Gator Growl Vol. 3, Issue 1

The Lift 2015

GROWLTHE GATOR

Transit Safety Barge LifeVol. 3 Issue 1

The editorial content of this newspaper is prepared, edited and provided by Bataan’s Public Affairs Office. This newspaper is an authorized publication for members of military services at sea. Its contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Navy and do not imply endorsement thereof.

Commanding OfficerCaptain John “J.C.” CarterExecutive OfficerCaptain Eric N. Pfister

Command Master ChiefCMDCM(SW/AW) Scott HarvillePublic Affairs Officer MCC(SW/SCW) Dennis Herring

News Team 5MCC(SW/SCW) Dennis HerringMC1(AW/SW) RJ StratchkoMC1(AW/SW) Julie Matyascik

MC3(SW/AW) Erik Foster MC3(SW/AW) Nicholas Frank CottoneMCSN Caleb Strong

Layout and Design MC3(SW/AW) Nicholas Frank CottoneEditor MC1(AW/SW) RJ Stratchko

Photos By MC3 Erik Foster

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NORFOLK, Va. -- USS Bataan (LHD 5) transited down the Elizabeth River Jan. 26, 2015 to BAE Shipyard’s in Portsmouth, Va., to begin the multipurpose amphibious assault ship’s scheduled Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA). The ship conducted a “dead-stick” move meaning she did not be move under her own power. Bataan was be towed by tugs down the river to the shipyard. Once there, Bataan was positioned above a Titan dry-dock. The dry-dock is capable of lifting all 40,532 tons of Bataan out of the water with the assistance of ballast tanks. Once the ship was in position, the dry-dock lifted the ship out of the water, where she will be for the duration of PMA. The evolution started at 5:30 a.m. and was completed

at 7:00 p.m.While in the shipyards, Bataan will be in an extensive industrial environment to accomplish all the repairs necessary. The maintenance period will also be a period where the crew will undergo regular training and drills to keep their skills sharp to ensure continuity for

when the ship leaves the yards. “We have another tremendous task ahead,” said Bataan’s Commanding Officer, Capt. John “JC” Carter. “Our time at sea takes its toll on the ship. Now, we must stop and perform needed maintenance to keep Bataan at its best. “It’s a necessary part of the ship’s life-cycle. Our task ahead - make the ship ready. That means hard work and sacrifice from the crew.”

Photos By Bataan Public Affair’sStory By MC3 Nicholas Cottone

The LifT 2015

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NORFOLK, Va. -- Holiday stand-down can be a great time to spend more time with the family especially after returning from a deployment. However, after spending a prolonged period of time away from the ship, it’s important that Sailors focus specifically on Bataan’s most important mission: safety.

“I’ve put out safety training information heading into our upcoming maintenance period. Based off incident reports I’ve seen from my past experience encompassing three yard periods, our first focus going in is making safety our primary goal,” said Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Johnathan McIlhinney, a representative from Bataan’s Safety Department.

“Were not going out to sea for a while,” said McIlhinney. “Because we’re now in the yard period, we’re working late and working hard, Sailors have to

stay focus to make this successful.”In the shipyards, Sailors will

experience hazards that are found in industrial environments before boarding the ship, such as cranes, forklifts, and trucks. And on the ship it’s a hazardous environment because of scaffolding, power tools, fall hazards, etc. Everyone needs to remember that safety is not something that ends when you leave the ship, it applies when you’re transiting to and from the ship as well.

“People need to keep their head on a swivel because there is a lot more moving parts and a lot more

danger,” said Chief Aviation Electronics Technician Ricardo Martins, from Trumble, Conn. “With that in mind, personal protective equipment is the number one concern. Every Sailor knows they need to wearing their hard hats, safety glasses, and hearing protection. But there’s the other things like the respirator qualification, or when using a dust mask is authorized.”

Welder’s flash is a hazard that should not be taken lightly, said McIlhinney. Welder’s flash is a condition where the human eye receives a harmful amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiations from arc welding. Welder’s flash is like

Keeping Sailors Safe

Photos By MC3 Erik Foster & MCSN Caleb StrongStory By MC3 Erik Foster

Bataan’s Mission:

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minor sunburn to the cornea, which can repair itself in one to two days. If serious, it can lead to an eye infection or loss of vision. To prevent this, if you see the flash out of the corner of your eye, shield you eyes with your hand, or walk in a different direction. If you notice someone welding with out the proper UV curtains, report the unsafe condition to safety department.

In addition to eye hazards, there are noise hazards and falling hazards. Personal protective equipment including hard hats, eyeglasses, and earplugs, if used correctly, will be sufficient to prevent injuries caused by such hazards.

“We could talk all day about the various hazards in the shipyards,” said McIlhinney. “Because the ship will be in

the floating dry-dock, we will be walking up the wing-walls to get to the ship. Everyone thinks that once they walk off the brow they are safe. However, there are just as many mishaps and accidents off the ship as there are on the ship.”

“You must pay attention to what’s going on around you,” said McIlhinney. “If you see an unsafe condition, you can’t just see it and not report it. It is an all hands responsibility to report any unsafe condition they see on or off the ship. If you are the only person who knows about an unsafe condition, nobody is going to fix it. It’s all part of being a Sailor 24/7 and looking out for

each other.”

