U001 Bark of the Boxer

The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer received the 2013 Battle Effectiveness (Battle E) Award for Commander, Amphibious Squadron 1. The announcement was made via naval message from Commander, Naval Surface Force Pacifi c, March 20. In addition to the 2013 award, Boxer also was the recipient in 2011 and 2012. “I couldn’t be more excited or proud of this crew and the hard work they put in for this,” said Boxer’s Command Master Chief Todd Gruchalla. “There are Sailors aboard Boxer for whom this was their fi rst duty station, and they’ll leave here with at least three Battle E awards, to me that speaks volumes.” The Battle “E” recognizes the ship’s overall readiness and was determined by inspections and evaluations of accomplishments and milestones throughout the year. Superior performance in mission areas of maritime warfare, engineering/survivability; command, control, communications and information warfare, logistics management, and ship safety are all assessed. “With much of 2013 spent training for and deploying to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, the crew has worked tirelessly not only to be the best on the waterfront, but to be the best for our nation while operating forward at sea,” said USS Boxer Commanding Offi cer, Capt. John E. Gumbleton. “Every Sailor aboard Boxer had a part in

this award and we couldn’t have the continuing legacy or this much success on deployment without their pride in the ship.” This year’s third Battle E is not the only consecutive award the ship received this year. Boxer also won its third Ship Safety, sixth Engineering/Survivability, 12th Logistics Management and 19th Maritime Warfare Excellence Awards. “To me this is not something they were awarded or simply given, this is something they’ve earned,” added Gruchalla. “With the hard work and dedication these Sailors have given, they’ve earned that E on their ribbon bar, each and every one of them.” Boxer is the fl agship for the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet Areas of Responsibility.

Sailor of the week

Congrats to Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Gregory Copland, USS Boxer’s Sailor of the Week! Representing Deck Department, Copland hails from Castlerock, Colorado

Photo by MCSN Veronica Mammina

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E. Gumbleton. “Every Sailor aboard Boxer had a part in E. Gumbleton. “Every Sailor aboard Boxer had a part in 1

Boxer Sailors and Marines complete goals, pg. 2

Traveling the World, pg. 4-5

Boxer Wins Safety Award, pg. 6

Boxer Makes One-two-three Punch with Battle ‘E’ Story by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian Biller

Also in this issue,

A newspaper for Sailors and Marines of Boxer and 13th MEU April 10, 2014

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Boxer Wins 2013 CNO Afloat Safety AwardStory by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Mayra Knight

successful deployment for Boxer, and a big part of that has been our ship’s overall safety, from the highest leadership all the way down. I’m extremely proud to receive this award.” Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Matthew Vitello has been working with Boxer ’s safety program for eight months and is proud of the achievement. ”It was an all hands effort,” said Vitello. “It was everything that the command did, from using operational risk management (ORM), doing things by the book, and using proper personal protective equipment (PPE).” The winner in each category will receive a plaque and CNO citation, and recipients are authorized to display the green safety “S” on the bulwark until the results of the next competitive cycle are announced. Boxer is the flagship for the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility.

Photo by MCC Steve Zurell

The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) received the 2013 Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Afloat Safety Award for Commander Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet in the category of amphibious large deck. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to fleet readiness, increased moral, efficiency, and economical use of resources through safety. “The award is a comprehensive look at the safety program from top to bottom,” said Boxer ’s Safety Officer, Lt. Jared Powell. “Getting the command involved was a big thing, and keeping them actively engaged and having a safety presence around the ship during every evolution was important.” In addition to an outstanding safety record, ships selected this year had an aggressive safety program that actively contributed to increased mishap prevention, including comprehensive and professional internal safety reporting. Boxer ’s Commanding Officer, Capt. John Gumbleton, said, “It’s been a long and

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USS BOXER (LHD 4) AND THE 13TH MEU

TRAVELEDTHE WORLD

Layout By MC3 (SW) Mayra A. Knight

PI/PHIBLEXAfter 25 days out at sea we had our fi rst port visit of deployment. Boxer arrived in Subic Bay in mid September and participated in Community Service projects. The 13th MEU participated in a joint excerise with the Philippine military, called Phiblex.

