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thedrifter
07-29-08, 06:47 AM
Marines get Hornet buzz
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200 troops practicing their skills out at sea
July 29, 2008 - 12:39AM
JANNETTE PIPPIN

MOREHEAD CITY - The view for Marine Lance Cpl. T.J. Moose was a bit different Monday as he peered out over the railing of the USNS Wright from its berth at the Morehead City port.

His crash, fire and rescue duties at Cherry Point Air Station typically keep him on dry land rather than at sea, making his latest assignment both a break from his normal routine and training under different circumstances.

"I'm normally on an airfield," Moose said. "It's the same duties but the main difference is I'm a little bit out of my element (being on ship)."

Moose, who serves with Marine Wing Support Squadron 271, is one of about 200 Marines from units in North and South Carolina putting their skills to test aboard the USNS Wright as part of the Carolina Hornet exercise now under way.

The ship was being loaded Monday at the port in preparation for offshore operations for the exercise in providing aviation supply and maintenance for Marine aircraft when deployed.

It's a floating aircraft maintenance shop with just about all the parts and supplies needed to keep aircraft in service, from parts for communication and navigation systems to electronic countermeasures.

"They are all things to keep aircraft mission ready," said Lt. Col. Chuck Dunne, commanding officer of Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron from Beaufort, S.C., and commanding officer of the Marine detachment serving aboard the Wright.

Dunne said Carolina Hornet has been a multi-facility, multi-unit effort, with seven units involved, including Marine Aviation Logistics Squadrons from Cherry Point, New River and Beaufort, S.C.

Filling the Wright on Monday were large containers that did more than store parts and supplies needed. Each one, known as mobile maintenance facilities, is equipped for use as a self-contained repair shop. Some handle work such as welding, while others may be devoted to hydraulics or other aspects of aviation maintenance.

But Dunne said it's not the repairs or maintenance of aircraft that makes the exercise aboard the Wright different. Planning offshore operations and working shipboard are not what the Marines participating in Carolina Hornet do on a regular basis.

"Planning and loading and unloading (a ship) is so challenging because they don't do it every day," Dunne said. "But it's important because we never know when our nation will need us to do it."

Charlie Doyle, a retired Marine now stationed at Cherry Point with Headquarters Marine Corps, said experience in aviation logistics doesn't necessarily equate with shipboard experience.

"There are very limited people here with shipboard knowledge, but it is important they know it," he said.

Doyle said that in the case of rapid deployment, that basic knowledge would be needed to accomplish the mission.

"We may not get it precisely right, but we have to get it done quickly," he said. "Building that knowledge base is important so that we know that when the time comes we have it there."

Home-ported in Baltimore, Md., the Wright is not typically a Department of Defense vessel. It and a sister vessel, the USNS Curtiss on the West Coast, are activated every two years on rotating years.

When activated, they set sail on exercises such as Carolina Hornet, providing valuable training and deploying for active duty as needed. When not in military use, the ships are maintained by the U.S. Maritime Administration under the Department of Transportation.

The Wright deployed during Desert Storm in 1991 and during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Cpl. David Wells, a food service specialist with Marine Wing Support Squadron 271 of Cherry Point, was aboard the Wright providing what support he could, from the kitchen to helping guide media on a tour of the ship.

Cherry Point is his first duty station, and he saw the experience aboard the Wright as an opportunity to work with Marines from other units.

"Even though we don't always know each other, we get the job done," he said.

Contact Carteret County reporter Jannette Pippin at jpippin@freedomenc.com or 252-808-2275. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.

Ellie