Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Caitlin Flynn | 230508-N-WM182-1111 PHILIPPINE SEA (May 8, 2023) The Henry J. Kaiser-class underway...... read more read more
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PACIFIC OCEAN - Even the greatest military minds of antiquity stretching back to the time of Sun Tzu could not overstate the importance of logistics and supply, which serve as the crux of any functioning military force. Though time and technology have altered the theaters, means, and the nature of warfare as we know it today, the essential concern of supply remains the bedrock of maintaining and facilitating the warfighting capacity of our, and any, modern military.
While some of those great strategists of ages past would have found their supply concerns centered on the maximal range and capacity of buggies, trains or beasts of burden, the ever-evolving challenges borne of operating at sea granted our naval forbearers no such luxury. Pioneered in part by then Lt. Chester Nimitz, executive officer of the USS Maumee (AO 2), the modern process of underway replenishment remains a daunting hurdle of logistics and supply for the most advanced of maritime military forces, even 100 years after the method’s conception in the lead up to our entry in World War I.
Even today the challenges of refueling and replenishing a massive military vessel like Nimitz, while subject to the chaotic churning forces of the open sea form a herculean task that would ask much of any crew. This poses a question, with the difficulty of an operation like a refueling at sea: how do we ready our Sailors to operate reliably in the controlled chaos of such an evolution?
“In boatswain’s mate ‘A’ school, our Sailors get a crash course on what an underway replenishment is and the very bare bones of what can be expected during one,” said Chief Boatswain’s Mate Derek Hoffman. “When they come to the ship, we rig up the stations and teach them what it’ll look like as well as go over any maintenance just to make sure everything is working before taking them on walkthroughs of the process.”
Though training and walkthroughs are crucial, there is an order of magnitude separating the unpredictable and tumultuous reality of an active evolution from that of comparably-sterile classroom training or a controlled series of instructional walkthroughs.
“There’s no training that can truly compare to the real thing, and with so many moving parts you can never really predict the challenges you might have to deal with,” said Hoffman. “In order to get people qualified, they’re going to have to be on station during the real thing for the first time at some point, and it’s always going to be at least a little bit scary. We give our Sailors as much of the tools and training as we can, and it’s just about communication and getting them past that initial point where they might feel shocked or overwhelmed in the moment of their first time on station. It may seem on the outside like someone on station might be angry when raising their voice, but it’s really about safety and making sure we’re being heard, communicating, and cooperating effectively.”
As the saying goes, “There’s no training like on-the-job-training.” The organic and fluid nature of the challenges presented during an underway replenishment mirror the nature of the waves on which we conduct them. It’s a competence borne of ingrained muscle memory and an intuitive adaptability that sees Sailors of every rank rise to answer those unforeseen challenges time and time again.
“During your highest level of stress, you resort to your lowest level of training,” said Seaman Nicholas DiBlasi, speaking on the importance of training as it pertains to underway replenishments. “One day, the stoppers or messengers could part, and the next evolution, the probe could leak, so you have to treat each scenario on a case-by-case basis and be able to adapt on the fly.”
In their extensive and rigorous preparation, not only are Sailors readier to tackle their roles in the elaborate dance of the evolution; they end up more qualified, both on paper and in actuality.
“Honestly, seeing Sailors become more competent and earn their qualifications is what keeps me going,” said Hoffman. “I’ve been on ships where factors like time-in-rate or paygrade would prevent people from getting qualified, so to see E-3 to E-4 Sailors get qualified as things like ‘rig captain really means a lot to me. It feels great to see them making the most of an opportunity that I never had when I joined, and I think this ship is really doing it right by providing people the opportunity to qualify based on competence, skill, and knowledge first and foremost.”
Though hard-earned experience and adaptability form the tools Sailors use to conquer the unforeseen challenges of underway replenishment, there is one more critical resource afforded to them: each other. As with many other aspects of being underway, the cooperation, interoperability and teamwork of diverse work centers, rates and specialists are crucial to tackling the monumental task of an underway replenishment.
“It’s a perfect demonstration of what working on a team actually means seeing all the different roles and stations required to make the process run smoothly,” said Hoffman. “You can’t have any cargo transfer or refueling without the Sailors on the bridge steering the ship into the perfect range or distance to make the operation possible, or without the gunner’s mates to get the lines across. The riggers, the signalmen, even the corpsmen on standby if something goes wrong, you can’t have things go smoothly or adapt to any unforeseen challenges if every piece of the puzzle isn’t in place. It’s amazing to see how everyone has their own specialization essential to the process.”
While effort required of our Sailors during an underway replenishment may seem daunting and impossible to predict, prepare or train for, it is exactly the type of obstacle the sea has forged our ship, Sailors and Navy to take on with unparalleled consistency and efficiency. The trials of the open ocean have forged the tools of the versatility and cooperation our Sailors have relied on for generations.
Though time and the tidal forces of change have brought our modern Navy ever-new and greater difficulties to overcome, it is these tools Sailors reach for when they tackle them, and it is these tools that are passed down to each new Sailor in preparing them for what lies ahead.
| Date Taken: | 03.19.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.22.2023 11:10 |
| Story ID: | 460662 |
| Location: | PACIFIC OCEAN |
| Web Views: | 97 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Replenishments-at-Sea: Overcoming Challenges, by PO2 Caylen McCutcheon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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