CARR Families and Friends,
As of this week, we are now down to double digit days left until we return from deployment. We are still awaiting final approval for our Tiger Cruise; once we get the final okay, we will push out more information.
Congratulations to our new fathers:
- ET3 Brent Hinson’s son was born 23 Aug
- HTC(Sel) Joshua Linton’s son was born 24 Aug
Day 80 – Sunday, August 19th
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While we were setting up for our steel beach picnic hosted by the Junior Enlisted Association, we rendezvoused with UNDERWOOD once again to transfer parts. This time we received a part to fix our helo so that they could fly tomorrow in support of our Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP). Although we had an air drop scheduled, we wanted to make sure that all systems were ready for tomorrow morning.
Today’s Captain’s Cup involved two participants from each division throwing four footballs at targets of various point values. The CF Division team of FC2 Justin Campbell and FC2 Gary Freas took first place and as usual there was a tie for second place – S2 and the combined CA/CC Division. For the tiebreaker we reoriented and moved the target; the S2 team of CS1 Brian Cook and CS2 Timothy Faulkner won the tiebreaker and secured second place while the team of ITSN Chris Noonan and IT2 Tuan Gross finished third.
After ten Captain’s Cup events, the standings are as follows:
- 1st Place: S2 Division, LEDET
- 2nd Place: CF Division
Day 81 – Monday, August 20th
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Today we conducted CARR’s final scheduled Underway Replenishment before decommissioning. Despite not being a primary mission for our helo det, they did an awesome job conducting the VERTREP. Our embarked helicopter transferred 85 pallets of food, parts, mail and supplies from USNS SACAGAWEA to CARR and 23 pallets to USS UNDERWOOD.
BZ to Deck Division, which once again showed their professionalism and expertise. The Commanding Officer of SACAGAWEA expressed that is has been a pleasure working with CARR – he noted the superior job the underway replenishment teams have done and the professional ship handling…he observes lots of ships, so that is a great compliment.
We have posted a published press release on our Facebook page and at www.navy.mil. Two photos taken by CTT1 Billy Bernal were also included with the article – great job CTT1 Bernal!
The VERTREP was an all hands evolution – and everyone did their part…great job to all! Once the pallets arrived on CARR, the flight deck crew had to use a pallet jack to move the stores out of the drop area. Once moved to the forward end of the flight deck, personnel removed the plastic wrap and began passing each individual box either through the port helo hangar or down the centerline passage. Both routes were lined by Sailors who tirelessly passed along a seemingly never ending supply of food and parts. Once to the end of the line, the teams then had to divert parts, mail, and food to the right locations.
Great job to LS2 Lawrence Stubblefield and LS3 DeWayne Gilkes who expertly received and coordinated the issuance of 24 pallets of consumable and repair parts. For many divisions this last infusion of consumables will last until we return to Norfolk.
BZ to CSC Ren Adams, CS1 Brian Cook, LSSN Keith Green, SHSN Rashad Simpson, and LSSN Brandon Vasser who quickly and efficiently separated and sorted 48 bags of mail. We expect regular mail service for the remainder of deployment.
Day 82- Tuesday, August 21st
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Congratulations to BM3 Joshua Fidler, SN Joshua Mebane, SN Okello Niles, and GSM3 Tyler Smith who earned their ESWS pin! Great job to those who earned their pin and to all those others who are making steady progress to earn theirs -10 ESWS qualifications completed so far this deployment.
Day 83 – Wednesday, August 22nd
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Our Sailors continue to pursue advanced qualifications and build their expertise. BZ to EN2 Joseph Lawhorn and EN3 Elvin Lugo who earned their Electric Plant Control Console Operator qualification. This qualification means they are ready to supervise operation of CARR’s electric distribution system and have demonstrated the ability to properly respond to a multitude of casualty situations.
Day 84 – Thursday, August 23rd
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Great job to IT1 Kevin Bultman who is leading the United Through Reading program. This program gives our Sailors the opportunity to read a book to their child while being videotaped, and then send it back to their families – all free of charge. Thank you IT1 Bultman for being proactive in leading this program.
Recently we assessed that our missile magazine sprinkler room needs some significant work prior to decommissioning, as a result we are using the time we have now to get ahead of this project. The effort will involve Sailors from all our departments. This week we focused on equipment removal, lagging removal, and verifying system integrity for the multitude of pipes that pass through that space. Great job to the team who tackled the work this week, which included STG2 David Botel, GMSN William Carpenter, ET3 Matthew Darby, FC2 Jacob Gonzales, IT2 Tuan Gross, ET3 Brent Hinson, GMSN John Hodges, GM2 Ethan Krug, ITSN Christopher Noonan, GMC Anthony Scott, and STG3 Larry Whitehead.
Day 85 – Friday, August 24th
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On Friday we conducted an anti-submarine scenario to keep up on our warfighting skills. Great job to STGC William Colmenares and STG2 David Botel who developed a great training scenario.
In the evening, MWR sponsored a Texas Hold’em tournament on the mess decks and the CPO Selectees made Calzones. The Selectees are conducting fund raising events in order to hold a CPO Ball once we return to Norfolk. We try to conduct a fun event every Friday night as long as our operational schedule permits. Congratulations to BM1 Marcus Mincey who took first place in the tournament.
Day 86 – Saturday, August 25th
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Despite our upcoming decommissioning, we still must maintain CARR in the highest condition – as a result our crew is conducting preventive maintenance to make sure our systems operate as designed. We are also working on material condition of our spaces; prior to the ship decommissioning, we must make sure that all lagging is in place, there is no rust, and all systems are in a known configuration.
