Iwo Jima Sets Sail to Avoid Hurricane Rita

Navy NewsStand ^ | Sep 22, 2005 | Journalist 1st Class (SW) Mike Jones

[SandRat]

ABOARD USS IWO JIMA (NNS) -- USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) successfully got underway from its current berth in downtown New Orleans Sept. 21 as Hurricane Rita raged across the Gulf of Mexico.

With the successful onload of supplies and personnel, including 647 Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24 MEU), Iwo Jima began its trek down the Mississippi River to safer, open waters. The multipurpose amphibious assault ship has been moored in downtown New Orleans since early September, serving as a command and control hub and providing relief and recovery efforts as part of Joint Task Force (JTF) Katrina.

Other ships also sortied to avoid the storm, including the amphibious transport dock USS Shreveport (LPD 12) and the dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46), both of which provided crucial assistance to New Orleans over the last three weeks.

“USS Iwo Jima and Shreveport are getting underway with embarked U.S. Marines to avoid Hurricane Rita if she chooses to come in our direction,” said Rear Adm. Joseph Kilkenny, commander, Naval Forces Gulf of Mexico. “At sea, we have the advantage of mobility that we don't have tied to the pier.

“Once at sea, we will join up with USS Tortuga (LSD 46) and USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201),” he continued. “We will then continue to monitor Hurricane Rita's movement and position ourselves behind the storm to follow it into the area where it makes landfall, in order to provide a first response to those in need, to include search and rescue and humanitarian assistance if required.”

Since arriving in New Orleans Sept. 5, Iwo Jima has provided vital flight deck and medical capabilities to the city as JTF Katrina and Federal Emergency Management Agency efforts (FEMA) took form. Much of the JTF Katrina and FEMA infrastructure set up aboard had completed transfer to shore-based facilities as Iwo Jima accelerated the onload of supplies and personnel in anticipation of the sortie.

“In total, close to 150 pallets of material, cargo, Marine Corps supplies, Meals Ready to Eat (MRE), bottled water, helicopter equipment and pack-up kits were brought on board throughout the day and night,” said Iwo Jima Commanding Officer Capt. Richard S. Callas. “The ship’s yellow forklifts and their experienced drivers were hot commodities in this massive logistics effort, as they attacked rows of palletized cargo on the pier and brought them on board the ship.”

In addition to its flight deck and medical capabilities, both of which were heavily utilized even before the ship tied pierside Sept. 5, much of Iwo Jima’s crew took time to assist the stricken community through many volunteer relief projects during the stay. Hull technicians and damage controlmen worked around the clock to assist dewatering efforts at local medical facilities, including the Medical Center of Louisiana’s Charity Hospital.

Also, members of Iwo Jima’s aircraft intermediate maintenance department helped to convert a baseball dugout into a decontamination station for relief workers of the Jefferson Parish Emergency Operations Center, headquartered in the field’s adjacent gymnasium. Members of the ship’s company regularly grouped up to aid cleanup efforts to the Riverwalk Pier and surrounding areas, as well as to provide assistance to the volunteer food tent established at the base of the New Orleans World Trade Center.

Iwo Jima departed Norfolk, Va., Aug. 31 to join relief and recovery efforts in the Gulf of Mexico following devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

[SandRat]

Related Stories: Iwo Jima Feeds Joint Task Force Katrina Personnel - 9/14/2005

Iwo Jima Sailors Assist Parish Emergency Operations Center - 9/14/2005

Iwo Jima’s Damage Control Team Making an Impact in New Orleans - 9/13/2005

Iwo Jima Serves as Helo Hub for JTF Katrina - 9/10/2005

All these stories with photos at source.

[SandRat]

Hurricane Rita, USS IWO JIMA PING

[Paleo Conservative]

[E.G.C.]

BTTT