USO Canteen FReeper Style....Gunnery Mates....Thank You....June 26,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

USS Bulkeley

The primary job of the Gunnery Division is to maintain and operate all shipboard weapons systems.

Normal day to day tasks include ensuring all weapons systems are functioning properly and prepared for such evolutions as surface and air combat and exercises, as well as ensuring that the weapons are available for any law enforcement need. Gunnery Division is also responsible for providing small arms training to all Boarding Team Members.

Within Gunnery Division there are two different rates...Gunner's Mates (GM) and Fire Control Technicians (FT). Gunner's Mates primarily deal with the actual firing weapons and their associated ordnance while FT's primarily work with radar systems specifically designed for targeting and firing long range weapons.

Chief Gunner's Mate (SW) Virgil Kilpatrick, an instructor at Fleet Combat Training Center (FCTCLANT) Atlantic, has spent the last three years providing Sailors with skills he hoped they would never truly need -- operating and maintaining shipboard weapons systems in war.

Gunner's mates work in almost every kind of Navy environment: ship, shore, in the United States or overseas. Their work and specialties may involve indoor or outdoor situations, clean or dirty work, deck or shop, and any kind of climate or temperature. They work alone or with others, independently or closely supervised. Their work can be both mental and physical.

River Boat Gunnery Mate.......Vietnam

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the campaign against terrorism, training commands like FCTCLANT are at the ground floor of the battle.

Veteran Sailors like Kilpatrick are in classrooms, laboratories and simulators, arming their students with the tools to fight terror.

According to GM1(SW) George Cumings, careless safety procedure can be a gunner's mate's deadliest enemy.

"It is important to take your time and go through all your steps, whether you're operating the gun or performing maintenance," Cumings said. "If you don't, you can get yourself -- and your shipmates -- killed."

Technology has changed the face of naval training during the past two decades. For gunner's mates, computer literacy has become nearly as important as skill with a weapon.

"Gunner's mates do a lot more than just fire guns," said Kilpatrick, a 17-year Navy veteran. "It may not seem like a technical rating, but it is."

Battleship Iowa firing its guns on the starboard side. You can see it shoving the ship sideways thru the water. What power unleashed! For those who don't know about these guns (the 16 inchers) they can fire a shell weighing as much as a VW Beetle 30 miles thru the air with some accuracy. That is awesome! Of course, we no longer have these ships in our naval service. They have all been decommissioned and mothballed or disposed of in some other manner.

What They Do:

The duties performed by GMs include:
operating and maintaining guided missile launching systems, rocket launchers, gun mounts and other ordnance systems and equipment;

training and supervising crews in the use of all types of ordnance equipment, from large caliber guns and missile systems to small arms;

stowing, securing, requisitioning and reclassifying explosives:
operating and maintaining magazine flooding and sprinkling systems;

making mechanical, electrical and electronic casualty analysis using technical publications, circuit diagrams and blueprints;

repairing, maintaining, testing and calibrating ordnance equipment;
servicing hydraulic and pneumatic systems;

repairing, maintaining, testing and calibrating microprocessing equipment;
repairing damaged hydraulic sealing surfaces, mating areas and threads;

performing mechanical wire connections including soldering; operating and maintaining night optical devices;

operating optical scanning and marking devices to label, identify and report explosives' utilization/expenditure.

This 5"/62 caliber gun can be used to defend against ships or planes.

And this big ship has all the latest in weapons technology: Using the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, the ship's crew can launch up to 96 missiles, including Standard surface-to-air missiles, Tomahawk surface-to-surface missiles and VLA antisubmarine missiles--64 from the back of the ship or 32 from the front. USS Bulkeley is also equipped with two MK 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems and a 5"/62 caliber deck-mounted gun, which uses Extended Range Guided Munitions projectiles and looks like a machine gun on steroids. According to one crewman, the 5"/62 is so powerful that once when it was fired from the front of the ship, he could feel his pant legs shaking, even though he was standing at the stern.

USS Bulkeley's MK 41 Vertical Launching System fires a combination of Standard surface-to-air and Tomahawk surface-to-surface missiles.

There's a story about John Paul Jones' chief gunners mate. It was during the gore and thunder of that most historic battle. He was loading and firing cannon and carrying the wounded to the medical officer, cutting away the tangled rigging. And apparently in the midst of that first fight, John Paul Jones went below momentarily and changed into a new uniform. And as he emerged on deck a voice rang out through the smoke and fire -- it was the British captain asking, ``Have you struck your colors?'' And the gunners mate, sweat and blood dripping from his body, turned and saw Jones now in his fresh uniform reply: ``I have not yet begun to fight.'' And the gunners mate said, ``There's always somebody who didn't get the word.''

The challenge is great. Our Navy is meeting a heavier responsibility than we had in the sixties and meeting it with fewer ships. And that means the officers and crew of every vessel must work harder, carry a heavier load, and endure longer, more strenuous cruises.

Men and women on these and other ships are under great stress, handling advanced weapons systems and sophisticated equipment. And that's all the more reason to salute them after setting a new record for aircraft safety last year. Many who served could easily have better paying civilian jobs. Sailors on the carriers are away from their families 70 percent of the time; yet 60 percent of these fine young people reenlist.

In today's Navy, as with the other services, the Reserves are playing an increasingly important role. Who are they? Citizens concerned about the future of this country and determined to do their part. They share their time, energy, and talent to keep America strong, safe, and free.

[Snow Bunny]

Tribute To HEROES

Tribute to Vietnam Veterans....Please click on picture

The great intangible of America's wars beyond logistics, beyond strategy, beyond wonder weapons and Generals, is the spiritual force of its fighting men and women - and that is the force that the USO so serves.