In addition to the missile magazine project we are continuing the constant battle against Mother Nature throughout our topside spaces.
Great job to QM3 Justin Arnold and QMSN Austin Holcomb who have gotten a jump on preserving the outside of our pilot house – this week the focus was paint removal, next phase is to properly prime and paint.
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PANAMA CANAL – PART 2
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Meanwhile, the United States continued to survey and assess the best location for a canal project – still preferring the route through Nicaragua. An offer was made by the French to sell the right of way through Panama to the United States for only $40 million. This swayed the decision makers in the United States and on 19 June, 1902 the choice was made to continue the route begun by the French.
The canal was a promising income source for the Republic of Colombia, with the most direct benefit to the province of Panama. The primary income source besides the canal was banana production. In 1899, an American entrepreneur operating in Panama joined forces with the Boston Fruit Company to form the United Fruit Company (previously mentioned during our weekly update during our Santa Marta, Colombia visit) – which became the world’s largest agricultural enterprise at the turn of the century.
On January 22, 1903, the Hay-Herran Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Dr. Tomas Herran of Colombia that would grant U.S. control of the Canal Zone six miles either side of the canal from Colon to Panama City, but did not include either of those cities. The treaty would have granted the United States a renewable lease in perpetuity along the proposed canal route. In return, the United States would pay the Republic of Colombia $10 million in gold plus annual rent of $250,000. Although the treaty was ratified in the U.S. Senate on March 14, 1903, the Colombian Senate failed to ratify the agreement.
Tempers flared as a result of the unratified treaty and revolutionaries in Panama began to plot the overthrow of Colombian authorities in Panama. One of the revolution leaders, Dr. Amador, traveled to the United States to attempt to get political support and money to finance the revolution. Although a promise of U.S. support wasn’t explicitly provided, the revolutionary leader was informed that:
– The United States was determined to build a Panama Canal.
– The United States would not let Colombia get in the way of the U.S. efforts.
The revolutionaries were also allegedly told that should the revolutionaries take possession of Colon and Panama City, they could depend on the United States to stop Colombia from landing troops to put the revolution down.
The revolutionaries acted in November 1903, with U.S. warships stationed off the coast of Panama City and Colon; blocking Colombian reinforcements. Additionally, the dense jungles of the isthmus blocked Colombia’s land route from Bogota. On November 6, 1903 the United States government formally recognized the Republic of Panama. An agreement was immediately signed with the new Republic of Panama which gave the United States all the rights, powers, and authority which the United States would possess if it were U.S. sovereign territory. The canal area was increased to 10 miles either side of the canal route and the lease was also made renewable for perpetuity. As a result of this incident, there was significant and long lasting damage done to American relations with all of Latin America. For many, their confidence and trust in the United States was destroyed.
In 1904, the United States set up the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC) to oversee the construction of the Panama Canal and control the Panama Canal Zone in which the U.S. exercised sovereignty. The commission reported directly to Secretary of War, William Howard Taft. On May 6, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed John Findlay Wallace, a railroad man, as the Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal Project.
Colonel William Gorgas was appointed Chief Sanitation Officer of the Canal construction project in 1904 in order to get Malaria and Yellow Fever under control. He discovered that the way to get rid of malaria was not only to target the Anopheles mosquito, but prevent infected people from getting bit. The sanitation and mosquito abatement projects involved quickly identifying and isolating patients with yellow fever or malaria; fumigation of buildings, spraying insecticide in insect breeding areas; paving roads to minimize stagnant water; installing mosquito netting over beds; introducing the use of window screens; installing city-wide water systems to eliminate stagnant water in cisterns; eliminating stagnant water in open containers; and draining swamps.
By 1905, John Wallace had grown weary of the effort and resigned. John Stevens, former Chief Engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad, was appointed as the second Chief Engineer of the project. Upon arrival he found the project to be in disarray despite having already spent $128 million. He quickly determined that infrastructure must be built up and be made the primary focus before pushing to complete the canal.
Improvements he spearheaded included construction of residences, commissaries, and completion of the task of ridding Panama of Malaria and Yellow Fever. Stevens stated that there were three diseases in Panama, “yellow fever, malaria, and cold feet; and the greatest of these is cold feet.” By December yellow fever was eradicated; after two years of extensive sanitation and mosquito abatement work involving thousands of workers and millions of dollars, both mosquito spread diseases were nearly eliminated. He also realized that in order to move the massive amount of earth to complete the canal, he needed a greatly improved Panama Railway – which he accomplished.
Stevens also faced the challenge of recruiting workers from the United States and abroad – the tales of the harsh conditions, disease, and poor working conditions from the French era were widely known. Initially, the reputation of the Canal Zone made recruiting labor difficult. The major inducements were wages ranging from $0.90/day for common laborers up to $8.00/day for steam shovel operators, a nine hour work day, subsidized meals and housing, vacation, sick leave, and medical coverage.
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Jessica Meissner OMBUDSMAN
April Linton Co-OMBUDSMAN
Jackie Lease FRG President
Please join CARR along with our OMBUDSMAN and Family Readiness Group:
CARR
https://www.facebook.com/FFG52
OMBUDSMAN
http://www.facebook.com/pages/USS-CARR-
ombudsman/219688138070847?sk=wall
CARR Family Readiness Group
www.facebook.com/USSCARRFRG
Sailors Name
Department/Division
USS CARR (FFG 52)
FPO AE 09566-1506
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Until next Sunday, stay safe CARR Family and Friends!
CDR Patrick Kulakowski
Commanding Officer
USS CARR (FFG 52)
“Courage, Will, Determination!”
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