For more information, contact Bataan’s Safety Department. Always make certain to wear your personal protective equipment while working or transiting to and from Norfolk Naval Ship Yard Portsmouth.

Safety is not only important to the Bataan, safety is important in the Navy and Marine Corps because our people are our greatest asset. If our people are getting injured, then we can’t accomplish the mission at hand. That’s why safety is important; not only to protect equipment, but to keep our

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Capt. John ‘JC’ Carter and Bataan’s Supply Dept. Sailors recieve a check from Rear Adm. Robert Bianchi (Ret.), NEX-COM’s CEO, that will go to MWR funds for the crew. The ammount of the check was based on a percentage of Ship’s Store sales during deployment.

Bataan’s Supply Dept. has become the first winners of the Logistics Readiness Excellence Award. COMNAVSURFPAC and COMNAVSURFLANT co-sponsored the award to recognize the contributions, achievments, readiness, proficiency, and outstanding support of our logisticians to the fleet. The hard work of Stock Control, Aviation Stores, General Stores, and HAZMAT divisions made this regognition for Bataan Sailors possible.

When Bataan Sailors were on deployment, they were given the opportunity to attend marriage-counseling classes. Now that Bataan is back in port and finished with stand-down, the classes are scheduled again for Sailors, and their spouses, to take advantage of. “There’s an old saying I teach that says you can’t change anybody but yourself,” said Lt. Hardy Owens, from Covington, Ga., Bataan’s Chaplain, and teacher of the marriage counseling class ‘I Relate’. “During deployment I was presented with the opportunity to teach the class, and after teaching, I had several Sailors come to me and ask me to re-teach the class so the Sailors could take it with their spouses,” said Owens. The first level is “Before We Say I Do”, which is a pre-marital class that helps young couples who are interested in getting married. The class is not designed to discourage couples from getting married, but to inform the couple on the difficulties they might not

be considering. “The second level is ‘Now That We’ve Tied the Knot’ for those who are recently married. The class is geared toward furthering the discussion, as I like to put it,” said Owens. “It gets the couple to talk about things that may be uncomfortable to talk about.” The topics can range anywhere from being better communicators, to how do we raise our children. There are a lot of practical situations, anecdotes, and joking, but the chaplains give the couple a chance to discuss those topics. “The class isn’t meant to solve everybody’s problems necessarily,” said Owens. “It’s meant to break the ice and further the discussion pertaining to issues between couples. They are open for anybody wishing to be married one day and for people seeking out whom that Mr. or Mrs.

right will be. It’s for Sailors who ask them selves: How can I be the best man or woman I can be when I enter a relationship.” The “Before We Say I Do” class is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 31 and the “Now That We’ve Tied the Knot” class, Saturday, Feb. 7. Both classes are scheduled to be held at the Naval Station Norfolk’s chapel, on the corner of Gilbert and Marylyn from 0900 until 1100.

Chaps Assists Sailors Build Better Marriages

Bravo Zulu

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NORFOLK, Va. -- USS Bataan (LHD 5) will commence her half-life Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) this year. Because the ship will be undergoing such extensive repairs in a shipyard environment, crew members will be relocated to a barge.

“Since she will be undergoing a ship wide overhaul, all personnel will have to eat, sleep and work on the barge, APL-66,” said Chief Aviation Structural Mechanic Robin Thistle, Bataan’s ‘Barge Mayor’. “The non-self-propelled barracks ship will be floating alongside Bataan for the duration of the shipyard period because for the most part, the ship will be uninhabitable.”

The barge, designated APL-66, began her life at Marinette Marine, Marinette, Wisconsin. After being towed through the great lakes and transiting the St. Lawrence Waterway, it hugged the coast on her voyage south to her

end goal of Norfolk Va.As the ‘Mayor’ of the barge, Thistle

was tasked with coordinating moving everyone and everything they needed

to do their job from the ship to the barge.

“The move to the barge over the last few weeks has been smooth as a whistle,” said Yoeman Seaman Justin John, from Trenton, N. J., who is assigned to assist Thistle with coordinating the move. “The only challenges have been planning exactly where everyone will be working and sleeping.”

“Being able to continue working is the primary reason we will be on the barge,” said Thistle. “The barge will be the place personnel will be working unless they are assisting in the repairs of the ship.”

The barge has everything from separated Enlisted, Chief and Officer chow halls, berthing areas and bathrooms, to refrigerated storerooms for food. Services such as the Post Office and ships store will also be available on the barge.

Bataan’s popular “Bat Box”, which is a small gym made popular on the recent deployment will make the move from the ship

to the barge. Positioned on the roof of the barge, Sailors will be able to hold their work-outs outdoors.

“We were fortunate to be able to

get the barge ahead of schedule to plan this move,” said Bataan’s Commanding Officer, Capt. John ‘J.C.’ Carter. “The crew has been moving to the barge early for two reasons. First, this has been much simpler than making the move once the ship is in the shipyards and placed in dry-dock. Also, every opportunity we have to get ahead of schedule guarantees a successful maintenance period. Our goal is to complete our maintenance and get out of the shipyards on time.”

Ship Life Barge Life

Story By MC3 Nicholas Cottone Photos By MC3 Erik Foster

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USS BATAANPUBLIC AFFAIRS