Free Republic....Click for Donations

Thank you from all those that frequent the FReeper Canteen to Jim Robinson, Founder of FRee Republic and Navy Veteran.

[Snow Bunny]

[Snow Bunny]

On behalf of TF Rakkasan and myself let me thank you for your letter, your kind thoughts and most important you support. Your desire to send care packages to the soldiers of TF Rakkasan is wonderful in itself. We are lucky here because we have had the support of you great Americans every since we got here. As for the packages we will be deploying home soon after 7 months and I am afraid your packages would get lost in the system somewhere, but please know your letter and thoughts are more important to us than a package and for that we can't thank you enough!

Sincerely,
R. Herman
TASK FORCE RAKKASAN

SGM R A Herman
TF Rakkasan
HHC 3Bde
APO AE 09355

The receptionist at SAMWolf’s office has a Marine friend of hers that could use some morale building.
He's at Camp LeJeune right now waiting for a training deployment to a ship.
He's 29 has 2 daughters under age 3 and is missing his family.
SAMWolf told her he would pass the Marines’ name and address onto the Canteen.

His current snail mail address is:
Cpl Berger, Charles W.
II MEF MARFOR UNITAS
RECON DET
Bldg 10, Wing 3
PSC 20164
Camp LeJeune, NC 28542-0164
His email is:
charlesberger@hotmail.com

The USS George Washington carrier battle group left NAS Norfolk today for their 6 month .The USS George Washington has about 7,500 sailors and Marines with the carrier and its battle group left to head overseas and likely into combat. The Navy will not disclose the ships's destination.
Prayers for ALL our Troops

The USS McCampbell will be commissioned in August.
USS McCampbell (DDG 85)
FPO AP 96672-1275

[Snow Bunny]

Thank you all for your wonderful support of our troops and your gratitude for our Veterans.God Bless all of you and your families.

[SassyMom]

Good Morning, Bunny! WOO HOO, I think I might be the last post from yesterday antd the first post of today. Make a note of that folks, you probably won't ever see that again. LOL

[SassyMom]

Great opening!!!! Thank you to our navy and all of our troops.

[Snow Bunny]

ROTFL..you are so adorable. hahahahahhaa

I am going to go take a shower then sleep for awhile. hahhaaa

Luv ya Sassy girl.

[cuz_it_aint_their_money]

Good morning Snow Bunny,
And thank you for all you do here at the FReeper USO Canteen.

[Snow Bunny]

Thank you, that means a lot Sassy.

[SpookBrat]

Good morning! I'm off to the vets office.

I'll read when I get back.

[southerngrit]

Good morning, ladies. It's rare that I get the privilege of being one of the first posters on a thread -- guess there's a reason my throbbing head woke me up so early. We've had more than our share of gunnery mates in the family and I can tell any of you lurking out there that these guys do an unbelievable job under really stressful situations. BTW - LOVED the anecdote by the sailor covered in blood and sweat. Betcha he's an ancestor!! Have a great day.

[sleavelessinseattle]

SB, You've gone HI Tech!!! Nice Lobby area...good bandwidth...I'll disregard the fact that you appear to have a MAC there...because I HATE WINDOWS!!!! TAKE ME WITH YOU!!! LOL....

[tomkow6]

Good morning, EVERYBODY!

HAPPY HUMP DAY!

Here's some pictures I found on the Navy website:

At sea aboard USS Anzio, Jun. 12, 2002 — Constable 1st Degree Thomas Pedersen of the Danish Navy corvette Niels Juel(F 354) fires the 25mm chain gun aboard the U.S. cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68). The U.S. and 11 other nations including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom are participating in BALTOPS 2002. The emphasis of the annual exercise is regional understanding and cooperation among the participating forces. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Martin E. Maddock. [020612-N-0872M-502] Jun. 12, 2002

At sea aboard USS John S. McCain, June 4, 2002 — A gunner's mate aboard USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) loads a magazine into the ship's mounted .50 caliber bridge gun. John S. McCain is deployed to the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Named for Adm. John S. McCain, one of the Navy's battle commanders of World War II, and Adm. John S. McCain, Jr., a submariner who was CINCPAC in the late 1960s, the destroyer is forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class (SW) Arlo K. Abrahamson. [020604-N-5362A-007] June 4, 2002

[4TheFlag]

Good Morning beautiful Lady! GREAT thread, thank you!!!

AOL must be back up and running OK here, everything is working fine!

Whew, you had me worried last night with that V word talk!!!

Have a GREAT day FRiend!

[Bahbah]

Good morning, Snow Bunny and all. The Canteen is such an inspiring way to start the day. Thanks to our military for another day of freedom in this wonderful country. We never forget.

[4TheFlag]

That's way Kewl SM!!! Last and first, way to go!!!

Hope you both are well today:)and you both have a wonderful and SAFE day!

[4TheFlag]

Good Morning SB2, good luck at the vets office, and let me know, OK?????

[tomkow6]

Today's feeble attempt at humor:

A professor of chemistry wanted to teach his 5th grade class
a lesson about the evils of liquor, so he produced an
experiment that involved a glass of water, a glass of
whiskey, and two worms.

"Now, class, closely observe the worms," said the professor
while putting a worm into the water.

The worm in the water writhed about, happy as a worm in water
could be. He then put the second worm into the whiskey. It
curled up and writhed about painfully, then quickly sank to
the bottom, dead as a doornail.

"Now, what lesson can we learn from this experiment?" the
professor asked.

Johnny, who naturally sits in back, raised his hand and
wisely, responded confidently, "Drink whiskey and you won't
get worms."

[Joe Brower]

The "USS John S. McCain"? Boy, with a name like that, I hope the crew isn't stuck aboard a jinxed ship.

[4TheFlag]