Photo By Leslie Hull-Ryde | Capers Hamilton has been with Military Sealift Command for more than half a century. ...... read more read more
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Capers Hamilton’s career with Military Sealift Command adds up to:
Ships: 24
Plank owner: 2 ships
Major conflicts: 3
Responsibilities: Too many to count
Memories: Hundreds of thousands
Years with MSC: 55
That’s quite a healthy sum of accomplishments, but when you’ve been with an organization for more than five decades, you’re bound to have countless ways to add up a lifetime of accomplishments, which continue to accumulate.
Hamilton, who grew up in Greenwood, La., enrolled in an auto mechanic training class after high school. He worked in construction before joining the Army Transport Service, the precursor to Military Sealift Command, at Fort Mason Army Base in San Francisco. That was in 1966.
He’s now the carpenter on board USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6), a dry cargo and ammunition ship. He’s been on board AME since the ship was commissioned in 2008 and plans to stay a bit longer.
“When you’ve been on a ship for so long, you get a feeling that you've really been able to accomplish things for the ship and you become fond of and attached emotionally to the ship,” Hamilton said.
“You know the ship's secrets. You 'feel' when things start to happen and where it's occurring.”
Being a plank owner – a member of the crew of a ship at the time it’s commissioned – is a source of pride among many Sailors and civil service mariners. Some never get to claim the title. In Hamilton’s case, he’s doubly blessed. In addition to Amelia Earhart, he’s also a USNS Victorious (T-AGOS 19) plank owner.
During his MSC tenure, Hamilton has taken on a variety of roles, attended schools and training, earned numerous certifications, and supported the mission in unique ways.
One of his most memorable assignments was driving MSC busses from all over the San Francisco Bay Area to Travis Air Force base, helping civil service mariners arrive safely to their ships. After a collision at sea, he mustered all his skills and experience to shore up a ship and control damage. He worked on tug boats operating out of Subic Bay in the Republic of the Philippines many years ago.
Hamilton, known as Chips to his friends, also recalls some of the interesting ways he supported U.S. forces during the Vietnam conflict. For instance, he drove liberty launches for MSC crew members in Cam Ranh Bay; helped transport the second wave of Marines into Da Nang; and delivered mail from Tan Son Nhut Air Base to deployed U.S. military personnel.
He has a special place in his heart for making sure the mail gets delivered and has put his ingenuity, acumen, and expertise to work making sure service members receive their packages and letters.
When serving aboard USNS Niagara Falls (T-AFS 3), Hamilton designed and built custom mailboxes for helicopters to use when delivering mail to aircraft carriers. He painted them the same color blue as the U.S. Postal System’s iconic mailboxes and added the USPS logo so everyone involved in the delivery process could easily identify the important cargo. To ensure no possible challenge would thwart delivery of the mail, Hamilton ensured the boxes were equipped with flotation devices, just in case they accidently fell into the water during replenishments at sea.
“We had to make the mailboxes crash proof, waterproof, and able to float. They had to withstand drops from the helos of 1000 feet into the ocean, be able to remain afloat, and stay dry on the inside,” Hamilton said.
He eventually constructed the boxes to withstand a 2000-foot drop.
“This became even more important when the loads were actually dropped accidentally and then recovered intact and still waterproof.
This was all key to getting the mail delivered safely and on time, and people noticed.
“Once, I was awakened by a friend in the middle of the night telling me that CNN was airing a story about our boxes on television,” Hamilton said.
He says he remains committed to doing the best job he can for MSC and his ship, yet he won’t commit to retiring – not quite yet. Hamilton still wants to care for the beloved ship he’s so vested in, Amelia Earhart.
What are your responsibilities?
A ship's carpenter is a handyman with special skills. I do what needs to get done to take care of the ship and the crew, and accomplish the mission. That includes big jobs and small details, like fixing bridge windshield wipers and blinds and ensuring all essential rescue equipment is in proper order: the lifeboat winches and fast rescue boat winches and lifeboat doors and window maintenance. My responsibilities include checking soundings, doing carpenter work, building any required special shipping boxes for equipment, and maintaining all doors, including closures. As a certified locksmith, I maintain anything that locks, repair and replace showerheads, caulk throughout the ship, monitor soundings during fueling details, scuppers and plugs when loading fuel, and support sea and anchor details by controlling the winches for the mooring lines and the anchor itself. I keep all safety and firefighting gear ready for use, including the Bauer SCBA air compressor machine, refilling oxygen tanks, and monitoring air quality by taking samples of the compressor air for the SCBA bottles each quarter. I lay deck tiles when those are damaged and monitor deck drainage on the ship, which requires me to clean out the drain pipes constantly. That’s just a few of the things I do.
Why is this position important?
It counts because of all of the critical equipment that has to be boxed in a certain way to be shipped for repairs, and, all the equipment that I'm responsible for is necessary for the ship to function safely and efficiently. All of the fire and watertight doors with their locks and enclosures have to be in good shape - those are one of the biggest safety items for both fire and in the instance of any kind of intruder.
What inspires your work?
To do the job and to do it to the best of your knowledge. You should never be afraid to ask for other people's opinions.
What's the most difficult or challenging part of your job?
My primary focus every single day is maintaining the ship, keeping it well maintained to extend its lifespan and so that it doesn’t deteriorate in any way.
What's the most gratifying part of your job?
I am proud when I know I've satisfied both the captain and the chief mate, knowing that the job I just finished was completed to their satisfaction, and knowing that my shipmates appreciate and know what I do for the ship.
What do you want to achieve before you leave the ship?
Good health. I'd like to see all the young people coming into the outfit to take an interest in the ship to which they are assigned and always treat each crewmember as your brother or sister, without malice, no matter what anyone's attitudes are.
What do you want to share with others who may be considering a job with MSC?
You should always remember that everyone is different, and we need to adapt to each other's different attitudes and ways of life.
Since April 1966, Capers Hamilton has supported the MSC mission, serving on two dozen ships:
USNS General H. J. Gaffey (T-AP 121), ordinary seaman
USNS Eltamin (T-AGOR 8), ordinary seaman
USNS Schuyler Otis Bland (T-AK 277), able seaman
USNS Upshur (T-AP 198), able seaman
USNS Passumpsic (T-AO 107), able seaman
USNS Mispillion (T-AO 105), able seaman
USNS Furman (T-AK 280), able seaman
USNS Rincon (T-AOG 77), able seaman
USNS Petaluma (T-AOG 79), able seaman
USNS Hassayampa (T-AO 145), able seaman
USNS Taluga (T-AO 62), able seaman
USNS Hess (T-AGS 38), able seaman
USNS Furman (T-AK 280), able seaman
USNS Chauvenet (T-AGS 29), able seaman
USNS Mizar (T-AGOR 11), able seaman
USNS Sioux (T-ATF 171), able seaman
USNS Catawba (T-ATF 168), able seaman and boatswain mate
USNS Victorious (T-AGOS 19), boatswain mate
USNS Walter S. Diehl (T-AO 193), carpenter
USNS John Ericsson (T-AO 194), carpenter
USNS San Jose (T-AFS 7), carpenter
USNS Kilauea (T-AE 26), carpenter
USNS Niagara Falls (T-AFS-3), carpenter
USNS Amelia Earhart (T-AKE 6), carpenter
| Date Taken: | 03.11.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.19.2021 04:30 |
| Story ID: | 391108 |
| Location: | U.S. 7TH FLEET AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY |
| Web Views: | 217 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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