2 Jax Air NeWS NAS Jacksonville, Thursday, March 30, 2006 FROM THE FLEET Wanted: hybrid Sailors needed for new ships By FLTCM(AW/SW) Jon Thompson Atlantic Fleet Master Chief F rom everything I hear the littoral combat ship (LCS) is entering the fleet with a splash. The LCS is small, fast and lethal. What's more, the Sailors who serve aboard this new class of ships are going to find the assignment completely unique. If you're looking for a challenge, and think you might be willing to be a part of something new for the Navy, you might ant to keep reading. The LCS is a networked, agile, stealthy surface com- batant. In addition to the core missions, the ship will be utilize reconfigurable mission modules that will allow the ship to counter threats from surface craft, submarines and mines. . Having a full-load displace- ment draft of only 10 feet, the ship will have the abili- ty to access very shallow waters. The ship's top speed is about 50 knots and has a range of more than 4,300 nautical miles. The core capabilities include mobility; special operations forces; intelli- FLTCM(AW/SW) Jon Thompson gence; surveillance; recon- naissance; maritime inter- diction operations; home- land defense; anti-terrorism force protection; and the three focused missions that combatant commanders need to counter: mine and undersea warfare, anti-sub- marine warfare, and surface warfare. The open architecture will allow missions modules to be loaded on and off the ship in a relatively rapid period of time. This flexible fea- ture allows theater com- manders to dictate what the mission of the ship is, on the day that he needs it, rather than having to rely on out- side shipyards or upgrades that take long periods of time, and cause mission delays. . The ships are configured with a helicopter deck and hangar. The deck is capable of launch and recovery of the MH-60R/S helicopter and tactical unmanned air vehicle. The ships can carry out aircraft launch and recovery in conditions up to Sea State 5, i.e. in winds up to 27 knots and average wave heights between 6.4 feet and 9.6 feet. The ships will be. capable of launching and recovering watercraft, for example 40- foot high-speed boats, with- in 15 minutes in conditions of Sea State 4, i.e. waves up to 5 feet and winds up to 21 knots. The ships will carry provi- sions for 21 days and have the capability for underway, replenishment. The flexibility of the LCS to perform many different missions, with a relatively small crew, makes this ship extremely attractive to our Navy. Staffed by a crew. ranging in size from 15 to 50, the nucleus crew will be augmented by special mis- sion crews that will embark on a mission-need basis. In total, the ship can berth approximately 75 peo- ple. Each ship will also have two crews, a blue crew and a gold crew. Each crew will have a commanding officer, executive officer and a command senior chief. Unlike most ships, the only two people aboard this type of ship that won't stand a watch are the command- ing officer and executive officer. The command senior chief will, in addition to his or her normal duties, stand watch as an officer of the deck (underway). Shipmates, the LCS is simply incredible. As much as I could go on and on about the technical capabili- ties of this new type of ship, I'm more interested in gen- erating your enthusiasm for duty aboard this new ship class because of what it will mean to our Navy and per- haps to your own career. ... While there is some debate about the total num- ber of ships that will be built, we will have many of them. Some suggest we may have 50 or more. For every Sailor who ever felt See SHIPS, Page 13 p - -f -% -- -Ab ..Mdw-NO- a.am- -Ndmbw -. - - - a. d ~ .da a- - - f.g 4M- 001- aq - h. - 4m G- -go % b- -ddt f -- -*...ommm - -NSO am wo b- a -9l-andhe fwm 4 ^ Hometown: Jacksonville Family Life: Married with two children. Past Duty Stations: RTC Great Lakes, III., NAS Pensacola, Fla., Norfolk, Va. Career Plans: To become an electronics technician/engineer. Most Interesting Experience: Finding my salvation. Words of Wisdom: If he'll take you to it, he'll take you through it. DRVID FORD Job title/command: Environmental Engineer Hometown: Jacksonville Family Life: Married to Dana, we have three children, Megan, Rachel and Ben. Past Duty Stations: NADEP Jacksonville Career Plans: To become my boss's boss. Most Interesting Experience: Parenting. Words of Wisdom: Whatever it takes. &Anj ~m-tmTraining classes