5TH FLEETWe arrived in fi fth fl eet mid October. The MEU held exercises and training in Djibouti, Kuwait, UAE and Greece. Boxer had port visits to Oman, UAE, and Bahrain, where we had liberty and maintained relations with our host nations by participating in Community Service projects.

JORDAN/ISRAELFebruary welcomed us with two very unique port visits back to back. Sailors and Marines had the opportunity to visit Petra, Jordan. In Israel day trips to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea were favorites and highlights of the deployment for some.

SINGAPOREWe visited Singapore twice! First in October, and again in March. Sailors and Marines enjoyed liberty and some got the chance to participate in Community Service projects.

Aug. 23, 2013 San Diego

Sept. 2013 Subic Bay

Oct. 2013 Singapore

Nov. 2013 Salalah

Dec. 2013 Dubai

Jan. 2014 Manama

Feb. 2014 Aquaba, Jordan/Eliat, Israel

Mar. 2014 Singapore

Mar-Apr 2014 Korea

HOME!

KOREA/SSANG YONGBoxer and the 13th MEU participated in exercise Ssang Yong, an annual combined exercise conducted by Navy and Marines with the Republic of Korea in order to strengthen interoperability across the range of military operations.

HAWAIIEarly in the deployment the 13th MEU started getting work done. They participated in a 4 day exercise and airshow in early September. Boxer will be making it’s way back for a port visit, and to pick up our tigers!

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USS BOXER (LHD 4) AND THE 13TH MEU

TRAVELEDTHE WORLD

Layout By MC3 (SW) Mayra A. Knight

PI/PHIBLEXAfter 25 days out at sea we had our fi rst port visit of deployment. Boxer arrived in Subic Bay in mid September and participated in Community Service projects. The 13th MEU participated in a joint excerise with the Philippine military, called Phiblex.

5TH FLEETWe arrived in fi fth fl eet mid October. The MEU held exercises and training in Djibouti, Kuwait, UAE and Greece. Boxer had port visits to Oman, UAE, and Bahrain, where we had liberty and maintained relations with our host nations by participating in Community Service projects.

JORDAN/ISRAELFebruary welcomed us with two very unique port visits back to back. Sailors and Marines had the opportunity to visit Petra, Jordan. In Israel day trips to Jerusalem and the Dead Sea were favorites and highlights of the deployment for some.

SINGAPOREWe visited Singapore twice! First in October, and again in March. Sailors and Marines enjoyed liberty and some got the chance to participate in Community Service projects.

Aug. 23, 2013 San Diego

Sept. 2013 Subic Bay

Oct. 2013 Singapore

Nov. 2013 Salalah

Dec. 2013 Dubai

Jan. 2014 Manama

Feb. 2014 Aquaba, Jordan/Eliat, Israel

Mar. 2014 Singapore

Mar-Apr 2014 Korea

HOME!

KOREA/SSANG YONGBoxer and the 13th MEU participated in exercise Ssang Yong, an annual combined exercise conducted by Navy and Marines with the Republic of Korea in order to strengthen interoperability across the range of military operations.

HAWAIIEarly in the deployment the 13th MEU started getting work done. They participated in a 4 day exercise and airshow in early September. Boxer will be making it’s way back for a port visit, and to pick up our tigers!

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Photo by MC3 Mayra Knight

Sailors participate in a Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) class in the upper vehicle deck.

Boxer Pro� leIntroduces

Boxer Profi leIntroduces

Bark of the Boxer is...

Public Affairs OfficerMCC(SW/AW) Steve Zurell

Editorial StaffMC1 (SW/AW) Brian Biller

MC1 (SW/AW/EXW) Jessica VargasMC2 (SW) Kenan O’Connor

Layout and DesignMC3 (SW) Mayra KnightMC3 (SW) Conor Minto

Contributing Media StaffMC2 (SW/AW) Brian Jeffries

MC3 (SW) Joseph BishopMC3 (SW) Robert R. Sanchez

This newspaper is an authorized publication for military members aboard USS Boxer (LHD 4). Contents of Bark of the Boxer are

not the official views of, or endorsed by the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense or the United States Navy.

ANMC3(SW) M. KNIGHT

POSTER

USS BOXER LHD 4 PRESEN

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END OF DEPLOYMENT PARTY*25,000 IN PRIZES*ICE CREAM*A BAND ON SHIP CONCERT*BOXER IDOL AWARDS SHOW

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