Coast Guard Journal
Archives
Ancient Mariner SITREP #4 – Visit to Pascagoula and BERTHOLF
5/7/2008 10:55:00 AM
Last summer, after becoming the Coast Guard’s 13th Gold Ancient Mariner, I visited the Northrop Grumman Shipyard in Pascagoula, MS to visit BERTHOLF. Given all the publicity (much of it critical) that has surrounded this cutter, I wanted to walk the decks myself to get a sense of the quality of workmanship, the functionality of design, and the enhanced capabilities that ultimately will be delivered to the Fleet. As I reported at the time, I left Pascagoula excited, very impressed, and convinced that BERTHOLF will be the finest, and most capable cutter ever delivered to the Coast Guard. I returned to Pascagoula last week at the invitation of Captain Stadt, to speak at a Mess Night for the officers who will form his wardroom. I also had the opportunity to walk through BERTHOLF again to make a personal assessment of the ship’s readiness for preliminary acceptance. More importantly, I had the honor of conducting an all hands session with the roughly 120 Coast Guardsmen who will make up BERTHOLF’s first crew.
More about the officers and crew in a moment – I want to talk about the cutter first. I remain extremely impressed – she’s going to be a great Coast Guard cutter, and I can’t wait to get out to sea to observe her performance underway. Captain Stadt and his shipmates (and the Navy INSURV board as well) are very impressed with BERTHOLF’s almost effortless speed and maneuvering characteristics. I am confident that improvements in weapons systems, sensors, countermeasures, flight deck characteristics and boat launching and recovery will give BERTHOLF capabilities far superior to previous cutters. Command and control, particularly as it relates to the ship’s command center will be vastly superior to almost every shore-based Coast Guard command center. Her seakeeping ability and spacious topside arrangements and damage control systems will further enhance her capabilities and the safety of her crew.
Accommodations and habitability are simply the best I’ve seen in any naval ship. There are roughly 40 staterooms, configured for two, four, or six people, each with its own head. Lounges, the mess deck, and exercise facilities are well-appointed, spacious, and set new standards of comfort and recreation for a hard-working crew. Nothing is extravagant – in my opinion, these amenities are at an appropriate level for Cuttermen who will be called upon to spend months away from home, often in harm’s way – they deserve these considerations.
As Captain Stadt mentioned in his “journal” entry, the crew is ready and eager to get aboard BERTHOLF and give her life. Frankly, I can’t wait for them to get aboard. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and excitement – in spite of working out of trailers and living in a motel. As impressed as I was with the ship, I am even more impressed with the officers and crew – and they are the element that remains missing in the effort to give BERTHOLF life, personality and character. No matter how good your shipyard workers might be, no one will care for BERTHOLF like her crew – and, we get another 120 sets of eyes and ears on deck to observe and evaluate the ship and her systems through the months following preliminary acceptance.
So what is this “preliminary acceptance”? It basically amounts to a period when we take the ship and begin to put her through operational test and evaluation (OT&E). The builder continues to have responsibilities to resolve the many outstanding “punch list” items, while we get a chance to see and confirm the ship’s performance and capabilities. With lessons learned from these trials, the builder will make production improvements and enhancements to follow-on hulls that will enable us to get them out and operational on a shorter timeline (and less expensively) than the lead ship. After the “punch list” discrepancies are resolved, OT&E is completed, the C4ISR systems are fully installed and certified for operation, and contractual responsibilities are met, the Coast Guard will sign for final acceptance. In reality, this is not much different than when I had my house built – even though I moved into the house, the builder had to correct discrepancies for a year before I finally signed off with him contractually.
Some of you with whom I’ve spoken have expressed surprise that OT&E would take so long and questioned our use of “In commission, special” status. This is a status clearly defined in Coast Guard Regulations (COMDTINST M5000) which, simply stated, means this commissioned cutter is not yet assigned to an operational commander for full duties, as opposed to a cutter that is “In commission, active.” This is no different than any new cutter that I have observed over the course of my career and the time allotted for OT&E is consistent with other lead ships in a production line.
This ship has cost more than originally advertised – but I don’t think we should apologize for that. We were not getting a lot of support for new ships as we attempted to launch the Deepwater project, and when 9/11 occurred, we recognized that the NSC needed much more capability to execute our significantly increased Homeland Security mission. The plan and design for the original NSC was conceived before the events of September 11, 2001, and new capabilities were added (justifiably so) post 9/11 – adding to the cost. And then, Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast , devastating the shipyard and driving off many skilled workers – conditions that the shipyard and Pascagoula are still recovering from – again, adding additional costs. I’m not here to make excuses. I, for one, am proud of the work that has been accomplished by the Coast Guard and our industry partners in getting BERTHOLF ready to enter the Fleet.
Challenges remain – as they would in any lead ship that pushes for new capabilities and technology. As we preliminarily accept BERTHOLF, the INSURV inspectors and Coast Guard staff have produced a substantial worklist that will be resolved. Most notably, issues still exist with secure communications equipment. BERTHOLF carries a substantial IT backbone to enable her missions that is more complicated than any other cutter. Consequently, this gear has received, is receiving, and will receive closer scrutiny, inspection, and information assurance testing than any other Coast Guard cutter to date. These issues, along with any others that the officers and crew discover during the next year or so, will be resolved. I have testified before Congress that these issues are correctable. I was convinced then, and I remain convinced now that BERTHOLF will be ready to perform all duties when called upon.
Having the luxury of looking back over three decades in the Coast Guard, I can remember when the first 270-WMEC, BEAR entered the fleet. There were complaints of poor seakeeping ability, a multi-million dollar command and control and electronic charting system that didn’t work, she was too slow, too expensive, and on, and on. Today the 270s are the work horse of the Atlantic Area Fleet, having served admirably over 25 years through fisheries patrols off George’s Bank, to counter-drugs in the Caribbean, through multiple mass migrations – they’ve proven to be great Coast Guard Cutters, and where would we be today if we had not built them – or given up on them after a few setbacks? BERTHOLF begins her service with capabilities and performance characteristics that make BEAR and her sisters pale in comparison!
Now – let’s get the crew aboard, take in the lines, head out to sea and let the “Legends” begin. Fair winds to all who will sail in BERTHOLF – stand a taut watch!
Vice Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr.
Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard, and,
(proudly) the 13th Gold Ancient Mariner
Last Modified 9/4/2008