Bonhomme Richard left out to dry
October 19th, 2010 | Gator Navy Navy Shipyard The Pacific | Posted by David Larter
The amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard is moored on Pier 13 at Naval Base San Diego. Bonhomme Richard is preparing for a nine-month dry-dock planned maintenance availability period. // MCC Joe Kane
The amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard is getting ready for a roughly $41 million overhaul in dry dock. Sailors on board are doubtless ready for a nine-month spell shore-side and ready to revel in the luxuries of living on a berthing barge.
The ship and its Marines returned earlier this year from a rough seven-month deployment to 5th and 7th fleets. Gidget Fuentes reported in April:
Bonhomme Richard and two other amphibious ships of the San Diego-based ready group, dock landing ship Rushmore and transport dock Cleveland, spent more than four months in the Persian Gulf and Horn of Africa regions conducting maritime security operations, and supporting theater security and cooperation exercises, including training in Kuwait, Djibouti and Tiimor-Leste.
A six-day liberty visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in mid-March came after 127 consecutive days at sea for the big deck Bonhomme Richard.
Repairs are expected to run through July.
Join the Navy, get a free Caribbean cruise*
September 23rd, 2010 | Gator Navy Photos | Posted by Phil Ewing
MC2 Jonathen Davis got the tough assignment of photographing his shipmates when they all went for a dip in the warm, blue waters of the Caribbean this week, as the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima paused off the coast of Nicaragua for a swim call. That looks really pleasant.
*Your “cruise” will not actually be free or take place on a cruise ship. Navy experience may not actually include visit to Caribbean.
Upgrade your desktop — the gator way
August 11th, 2010 | Gator Navy Photos | Posted by Phil Ewing
If you’re looking for new computer desktop wallpaper — and who isn’t, in these troubled times of ours — you could do a lot worse than MC1 Christopher Stoltz’s pacific shot of the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima underway Tuesday in the Caribbean.
The Blue-Green Team of tomorrow
August 5th, 2010 | Gator Navy The greenside | Posted by Phil Ewing
Sailors and Marines work closely together now, and those ties will only strengthen in the force of tomorrow, planners say. For example, sailors aboard the amphibious transport dock Ponce taught Marines the joys of firefighting // MCSN Scott Pittman / Navy
Our senior colleague Christopher P. Cavas has a great story this week about the early planning for what the Marine Corps will look like after Afghanistan: Any way you slice it, the Marines are going to be operating closer than ever with the Navy, so top decision-makers like Navy Undersecretary Bob Work are nailing down the details.
If the Marine Corps of the past decade has been a rougher, angrier version of the Army — with different uniforms and a different motivational nonsense phrase — planners seem to want the Corps of the future to turn back the clock to the “small wars” era of the early 20th century. Here’s how it might go down:
Bad stuff is taking place in some horrible, hot country. Navy warships show up and send the Devil Dogs ashore via sea and aircraft, enabling the Marines to resolve the aforesaid bad stuff using their unique brand of high-impact, high-explosive mediation. The Marines get back on the ships and leave. No major footprint, and it’s all over in just a few weeks. Yes, the Marines can do this today, but planners want to get better at it, and it sounds like they want to increase the range of ships from which it can be done:
Marines will begin operating from a variety of new platforms like the Littoral Combat Ship and Joint High Speed Vessel, and “should come up with new and innovative ways to deploy Marines — in smaller packages, with distributed capabilities.” The Corps will also review its tactical aviation plans to make sure the Navy and Marine Corps “are in complete sync” and can afford what they want.
So what do you think? Can the Marine Corps un-learn being a heavy land force and re-learn the swashbuckling, conflict-hopping lifestyle of yesteryear? Is this theory even the right one for Navy and Marine Corps planners to pursue?
Giggity, giggity, gig-a-dee
August 4th, 2010 | Gator Navy Photos | Posted by Phil Ewing
MC1 Martine Cuaron / Navy
Fans of “Family Guy” already knew that America’s favorite sexual predator, Glenn Quagmire, comes from a Navy family — his dad, Lt. Cmdr. Dan Quagmire, was the subject of a whole episode this spring. As such, the sailors of Assault Craft Unit 2 must have thought it made sense to bring the younger Quagmire out at sea with them, so they added this great illustration of ol’ Glenn just inside the ramp of their landing craft LCU 1660. Classic.
Here’s Petty Officer Quagmire close up:
Shake a leg
June 25th, 2010 | Gator Navy Life at Sea Morale | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Amphibious assault ship Peleliu's mascot entertains schoolkids in Dili, Timor-Leste on a break during "Crocodilo" exercises.//MC3 Ian Campbell/Navy
This photograph – of amphibious assault ship Peleliu’s mascot showing off some of his (or her?) latest dance moves to the amazement of school children in Timor-Leste – arrived in Scoop Deck’s inbox this week. For the scores of high-res photos that jam our mail servers, this one provided a sunny break from all things haze gray and underway.
The Peleliu Gator, as the mascot is called, has entertained crowds at college football games and homecomings, but on this deployment it reached out to young children at schools and orphanages in community service projects.
Peleliu and her San Diego-based crew took some breaks during “Crocodilo,” a bilateral training with Timor-Leste and Australia military forces, to reach out to local students. It was a blue-green effort, as a foursome of Marines with California-based 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is deployed as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, serenaded the schoolkids.