Sailor who 'hated the Navy' accused of destroying $1 billion naval assault ship

So how many ships have burned like the Bonhomme Richard while in port? That was a first for a fire like that. Forestall, Independence, and Enterprise all had fires but they were at sea.

I'm gonna explain something to you that you likely have no idea of what I'm talking about. The reports say the ship was at the base for maintenance. Thanks to GHW Bush and Clinton era cuts the only Navy shipyard on the west coast is Bremerton in Washington state. So the Navy has started using it's bases as makeshift shipyards. I've seen pictures of CVN's in Norfolk in a yards posture including tents and shacks on their flighdeck. Back in my time NOB NORVA could moor 3 carriers and no more. Now it holds 5 and we only have 10 Navy wide and we only now have one builder again thanks to those same cuts.

OK back to my point. I a shipyards posture material condition Yoke the standard homeport material readiness level can not be set meaning hatches marked Y can not be shut. This is because air hoses, power lines, vents etc are ran throughout the ship. This is why when in port the Navy also utilizes specially trained civilian fire fighters as a back up. All Naval bases have them as do all major shipyards. They train for shipboard fires like we do and most are Navy Vets. Plus adjoining ships have what is called Rescue and Assistance Detail meaning a back up fire department to assist their own crew and other ships.

My guess is being unable to set ZEBRA the highest level of protection for protection from fire and flooding was a major factor that and the way in which that fire was set was a new one for the books. You can't set ZEBRA nor even YOKE in a shipyard posture. That equipment has to be there to get the work done that is why the Navy needs more shipyards as well as more ships. That is why it is easier to fight fires at sea. All hatches can be closed very rapidly at sea.

The Navy had three major carrier fires up until a few years back and all were at sea. Forestall, Independence, and Enterprise. Only one was arson but by stupidity because a dumbass panicked and threw a lit magnesium flare back in the flare locker. The other two were equipment malfunctions involving errant ordnance accidents.

Most people unless they have been there done that have no clue as to how shipboard fires are fought. You do not simply grab a hose standing tall and John Wayne into any fire or you will surely die. The heat inside a ship in a fire will kill you in seconds. You gear up including an oxygen source we called an OBA and a helmet. You have two hoses no exception. One has a working standard nozzle the other a gooseneck pipe with a special nozzle which sprays out a massive mist. The hose teams are called one and two. The positioning of the fighter is 1 on one 1 on 2 and 1 on 3 and beside them literally is 1 on two, two on 2, and 3 on two. Six guys fight the fire per team. My first time on fire department I was an investigator meaning I checked adjoining spaces for fire. My second stint I was 1 on 1 for my duty section. Also my second time I was a charter member of what would become a radical change in who did the fire fighting. I was in the first permanent ships fire department as a dull tme division on the ship. The ships Hull Tech Master Chief came up with the ide of pooling the fire department from all departments in ships company instead of two different departments one being at sea where his men did the job and in port where pot luck made it up from those assigned to it part time from through out the ship. Ihis FD was still a division at the ships decommissioning. It was a policy I hope they used on carriers Navy wide because it was a brilliant idea and maximized training and when guys rotated back to their division after a few months were very well trained and could train others much better than the system that had previously been in place. .

To fight a fire and get the job done and hopefully live to tell your grandkids you squat down like a duck and never stand up once engaged. One on one fights the fire one on two keeps that gooseneck over one on ones shoulders to protect him from flames and cool him and men on hose team down. That gooseneck was literally beside your head. You had so many minutes you could fight and had to tap out to go get more oxygen. I trained about 6 times at the firefighting school in Norfolk and several times in Norfolk Naval shipyards fire department training facility. On ship we trained at least twice a day. I was so programed to where when I got out it took several years to relax when asleep LOL. I even woke my wife up one night calling out a compartment flooding and that never happened on my ship.

But a shipyard posture is how and why he was able to do that arson and that is why it took so long to contain. Most fires in yards posture are locally contained within minutes but these were multiple fires well fueled it seems and it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't use some magnesium as well and that is a nightmare of nightmares to put out.

But the ultimate blame falls upon the Congress and POTUS who have served since 1990-present for this to have been allowed to happen. Why? Congress sets funding. You can't have what they don't pay for. That includes manpower aka End Troop Strengths, active commissioned ships {we are at far below bare bones level needed}, facilities for repair, ship builders, and money to buy needed parts to do repairs properly.

Before I got out in 1980 we were told our homeport was changing effective 1982 frrom Norfolk to Mayport, Florida. It never happened I learned later. Instead the Pentagon added an extra two carrier pier at NOB Norfolk. When I was in we had four carrier builders we now have one and it is in Norfolk. It is also the sole nuclear refueling facility for carriers and the only yard that can maintain the reactor.

We are literally waiting on the next Pearl Harbor to happen. Many times 5 of our carriers have been in Norfolk at the base with at least one or two in shipyard posture. You can't blame the Captain the Pentagon up to DEFSEC ordered it there. Get a city map of Norfolk and Hampton Roads area and look closely. There is NOB Norfolk the carrier and air station, Oceana to the south maybe 15 miles, Little Creek Amphibious Base where more ships homeport just literally down the road, Norfolk Naval Shipyards in Portsmouth the main repair facility for east coast, and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock. CNO's didn't order this. Congress did this and far worse.

