USO Canteen FReeper Style....Gunnery Mates....Thank You....June 26,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

USS Bulkeley

The primary job of the Gunnery Division is to maintain and operate all shipboard weapons systems.

Normal day to day tasks include ensuring all weapons systems are functioning properly and prepared for such evolutions as surface and air combat and exercises, as well as ensuring that the weapons are available for any law enforcement need. Gunnery Division is also responsible for providing small arms training to all Boarding Team Members.

Within Gunnery Division there are two different rates...Gunner's Mates (GM) and Fire Control Technicians (FT). Gunner's Mates primarily deal with the actual firing weapons and their associated ordnance while FT's primarily work with radar systems specifically designed for targeting and firing long range weapons.

Chief Gunner's Mate (SW) Virgil Kilpatrick, an instructor at Fleet Combat Training Center (FCTCLANT) Atlantic, has spent the last three years providing Sailors with skills he hoped they would never truly need -- operating and maintaining shipboard weapons systems in war.

Gunner's mates work in almost every kind of Navy environment: ship, shore, in the United States or overseas. Their work and specialties may involve indoor or outdoor situations, clean or dirty work, deck or shop, and any kind of climate or temperature. They work alone or with others, independently or closely supervised. Their work can be both mental and physical.

River Boat Gunnery Mate.......Vietnam

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the campaign against terrorism, training commands like FCTCLANT are at the ground floor of the battle.

Veteran Sailors like Kilpatrick are in classrooms, laboratories and simulators, arming their students with the tools to fight terror.

According to GM1(SW) George Cumings, careless safety procedure can be a gunner's mate's deadliest enemy.

"It is important to take your time and go through all your steps, whether you're operating the gun or performing maintenance," Cumings said. "If you don't, you can get yourself -- and your shipmates -- killed."

Technology has changed the face of naval training during the past two decades. For gunner's mates, computer literacy has become nearly as important as skill with a weapon.

"Gunner's mates do a lot more than just fire guns," said Kilpatrick, a 17-year Navy veteran. "It may not seem like a technical rating, but it is."

Battleship Iowa firing its guns on the starboard side. You can see it shoving the ship sideways thru the water. What power unleashed! For those who don't know about these guns (the 16 inchers) they can fire a shell weighing as much as a VW Beetle 30 miles thru the air with some accuracy. That is awesome! Of course, we no longer have these ships in our naval service. They have all been decommissioned and mothballed or disposed of in some other manner.

What They Do:

The duties performed by GMs include:
operating and maintaining guided missile launching systems, rocket launchers, gun mounts and other ordnance systems and equipment;

training and supervising crews in the use of all types of ordnance equipment, from large caliber guns and missile systems to small arms;

stowing, securing, requisitioning and reclassifying explosives:
operating and maintaining magazine flooding and sprinkling systems;

making mechanical, electrical and electronic casualty analysis using technical publications, circuit diagrams and blueprints;

repairing, maintaining, testing and calibrating ordnance equipment;
servicing hydraulic and pneumatic systems;

repairing, maintaining, testing and calibrating microprocessing equipment;
repairing damaged hydraulic sealing surfaces, mating areas and threads;

performing mechanical wire connections including soldering; operating and maintaining night optical devices;

operating optical scanning and marking devices to label, identify and report explosives' utilization/expenditure.

This 5"/62 caliber gun can be used to defend against ships or planes.

And this big ship has all the latest in weapons technology: Using the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, the ship's crew can launch up to 96 missiles, including Standard surface-to-air missiles, Tomahawk surface-to-surface missiles and VLA antisubmarine missiles--64 from the back of the ship or 32 from the front. USS Bulkeley is also equipped with two MK 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems and a 5"/62 caliber deck-mounted gun, which uses Extended Range Guided Munitions projectiles and looks like a machine gun on steroids. According to one crewman, the 5"/62 is so powerful that once when it was fired from the front of the ship, he could feel his pant legs shaking, even though he was standing at the stern.

USS Bulkeley's MK 41 Vertical Launching System fires a combination of Standard surface-to-air and Tomahawk surface-to-surface missiles.

There's a story about John Paul Jones' chief gunners mate. It was during the gore and thunder of that most historic battle. He was loading and firing cannon and carrying the wounded to the medical officer, cutting away the tangled rigging. And apparently in the midst of that first fight, John Paul Jones went below momentarily and changed into a new uniform. And as he emerged on deck a voice rang out through the smoke and fire -- it was the British captain asking, ``Have you struck your colors?'' And the gunners mate, sweat and blood dripping from his body, turned and saw Jones now in his fresh uniform reply: ``I have not yet begun to fight.'' And the gunners mate said, ``There's always somebody who didn't get the word.''

