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U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) recently earned the Battle “E” Award for her spring patrol in 2020.
During that patrol, Blue Ridge’s plan and schedule had to adapt dynamically with the outbreak of COVID-19, which lead the crew and embarked 7th fleet staff to surpass a 48 year-old continuous underway record, set in 1972 during the Vietnam Conflict. The crew used the extended time at sea to push for getting qualifications and on training, which were contributing factors in earning the Battle “E” award.
The Battle “E” award is broken up into five categories, four of which Blue Ridge qualified for during the 2020 patrol. It consists of Maritime Warfare, Engineering/Survivability, Command and Control, Logistics Management, and Safety Excellence awards. Each category has individual requirements in order for a ship to earn them.
Maritime Excellence Award
The Maritime Excellence Award, painted in black, recognizes sustained superior performance in power projection and sea control.
There are multiple requirements that Blue Ridge had to meet in order to receive this portion of the award, some of which include having satisfactory completion of various certifications, no reportable spills of oil or pollutants due to negligence, no reportable explosive mishaps, no grounding or collisions attributable to deficiencies, as well as various programs being deemed satisfactory upon inspections.
“We can’t call ourselves a warship without having strong maritime warfare,” said Blue Ridge Operations Officer, Lt. Cmdr. Paul Eklund. “This award demonstrates the crew’s ability to remain flexible despite any challenges. Every rate has a role to play with an impact on maritime security.”
Engineering Survivability Excellence Award
The Engineering/Survivability Excellence Award, painted red, recognizes sustained superior performance in engineering and damage control.
Blue Ridge was required to have a satisfactory completion of certification exercises for Mobility - Engineering, Mobility - Damage Control and Maintenance Material Management. All engineering programs, such as personnel qualification standards and the gas free engineering program, must be graded as “ready to support light off” during the Damage Control Material Readiness Certification.
“We are continually conducting quarterly reviews of our engineering programs and working hard every day to run our engineering plant safely and by the book,” said Blue Ridge Main Propulsion Assistant Lt. Frank Garcia. “We do this so the ramp-up for an inspection is not steep, but more of a representation of how we normally conduct business, but with any inspection, there is still a level of preparation involved.”
The engineering department put in extra hours to ensure the inspection would go smoothly and successfully.
“We spent a lot of time outside of normal working hours to prepare for the assessment,” said Garcia. “We started preparing over two months out from the inspection, this included conducting engineering training team drills very early in the morning and after the work day for our main space fire drill assessment as well as coming into work early to conduct daily compartment inspections in order to meet safe-to-operate requirements.”
With the advanced age of the ship, the engineering department has extra considerations to take to keep it running smoothly and safely.
“The bottom line is, this award shows that the Engineering Department is ready to support all ship’s operations and have the proficiency to combat casualties and damage control emergencies,” said Blue Ridge Damage Control Assistant, Lt. Michael Camarse . “For a 50 year old ship, that’s a big achievement.”
Logistics Management Excellence Award
The Logistics Management Excellence Award, painted blue, recognizes sustained superior performance in the management of material and financial resources.
The Supply Management Certification event scores must not be below an 85 percent for the competitive year in all applicable graded areas, which include stock control, food service, retail operations and aviation material support.
“I cannot think of a quantifiable number or word to describe the amount of work supply had done,” said Blue Ridge Supply Officer Lt. Victor Guan. “It requires contribution from everyone in the supply department, day in and day out.”
Guan attributed the success to all departments in Supply. “It's the logistics specialists doing the inventory over 10,000 line items monthly, the culinary specialists preparing breakfast for the crew starting at 0400 every morning; and the retail specialists restocking your favorite drinks at the vending machine over the weekend.”
On top of the accomplishments within the division, Guan notes that it influences the success of other departments as well.
“This means the other work centers are getting the right parts and tools in a timely manner to support ship's force repair work; the crew is receiving the nutritious food according to the Navy supply guidance; and we are providing an excellent service in barber, laundry, and ship's store,” said Guan. “Morale is high because of Supply!” he added.
Ship Safety Excellence Award
Lastly, Blue Ridge earned the Ship Safety Excellence Award, painted yellow, which recognizes sustained superior performance in the maintenance and execution of afloat safety, occupational health-related programs and initiatives.
Blue Ridge was required to have no class “A” mishaps, submit a minimum of two hazard reports and coordinate and execute two formal ship-wide safety stand-downs. The ship’s motorcycle safety representative must be appointed and have an active Enterprise Safety Application Management System account.
“While each category for the Battle “E” is important, the Safety portion is one that every Sailor on this ship is accountable for,” said Blue Ridge Assistant Safety Manager, Chief Information Systems Technician Michael Norton. “In Every evolution on this ship, we have to account the risk versus the reward, whether it be an anchoring evolution or the rebooting of the servers.”
What about Spring Patrol 2021?
Blue Ridge was able to obtain four out of the five available award categories, a direct reflection of the ship’s ability to work as a team for a common goal, which will be implemented in Blue Ridge’s 2021 spring patrol.
Just as it was in 2020, the 2021 patrol will be an unusual and different experience for the ship and the crew. Sailors will not experience the typical multiple port visits as was normal prior to the pandemic, but they can take comfort in knowing the ship will not be out to sea for the annual patrol nearly as long as it once was.
During the 2021 Patrol, Blue Ridge and Seventh Fleet Sailors will be pursuing their personal qualifications, such as Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) and Air Warfare Specialist (EAWS). Currently, there are 87 Sailors enrolled in the ESWS program as well as 75 Sailors in the EAWS program.
Blue Ridge is the oldest operational ship in the Navy, and as 7th Fleet command ship, is responsible for patrolling and fostering relationships within the Indo-Asia Pacific Region.
For more news from USS Blue Ridge, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/lcc19/.
| Date Taken: | 04.03.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.31.2021 01:47 |
| Story ID: | 412204 |
| Location: | YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 260 |
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This work, Warship 19 Earns Multiple Battle E, by PO2 Sarah Eaton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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