People are focused on the Bonhomme Richard fire by an arsonist and oblivious to the very real and far more serious threat that can in a few hours wipe 50% of our naval forces out.

Final point here is unless it is a Forrestal type situation you generally do not need half the ship to fight a fire. This one was arson and not a norm. IF the crew had been standing there manned and ready I doubt the outcome would have changed much due to venue as I described. At Sea? A different ball game. General Quarters sounded, Zebra set, and assigned repair parties geared up and fighting fires where they could put them out faster than they spread.

Well I can say this. Even as bad as times were under Carter the ship repairs requiring shipyard workers and shipyard got done in a shipyard not at the N.O.B. Piers. Yard times have been cut, ship yards closed. We have under 300 ships Navy wide. They are being ran ragged as are the crews. We have I think 9-10 full size carriers. In 1980 we had at least 15.

Undermanned? LOL OK why then? Explain to me who sets the maximum number of allowed active duty members of the armed forces? Who earmarks money for defense projects? When a ship is ordered to be built who approves the funding? Who sits down and decides what bases or ships will be funded and which ones closed or decommissioned. Keep in mind I'm not saying recommends but whose word is final on all these matters. Who has the authority to deploy troops and ships?

The military is vastly undermanned and has been so since the last 2 years of GHW Bush when Cheney started making closure and projects to be defunded recommendations. Our military has been cut almost two thirds and still in a 1989 mission posture. Ever hear of Morale?

When I went in I had to do 4 years active and 2 inactive meaning I did not even report to a reserve center. The ones enlisting today serve 6 years with 2 in reserves and are many times called back. How long would you work for someone with no days off? Could you withstand Navy at sea working hours and routine especially for the Propulsion and the guys working the planes?

WHY was there not enough men there to meet your standards then? It was Sunday a weekend. Most crew except duty section were at home with families they otherwise get precious little time to see except in port. Does that matter to you? It should because the Navy likely has the highest divorce rate. If you want men to do 20 years so you'll have trained senior NCO's and officers then you dern well better take care of them so they reenlist. My last year in I spent in the shipyards. Typically this up till then meant down time for crew limited hours, schools, etc. Thanks to the Iranian Hostage Crisis the entire ship spent at least 12 hour working days and 3 section duty meaning onboard every third night. I was so burned out I turned down &18K and next rank. The carrier was being readied to deploy to the PG but needed her year long repairs done first.

I can show you things congress and senior Defense Dept did that cost us a carrier and put lives at unnecessary risk. My ship from 1990-93 did three deployments in three years and exploded at the pier upon return of the third one. Congress knew the condition it was reported in US NEWS & WORLD REPORT as well as a letter read on the floor and entered into library of Congress.

So what did Congress, DEFSEC, and POTUS do. More Cuts.

Remember after 9/11 two carriers were unable to get underway? Remember two Captains lost command? SCAPEGOATS and nothing more. The conditions were caused due to lack of funding for repairs. It takes money to maintain ships and I don't think the Captain's American Express in his billfold would cover that. The one and only POTUS since Reagan who cared about readiness was Trump. Don't tell me GW Bush did. That would be a lie. Now I think we all agree things got bad under Carter but what about GHW Bush and Clinton? Here's an excerpt for yaon readiness.

Sept 1993

Excerpt: The America needs constant attention. Commissioned in 1965, it is showing its age. A month before leaving Norfolk, a senior enlisted crew member complained to his congressman: The ship was operating on only two of its six electric generators, without radar and unable to pump fuel. This would be its third six-month cruise in three years, and without the standard 18 months at home for repairs, salt water and full steaming had taken their toll. end excerpt

OK what I am saying I know about as it was my job I worked on the stuff. Two of six generators would allow for lights, fire pumps, boiler pumps, and maybe one or two chillers maybe. Chillers were the air conditioning units I worked on there were 10 and at least 8 needed for the ships Electronics to function. The Chillers at 460 volts drew from 1200-2000 amps start up and needed 175-300 amps each afterwards to run. They are the biggest power load. No A/C? No Operations Department stone cold fact. No Radar? Nope because No A/C. Unable to pump fuel? A real biggie also because that means limited boilers operational and ballast issues as well.

Now this was BEFORE she was sent on the third deployment. This is the one that when she got back she had a bad boiler room explosion so bad she was towed Cold Iron to NNSY for yet another fast repair and yet another deployment. That was her last one. She was decommissioned early and later sank.

A carrier that is conventional had a 1200 PSI 8 boiler configuration. 1200 PSI of super heated steam could not be seen nor heard. A leak the size of a pencil lead could decapitate you. In my days onboard 13 years earlier she never got anywhere near this bad. But we also were fortunate to not miss any yard times.

BTW My source from the info I posted is at https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/docs/940224-cr.htm It wasn't rumors it was fact. This was done both under GHWB's tenure and Clintons. This was also about the time huge cuts came aand they began defunding our military.

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