Letter from the Chief of Naval Operations

Charles · Sep 15, 2005

I made a day trip to the Gulf Coast this weekend to visit with and thank our Sailors for the extraordinary work they are doing in the recovery and relief effort. I spent time at the Seabee base in Gulfport, NSA New Orleans and NAS/JRB New Orleans, as well as aboard HARRY S TRUMAN, BATAAN, TORTUGA and IWO JIMA.

It was at once both a grim and an incredibly uplifting experience. Some of my impressions:

First, the pictures on TV don't even begin to do justice to the scope of the devastation. I saw whole neighborhoods completely obliterated; the only evidence they ever existed at all being the faint outline of cement blocks that once formed the foundations of houses.

I saw massive casino barges in Biloxi thrown hundreds of yards inland, wooded areas so shredded they looked from the air like a spilled box of toothpicks, and much of New Orleans still a tepid, festering lake. There were very few people on the streets that weren't military or emergency workers.

Comparing it to a war zone is not at all a stretch.
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The Navy's contribution to this success has been critical. I don't need to tell you that. We've been there since practically before the storm made landfall – BATAAN chased it in weathering 12-14 foot seas and began flying SAR missions within hours of the storm's departure – and we are still there making a difference.
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Then there's IWO JIMA, who put up POTUS overnight on Sun. Pierside at the Riverwalk, IWO has become a command center, hospital, airport, hotel and restaurant all rolled into one.

I ran into VADM Thad Allen in the p-way. Thad, as you may know, is the senior federal officer on scene, running the whole show. He said, "Mike, you should consider renaming this ship The City of New Orleans." That says it all.

I couldn't help but sneak a smile, having just given a speech up in Newport about the power of naval forces to win hearts and minds by serving as "cities at sea." I used our contributions to the international effort in the wake of last December's tsunami as my prime example in that speech. How little did I realize we’d be doing that sort of work on our own soil so soon.
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Perhaps the most moving thing I did Saturday was visit with a group of ombudsmen [a Navy ombudsman is a volunteer who acts as a communication link between the Commanding Officer and family members and also a Information and Referral Specialists who help command family members gain the assistance they need to succeed as part of the extended Navy family] in Gulfport.

Many of them had lost everything. They were hurting, barely getting by on their own, and yet here they were at the FFSC [Fleet and Family Service Center] looking for ways to help other Navy families. You could see the desperation and the hope on their faces, hear it in their cracking voices. Tough on the heart, to be sure, and yet somehow good for it at the same time.

I was humbled just to be in the room with them. You want to talk about courage? These ladies had it to spare
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At NAS New Orleans I came across a bunch of Seabees working feverishly on the wooden platform for what was going to be a temporary dining facility. It was a contract job, but the contractor was having problems rounding up the necessary manpower and resources. The Seabees didn't ask permission, didn't wait for orders. They simply rolled up their sleeves and went to work.

"Hey, they needed help," one said. "And we know how to do this stuff."

We do, indeed, know how to do this stuff, and we are doing it exceptionally well. Standing amongst them, I was never more proud to call myself an American Sailor.
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http://www.reportingwar.com/mullen091405.shtml

DesElms · Sep 15, 2005

Charles,

Never, since I've been reading -- ne, usually enduring -- your often-right-winged-to-the-point-of-making-my-teeth-slam-together posts around here, have I enjoyed one of them as much as this.

Thank you. I got chills in a couple of places... I'm serious. Good post.

PatsFan · Sep 17, 2005

Charles, thanks for your post. I was stationed at the SEABEE base in Gulfport in the 1970's with Mobile Construction Battalion 74. Can you give us a status report on the SEABEE base in regard to the damage? Thanks for your tribute to the Navy!

Tom

Charles · Sep 19, 2005

PatsFan,

From what I've been able to read damage to the Construction Battalion Center could have been a lot worse. As you might expect the SeaBees a playing a big part in the relief effort.

Commander, 1st Naval Construction Division News

http://www.news.navy.mil/local/1NCD/

I was in NMCB FOUR (a Port Hueneme) in the late 80's. We used to relieve 74 on deployment.

PatsFan · Sep 20, 2005

Originally posted by Charles
PatsFan,

From what I've been able to read damage to the Construction Battalion Center could have been a lot worse. As you might expect the SeaBees a playing a big part in the relief effort.

Commander, 1st Naval Construction Division News

http://www.news.navy.mil/local/1NCD/

I was in NMCB FOUR (a Port Hueneme) in the late 80's. We used to relieve 74 on deployment.
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I'm glad to hear that the Construction Battalion Center may have fared a little better than the rest of Gulfport. NMCB 4 had a detachment on Diego Garcia when I was there in 1977-1978. Nice fellows. Did you like Port Hueneme? I was there for EA A-school. I liked it there. I appreciate the SEABEE news. Just curious: the link above is that for a particular SEABEE unit or a general SEABEE on-line news site?

Tom

Charles · Sep 20, 2005

I really liked Hueneme.

The link is for the Navy news in general. The additional "local/1NCD/" is for First Naval Construction Division news. The First Naval Construction Division is the overall commander for operational Seabee units worldwide.

First Naval Construction Division History

The First Naval Construction Division was commissioned on August 9, 2002 at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Norfolk, Va. to provide a single command interface for global Seabee operations.

Prior to the commissioning, Seabees came under the control of two Naval Construction Brigades. The Second Naval Construction Brigade in Norfolk provided oversight of the Atlantic Seabees, and the Third Naval Construction Brigade in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, provided oversight for the Pacific Seabees. Under the realignment, the two Brigades were disestablished and replaced with the new global command element. The realignment resulted from a Naval Construction Force Alignment Study commissioned by the Chief of Naval Operations.
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http://www.seabee.navy.mil/index.cfm/40065

PatsFan · Sep 21, 2005

Thanks for the info, Charles. I enjoy keeping up with what the SEABEES are doing.

ternahan · Sep 27, 2005

I talked with a coworker who went to Gulfport from Hueneme to issue equipment from the prepositioned war reserve stock. He came back to Cal this weekend. He said the commissary was the most badly damaged and most of the rest of the base infrastructure came through o.k. Of course, some of the family housing was completely wiped off their pads. Lots of fund raising and clothing being sent there from Hueneme. Phil, retired CPO and Civilian Seabee.

PatsFan · Sep 27, 2005

Thanks for the scoop, Phil. Were you a Seabee chief?
Tom

ternahan · Sep 27, 2005

No, I was a Chief Personnelman. I wasn't associated with the Seabees until after I retired. Phil

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