Navy hoping ''pre-sea swap'' prepares crews for ship switch

Since 09-07-04

Yes, the sea-Navy is changing radically and I'm not quite sure it meets with the approval of our sailors.


By MATTHEW DOLAN,
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 4, 2004


NORFOLK — When sailors were so disappointed with a new Navy program that they thought about quitting, service leaders apparently listened.

The “Sea Swap” experiment, which essentially deploys ships for as long as two years while changing out its crews, will now be modified so that participants can get used to the idea before they ever leave their home port.

This October, crews from the destroyers Gonzalez, Laboon and Stout will switch ships pier-side in Norfolk.

“There were some problems with the ownership of the hulls,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ron Toland , future operations officer for the Atlantic Fleet’s Surface Forces headquartered in Norfolk. “We’re trying to mitigate those concerns by doing the pre-sea swap.”

All three ships also will be docked at the same pier at Norfolk Naval Station in order to emphasize the similarities of the sailors’ jobs on the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

Sea Swap will radically change the next deployment for the guided-missile destroyer Gonzalez. Traditionally sailors are assigned to a ship and, as part of its crew, follow the ship wherever it travels. Now the Gonzalez’s current crew, plus the crews of the destroyers Laboon and Stout, will man the ship in six-month shifts during 18 months starting next spring, officials said.

It’s the first time an East Coast-based destroyer has attempted to change out its crews while under way in the Persian Gulf. The replacement crews will be flown to the Middle East to meet the ship, and the old crew will fly home. Navy officials did not say which port will be used for the swap.

Concerns about the effect of Sea Swap on sailors first surfaced with a report released in July.

It found that a pair of West Coast-based destroyers were operationally sound when deployed for 18 to 24 months using different crews, but morale suffered. The report’s authors found that some on board thought about ending their naval careers because of the program.

“Sea Swap may be good for Big Navy – saving dollars and increasing forward presence. But the costs are borne by the sailors – more work and less of the benefits and traditions that may have drawn them to the Navy,” said the study by the Center for Naval Analyses.
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(Ret)