that the crew appreciated. They were willing to spend a little extra for better towels. I needed to go to a third store on base to buy those towels and I needed to pay for them then and there. That made three different procedures for ordering supplies not including my normal 1Q ordering system or emblematics. I was still planning on obtaining common items from the 1Q system. Ship ball caps were ordered from a company back in the United States.
After all the supplies and orders were accounted for, it was time for paperwork. There was paperwork spread over four divisions that I needed to collect so I could send in returns for a couple of months. The files for those couple of months were thick. I was not so much concerned about all the purchases adding up, it is easier to keep track of my funds, I needed forms from logistics and food service to complete my records. I ended up making a few mistakes and missing required paper work but got it all sorted out with a few headaches in about a week. At that point I was all caught up and that felt great!
My first priority was to the crew so I started emailing the Yokosuka NEX and Commissary to figure out the process for ordering special items from them. These would be items not carried by resupply vessels, meaning they are not considered essential stores. This process ended up being long but definitely paid off. I needed to go the the stores on base and look at each item I wanted to buy. My SH who was with me wrote down the UPC code (bar code) and the quantity I would be buying per box. After filling up close to a dozen pages with individual brands we turned in the paper work and waited patiently to see how this would work.
While I was waiting for my Commissary order to be finished, I went over to the uniform store on base to get additional items like undershirts, socks and various uniform items. This was a little different from the Commissary since I was only interested in buying what they had on hand in much smaller quantities. Most of the items I wanted were already in the store but a few would need to be delivered to the store from warehouses. That would only take a couple of days though.
One more important errand and then I was done. I needed a new supply of towels. The crew had been complaining about the quality of the towels I was currently stocking. When I resupplied from the Singapore NEX, I had bought a better brand of towels that the crew appreciated. They were willing to spend a little extra for better towels. I needed to go to a third store on base to buy those towels and I needed to pay for them then and there. That made three different procedures for ordering supplies not including my normal 1Q ordering system or emblematics. I was still planning on obtaining common items from the 1Q system. Ship ball caps were ordered from a company back in the United States.
After all the supplies and orders were accounted for, it was time for paperwork. There was paperwork spread over four divisions that I needed to collect so I could send in returns for a couple of months. The files for those couple of months were thick. I was not so much concerned about all the purchases adding up, it is easier to keep track of my funds, I needed forms from logistics and food service to complete my records. I ended up making a few mistakes and missing required paper work but got it all sorted out with a few headaches in about a week. At that point I was all caught up and that felt great!
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