CARR to receive its decommissioning planning orders, among other “Lasts” of its Career

CARR Families and Friends,

One last reminder, the next FRG Meeting will be held tomorrow, July 23rd from 6-8PM at First Baptist Norfolk (312 Kempsville Road, Norfolk, VA). Child care will be provided at no cost. Please RSVP ASAP to the FRG if you plan to attend and include the number of children requiring childcare.

Day 45 – Sunday, July 15th
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Today the Wardroom took their turn hosting CARR’s fortnightly (every 14

days) steel beach picnic. Great job to LT Jonathan Goodson who made the marinade and led preparation of the beef, chicken and shrimp kabobs. LTJG Arash Hague steadfastly manned the grill and made sure we had enough chorizo to go around (lots of people enjoyed the chorizo, and many of us ate way too many – I think I had 6) along with the navy standard fare of burgers and baked beans. Special thanks to LTJG Jimmy Peluso for knuckling down and leading the least fun part of every steel beach, running the scullery and leading the clean up.

Today’s Captain’s Cup event was an egg toss. We started out with each team having participants stand 2 feet apart on the port and starboard side of the flight deck. As the eggs were tossed, one team member had to step back and then the eggs were tossed back. We ensured the eggs were all cold, which meant that the humid air instantly condensed on them – adding some level of difficulty. First out was the team from S3 Division who dropped their egg on the second toss. Once the teams backed up all the way to the flight deck nets, we shifted the orientation for the teams to split up forward and aft.

After several rounds and 11 broken eggs later, 5 teams remained – CE, EA, OD, S2 and OI. At this point the eggs were being thrown almost the entire length of the flight deck. EA, OD and OI all dropped out on the next throw which left S2 and CE to fight it out for the victory. After a few more rounds, CE’s team of ET2 Corey Mink and ET2 Michael McCullick came up short and the S2 Division team of CS1 Brian Cook and CS2 Timothy Faulkner took first place. In order to decide third place we held a toss off between OI, EA and OD – when the yolks had settled it was OD Division with BM2 Matthew Mudderman and BM2 Travis Gardner in 3rd Place.

After six Captain’s Cup events, the standings are as follows:
1st Place: OT Division (13 pts) & CE Division (13 pts).
2nd Place: EA Division (12 pts)
3rd Place: OD Division (11 pts)

Day 46 – Monday, July 16th
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Slow day today; however, we did reach our first milestone of deployment – 25% complete! The next big psychological milestones are 33% and reaching only 100 days remaining.

Day 47- Tuesday, July 17th
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As a result of one of our two units (reverse osmosis) used to make potable (drinking) water being down we can only produce half our normal amount of drinking water. Auxiliaries Division disassembled the pump in an attempt to repair, but the pump was toast – we are now awaiting arrival of a new pump. Our crew has done a good job at using water more responsibly, which includes taking a standard navy shower (get wet, turn water off, lather up, and rinse). The good news is that we are being environmentally responsible.using less, dumping less over the side, and using less electricity (a reverse osmosis unit uses quite a bit of power).

Day 48 – Wednesday, July 18th
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Congratulations to Lieutenant Junior Grade Arash Hague who earned his

Surface Warfare Supply Corps Officer (SWSCO) pin today! He has the

distinction of being the last Officer to receive his SWSCO pin on board

CARR.

BZ to STG3 Larry Whitehead upon completing his passive towed array and Combat Systems Operational Sequencing System Technician qualifications. Although he has been on board only a short time, he is quickly completing qualifications and becoming a pivotal member of CARR’s sonar team.

Day 49 – Thursday, July 19th
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A little bit of excitement today, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

While VENOM 502 was out searching our operating area, a sailing vessel

contacted the helicopter on the bridge to bridge radio. Unfortunately

nobody in the helo could speak or understand Spanish. Since we weren’t sure whether or not the vessel was in distress, we defaulted to preparing to render assistance – we came up to speed and immediately began proceeding toward the vessel about 30 nautical miles away. After getting a Spanish speaker to our Combat Information Center, we used the helicopter’s ability to relay radio communications to talk to the sailboat. Turns out that they just wanted to talk to our helo – no emergency on the sailboat.

Qualifications continue: Congratulations to Lieutenant Junior Grade Charles McIver for earning his Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) qualification today. This leaves only a handful of Officers remaining to earn their SWO qualification: Lieutenant Junior Grade Maria Decristoforo, Ensign Jonathan Smith, Ensign Joshua Stewart, Ensign James Kenny.

Congratulations to ET2 Cory Mink and ET3 Matthew Darby upon earning their Enlisted Surface Warfare Qualification (ESWS). This is a significant career milestone, requiring Sailors to learn all aspects of ship operations, damage control, engineering, and combat systems. I have challenged everyone on board to complete their ESWS prior to returning to Norfolk!

Day 50 – Friday, July 20th
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We continued with our routine of conducting complex drills on Fridays.

Today was another new scenario that simulated CARR conducting a strait

transit. In addition to a simulated rocket propelled grenade (RPG) attack by small boats, we also conducted a man overboard drill (simulating one of the crew went overboard upon the explosion). RPGs are commonly used by pirates and terrorists. The crew performed well and successfully recovered our man overboard while combating damage induced from the simulated RPG. BM3 Eric Jones did an excellent job driving our Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB), allowing us to recover the man overboard quite a distance from the ship. BM3 Jones is always ready and willing to drive the RHIB!

This afternoon we received our decommissioning planning message. This message gives direction to CARR and the Norfolk ship repair facility to commence planning for decommissioning. As expected, our inactivation maintenance availability is expected to begin 10 December and end upon our inactivation ceremony on 13 March. I have been working with representatives from Naval Sea System Command and Inactive Ships – we expect the more detailed inactivation plan to come out in August. We are attempting to do as much work as we can to get organized and prepare while we are deployed.

Colombia History Moment: After Napoleon Bonaparte, of French Fame, took control of Southern Spain in May 1810 several of the Spanish colonies, including Colombia, Venezuela, and Paraguay, moved to declare their independence from Spain. Colombia recognizes July 20th as Colombian Independence Day.

Day 51 – Saturday, July 21st
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Today we returned to a familiar port for CARR, Cartagena, Colombia. Last deployment we pulled into Cartagena several times; however, we consistently experienced low visibility and torrential downpours. As we approached the port it happened again – as if on queue, the visibility immediately began to decrease and the skies opened up on us. The good news is that the squall passed prior to us entering the channel. As a result of a Colombian Navy Day celebration our anchorage point had been moved – with only the pilot knowing where it was. Once the pilot boarded, we talked and he informed me where we were supposed to wedge into – I told him “no problem!” Our anchorage wasn’t too far into the harbor and involved us passing south of several ships, then maneuvering north to anchor in between three ships. LT Michael Jackson did a great job driving us in and dropping the anchor. – BZ

to the deck team as usual!

Once anchored, we took on food, potable water and 70,982 gallons of

Commercial Marine Gas Oil (MGO). Typically we take on Diesel Fuel Marine (DFM); however, when there is no Navy source of fuel we can take MGO. MGO is a 100% middle distillate containing no residual fuel contamination. MGO is not stable over long periods of time, so it must be burned as soon as possible (like the fuel in your mower). Some other substitute fuels require that they be burned in as little as 6 weeks.

Just before dinner, we were underway and headed back to patrol.

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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”