slated 0 jIfbmdf-Wm mandatory hazardous waste coordinator training 0 RM U-i ft-will. be held, May 9-11. The first two dayff are th Dart of the 16-hour initial trainin- and the la,, ng he st -me -M v --n m day is the eight-hour annual refresher class. The training will be hdld in Hangar 1000 at the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment Jacksonville training room No. 5. Pre-registration is not required. For more information, call Billie Brownfield at 542-3492 S* -- or Ken Ward at 542-4283. AafilfftIM Qw c ra Ne* rqrs 'Emergency hotline established W AS Jacksonville has established a hotline for service f t mJ members, Department of Defense employees, con S_ tractors and their families to call during an emer ..- - -- agency that warrants evacuation such as a hurricane. S_ Evacuees can call 1-800-849-6024 to check in with the S a omt. .. .-..-..... .. ODM-Q ftw amodw" f- - a- ~- - ~ a - - - 0 a- __ a - - ~ a- - a- .~ - - a a. a. a - a. - - C a ~ ~ - -a. a.- a.- a ___ a - - a-- ..~ - - a a - a - - .~ - . a- a a- -a - - a. a ~ HEY MONEYMANI .- base upon arriving at an evacuation destination and to veri- . fy if the order to return to the Jacksonville area has been - given. They can also email the NAS Jacksonville S Emergency Operations Center at nasjax.eoc.fct@navy.mil to relay their status and ask for assistance. "" The hotline will not be staffed by customer service per- sonnel and only provides recorded information. It cannot be "used to check on weather conditions or locate people. The hotline number and email address are for emergencies only. For more information, call 542-5595. Hey, MoneyMan! I am engaged to be mar- ried this June and I am happy but also a little nerv- ous. -My fiance and I talk about a lot of things such as where we want to live and how many children we would like to have, but it seem she does not like to talk about money. Is this normal? I have heard that many married couples have money problems and I do not want that to happen to us? Any suggestions? MoneyMan Sez: It is funny how couples will discuss a lot of really personal things but they won't talk about money because it is too personal. If you don't talk about money before you get mar- ried, chances are pretty high that you will fight about money later. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Jeff Opdyke sug- gested that there are nine questions partners should ask each other before get- Ling married. Here they are: * What are your financial assets and liabilities? * How do you use debt? There is a big difference between a.$30,000 college loan and a $30,000 credit card debt. What is your money his- tory? Problems can occur when a "saver" marries a "spender." Do we need a prenup? What are your financial aspirations? What are your career expectations? Do you both plan to work? What hap- pens when the children come? How do you propose we divide financial duties? Will we operate from one checkbook or three? Or no checkbook? Do you have a basic understanding of money? This means the basic understanding of how checking accounts, credit cards and saving plans work. I recommend you sit down with your new part- ner for life and discuss these items and compare your views, knowledge, and experiences. Understanding how a person thinks or feels about finances often reveals how they think about other things as well. An hour or two spent discussing finances before the wedding should lead to fewer misun-' derstandings later. More questions? Contact Hey Moneymanl at 778-0353. SUNDAY SERVICES, You are invited to the following Base Chapel Worship Services this Saturday and Sunday: Saturday 5 p.m. Catholic Mass Sunday 8:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist Episcopal 9:30 a.m. Catholic Mass 11 a.m. Protestant Worship Protestant Sunday School program is at 9:45- 10:45 a.m., and Catholic CCD is 10:45 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. NAS Jacksonville Commanding Officer ..................Capt. Chip Dobson Public Affairs Officer Charles P. "Pat" Dooling Deputy Public Affairs Officer Miriam A. Lareau U.S. Naval Air Station, Jacksonville Editorial Staff -Editor Miriam S. Gallet Assistant Editor J01 Mike England Manager Ellen S. Rykert Staff Writer Kaylee LaRocque Staff Writer LI1 (SW/AW) Heather Ewton Design/Layout George Atchley, Kaylee LaRocque The JA AllR NEWS is an authorized publication for members of the Military Services. 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