Summer Cruise_Day 12 - Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! - CO

Summer Cruise_Day 11

In yesterday’s post, like many previous posts, I spent time to write a few thoughts about how proud I am of the men and women who serve onboard GONZALEZ. I have been blessed in my Navy career to have served on numerous Battle Excellence award winning ships, was OPS onboard LAKE ERIE during her remarkable Blue-Gold days, and was XO of PORT ROYAL when she won the Spokane Trophy for 2002 as the best ship in the entire Pacific Fleet. And for all of that, I stand by my words that the GONZALEZ crew is the best crew in the Navy. They are the most resilient group of men and women I have ever served with and they have never let me down. In fact, during a recent interview for my next assignment I was asked to describe my ship and my crew. My answer to the Admiral was simple, “I don’t think we are the best at any one thing, but we are damn good at everything.” And that’s the truth. So with that in mind, I thought I would share a few edited words from my most recent Captain’s Call before we arrived at the Naval Base in Mayport to offer a small glimpse into the way we do business onboard…

“Very late last evening we had an engineering casualty which kept many of us busy until we corrected the problem. As I looked around at some tired faces in Engineering Department, I asked myself, and the XO who was also up with me well after midnight, if it were worth running our predawn General Quarters drill early this morning concurrent with our attack on the BLUE forces. If training has no value, then what’s the purpose? Everything we do must have purpose, or what’s the point? And as I looked at my Engineering Department Leading Chief Petty Officer who had been standing port and starboard watch as an Engineering Officer of the Watch, and as I looked at my Chief Engineer who had stood the previous day’s 0200-0700 Tactical Action Officer watch, supervised our refueling during the 0700-1200 watch, was up for a main space fire drill on the 1200-1700 and had the 2200-0200 watch with another General Quarters drill on the 0200-0700 watch forthcoming, I thought hard about training value. And those are just two personal examples, I have pushed us all hard this underway.

So, yes I decided to go ahead with the drill.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a ship of war, and while what we just completed was an exercise, our warship needs to be ready for tasking at all times, 24/7, 365 days a year. I have spent the last 17 months being up front with you and telling you what I thought we are good at and what we needed to work on. And there are things we need to work on…

So why, would a CO who is about to turn over command, come out and push the crew harder. Why would I come out and talk about anything other than all the good things we are doing….because we need it…because all of us need to have the same long term view. We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our ship, our Navy, and we owe it to our nation and people like Dolia Gonzalez, the mother of Freddy Gonzalez who if anything should inspire us all. She turns 80 years old in less than two months and still works two jobs. She, better than all of us, understands the long view. She will be here to visit us in just 6 weeks and we had better be up to her inspection standards.

This ship has come a phenomenally long way. It started with a remarkably successful INSURV inspection and Engineering Operational Certification prior to deployment, long before I got here. It continued with a remarkably successful deployment and post deployment period during my time in command, and ladies and gentlemen we are going to cap this summer by crushing our next engineering certification in just a few weeks, but it is going to take a team effort. And that you owe to your new CO. That is what the long term view is all about. Many of us will not be here when the ship deploys next year, but shame on us if every one of us who is here right now is not fully involved in doing everything we can to make our ship, our home as combat ready as possible.

We are going to jump start that this afternoon the way we always do before pulling into port, by taking care of the ship with a fresh water wash and then continue that all day tomorrow with all hands topside preservation.

We are then going to enjoy some very well deserved time off over the holiday weekend and then we are going to get right back to it for another week at sea before we return. Our engineering certification is the week after we return. Following that, we are going to embark some more midshipmen, and then we are going to get the ship ready for change of command. Following that, our attention will focus on pre-deployment preparations and continued operational prowess - the long view.

That’s why I ran the drill, and we can all expect more.”

After a long 24 hours before entering port and after taking care of our ship, the crew of GONZALEZ is enjoying a very well deserved and well earned 4-days off. Have a great weekend! - CO

Summer Cruise_Day 10

GONZALEZ Pride – Next to freshwater wash down, the best crew in the Navy knows that my second favorite event is all hands topside preservation. During this all hands event, we relax to PT gear and play music topside which today got us only a few strange looks from the local Mayport ships. The primary purpose of topside preservation is obviously to maintain the material condition of the ship. Secondarily, taking care of the ship is a source of pride for the entire crew. GONZALEZ is our home at sea and is truly home to my Sailors who live onboard. Pride is just one of the ingredients which make GONZALEZ Sailors the best crew in the Navy. All hands topside preservation is also about leadership – leadership at every level onboard the ship. Fighting Freddy Sailors know that success comes from teamwork and camaraderie. The Officers and Chiefs work right alongside their Divisions on days like today. All hands topside preservation also requires organization and preparation. It’s not just a Deck Division evolution either. In addition to materials and supplies, there are hydration and heat stress concerns (particularly on hot days like today), hazardous material disposal concerns, and sunscreen concerns just to name a few. It is truly an all hands event, and it is our routine every time we pull into port. One of my favorite aspects of topside preservation is that whenever we have ship riders from other commands, they pitch right in and help. Just like our Marine Corps namesake – once a GONZALEZ Sailor, always a GONZALEZ Sailor. Today, our 20 USNA Midshipmen helped take care of Fighting Freddy just like they were going to be with us through our next deployment. By the way, nice parking job by Ensign Jaeger. Not too shabby, only 25 feet or so from USS ROOSEVELT (DDG 80).