The challenge is great. Our Navy is meeting a heavier responsibility than we had in the sixties and meeting it with fewer ships. And that means the officers and crew of every vessel must work harder, carry a heavier load, and endure longer, more strenuous cruises.

Men and women on these and other ships are under great stress, handling advanced weapons systems and sophisticated equipment. And that's all the more reason to salute them after setting a new record for aircraft safety last year. Many who served could easily have better paying civilian jobs. Sailors on the carriers are away from their families 70 percent of the time; yet 60 percent of these fine young people reenlist.

In today's Navy, as with the other services, the Reserves are playing an increasingly important role. Who are they? Citizens concerned about the future of this country and determined to do their part. They share their time, energy, and talent to keep America strong, safe, and free.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

I pledge allegiance
To the Flag
Of the United States of America....
And to the Republic...
For which it stands....
One Nation.....
Under God.....
Indivisible...
With liberty and justice...
For all!

[SassyMom]

DANG IT..... that post was from me...kneezles... and I know that Sassy feels the same way!!!! That's what I get for being a tightwad and having only 1 computer!

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Is Super Dawg (Milwaukee and Devon ???) still in business.

[SAMWolf]

I remember "Super Dawg" one of the last drive in types.

[tomkow6]

Tasty Pup, HOME of the Super Dawg!

[Diver Dave]

Mornin' Tonk. Where'd you locate the crow with crossed guns? I've not been able to locate crossed hammers on a crow. Just wondering if you found it somewhere on the web.

[aomagrat]

How's retired life treating you, aomagrat?

I think it would be better if I could figure out a way to sleep past 0530.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Where'd you locate the crow with crossed guns? I've not been able to locate crossed hammers on a crow."

Try google images search.
OR any search engine, type your "rate" in and see what pages get pulled up.

[SAMWolf]

I pledge allegiance
To the Flag
Of the United States of America....
And to the Republic...
For which it stands....
One Nation.....
Under God.....
Indivisible...
With liberty and justice...
For all!

The Federal Appeals Court can eat my shorts!

[Jen]

Sam, weren't you in the Army??? That makes you an ex-Fed!

[Light Speed]

After leaving leaving Jackson Hole[Got my Crew Top from a Lady who had just cut the Marines detached to Guard the President]..found myself in a small town in Wyoming.
Parking my Trans Am infront of a restraunt with Horse rails and Pick up trucks.
Got the death stare right off from the onlookers...then they saw my USS Alaska SSBN 732 cap and Snake Skin boots commin down the board walk..clomp..clomp.

Was it the Cap..the Boots..or all the above + 6'-2"?
Wyoming treated me great...best steak I ever did eat.
Afterward was rocketing thru the Green River Gorge thinking to myself..."Is America great or what"!

[SAMWolf]

I don't consider the Military Federal Employees.

I know it's weird. But the Military and Feds to me are different things, know what I mean?

[archy]

That looks like a Corsair.

Didn't see many of those. Lots of Phantoms though.

Actually, an A7 *Corsair II*, as used by both the Navy and the Air Force. My last experience with the things was back around 1990 when the pilot of one punched out of it over Indianapolis, and the aircraft went into a hotel.

The A7's snout makes it pretty easily recognizable from a F4 phantom or F100 *Hun* [or the comparatively tiny A4 Skyhawk *hotrod*] and the whine of its engine is unique as well- when I heard the one that nailed the hotel that day, there was no doubt in my mind what model aircraft was overhead, just a question as to what paint job it had.

-archy-/-

[Light Speed]

A Humorous side bar:
The Lord was on!..when he created Girlies...
Adam commenting to the Lord upon seeing Eve..

"For me....Awesome!
Whatya mean ...just one"!

[JustAmy]

I haven't seen you for a couple of day; how are you feeling? Have you been checking in but failing to ping me? Shame on you.

[Eastbound]

"But I do remember going to Riverview as a kid. LOL"

I'd look out the window of my Mechanical Drawing class at Lane Tech and watch the 'Bobs.' Many times I'd cut class and sneak over when I had an extra quarter. The park finally got wise and wouldn't let school-age kids in before 3 p.m. Boo!

I had a really heart-shaking experience at the diner across the street one day. Don't think this is the right place to tell about it, so maybe I'll wait for the appropriate thread -- though it may have some peripheral relevance or value here..

[Jen]

I like your runningman sculpture and your drawing. hehe

[lodwick]

EXACTLY correct - Allegiance bttt!

[lodwick]

Under God bttt - thanks Sam.
That is the goofiest court known to man.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"Lane Tech HS"

I went to St. Patrick's 1st 2 years, last 2 years at Prosser Voc HS, graduated June '66