Summer Cruise_Day 9

DDG 66 (GONZALEZ) versus CG 66 (HUE CITY) - If I thought yesterday was good SWO stuff, today was even better. Overnight, we chased the BLUE force carrier and kept her escorts extremely busy. Then, knowing that a pre-dawn surprise attack by us and the other OPFOR ships was imminent, GONZALEZ went to General Quarters at 0430 and ran a series of challenging damage control drills. At 0530 with our drills in progress we attacked BLUE forces. After unloading all of our sim missiles, there was only one BLUE force ship Fighting Freddy had in her sights, the other 66 – USS HUE CITY! It was a glorious gun battle in which the GONZALEZ bridge team expertly took advantage of our strengths and the cruiser’s weaknesses, but in the end, one gun lost to two. At 0630, our drills secured, our guns ceased firing, the drill team coordinator played taps over the 1MC, and we saluted HUE CITY with a BRAVO ZULU flying from our starboard halyard as she passed close down our starboard side to ensure we were out of action.

We then took a little time for some morning holiday routine following our early GQ, held an awards ceremony and Captain’s Call on the flight deck, promoted a new LCDR, qualified a new Command Duty Officer, fresh water washed the ship, and pulled into Mayport for a port call in the late afternoon. Thursday (tomorrow) is an all hands topside preservation day followed by a 4-day holiday weekend! On the horizon GONZALEZ and HUE City have a wardroom softball challenge coming up, and I have two guest bloggers from the crew working on some blog entries of their own. - CO

Summer Cruise_Day 8

Great SWO Moments at Sea – With only 6 weeks left in command for me, GONZALEZ experienced one of those awesome Surface Warfare moments at sea which I will remember for a long time. All through the night, we stalked the BLUE force carrier and her escorts. Very early in the morning, two of the BLUE force escorts broke off to the north for a pre-dawn refueling at sea with the oiler in our operating area. After gaining sufficient sea room, the oiler and the two escorts turned south and connected to refuel. We then followed the carrier and her remaining escort at high speed on a reciprocal northerly course toward the refueling trio. The carrier then hauled out to starboard and we followed the one remaining BLUE force escort to the north. Just as the other two BLUE force ships broke away from the oiler, we suddenly became a BLUE force ship ourselves so that we could refuel with the remaining BLUE force escort we had been trailing. Just as we took the oiler down our starboard side, she put her rudder over right towards us. Now inside her turning circle and with the other BLUE force escort turning on the other side of the oiler to port to maneuver into station, my conning officer expertly swung around to port and then made an awesome full rudder turn back to starboard to bring us into station on the oiler’s starboard quarter with the other escort now on our port beam.

So if the excellent SWO shiphandling wasn’t enough, the as yet unnamed ship on the other side of the oiler taking fuel with us was none other than USS HUE CITY (CG 66). If you have followed the blog or know your Naval and Marine Corps history, you know Sergeant Freddy Gonzalez was the only Marine to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry and intrepidity at the Battle of Hue City – a great day at sea whenever DDG 66 gets to sail in company with CG 66. But wait there is more great SWO stuff! About 30 minutes into the refueling, the skies opened up on us and the heavens pelted all three ships with heavy, driving rain in 40 knots of wind. Both ships then very professionally executed emergency breakaways at the same time and hauled out to port and starboard respectfully and raced back to the carrier. Of course, photos rarely do the weather at sea true justice and there were no cameras on the bridgewing in the rain, but the included photo at least shows the approaching storm. The games continue….

Afternoon Update: The afternoon was filled with some more excellent shiphandling opportunities as the BLUE forces attempted to keep us from approaching their carrier. Naturally, we came prepared. We honed our warfighting and damage control skills further this afternoon with a General Quarters drill as well.

Summer Cruise_Day 7

Fun with Aircraft Carriers – Today was our first day to operate with the BLUE Forces carrier. As part of our tasking, our bridge watchstanders and new Sailors had an opportunity to observe a nice air show as we performed our Opposing Force duties very well – some nice shiphandling and tactical maneuvering by GONZALEZ Sailors! Only a couple of photos today as I spent most of my time on the bridge.

Before maneuvering into the BLUE Forces operations area we had time to conduct a re-enlistment of a Gunners Mate up in the gun mount and kicked off DITS for the week. DITS is short for Division in the Spotlight. Each week all aspects of a single Division are reviewed by various leaders throughout the ship. We review administrative programs, Sailors in the DITS Division take various level of knowledge exams, there is a personal and space inspection, and a host of other events. We even run no-notice damage control and medical emergency drills on the DITS Division to make sure they are keeping their fundamental skills sharp. - CO

Summer Cruise_Day 6

Sunday at Sea – Whenever our operations allow we respect Sunday at Sea as a day of rest as much as possible. Sometimes our duties don’t allow, but nonetheless we always offer church services led by our Lay Leaders as GONZALEZ does not have a Navy Chaplain onboard. We also do not pipe reveille on Sunday morning which allows everyone (except the morning watch unfortunately) an opportunity to catch up on sleep. Following Sunday brunch the ship comes to life again and various training opportunities arise. We held some training on the mess decks this afternoon and then participated in a search and rescue training exercise by marking a downed aircraft site for the blue forces. In the afternoon I took the opportunity to talk with our embarked Midshipmen about leadership and naval history related to the Battle of Trafalgar. And for those who asked, yesterday’s flag hoist was simply an A-L-O-H-A to the CO of our target ship.

On a completely separate note, one of the events which takes place in the wardroom each year, usually unheralded throughout this ship, is the Wardroom Mess Treasurer election. The Wardroom Mess Treasurer is typically a new Ensign who is charged with computing the monthly mess bill for the officers and then collecting monthly payments. It’s a somewhat unexciting but necessary duty. Given the number of new Ensigns GONZALEZ has onboard, the competition is heating up. The photo at the right says it all.

Lastly, it seems as if tensions between blue forces and the OPFOR are increasing so I suspect our action will increase dramatically very soon! -CO