Friday, January 19, 1968

USS JOUETT (DLG29)

FPO SAN FRANCISCO 96601

At sea

19 January 1968

Dear Family and Friends of JOUETT,

It has been over a month since my last letter to you and I would now like to review what JOUETT men have been doing and what lies ahead in our cruise.

First let us go back to early December. The beginning of the month found JOUETT hard at work at sea in a major fleet training exercise titled "BLUE LOTUS". Under Commander First Fleet, Vice Admiral Bernard Roeder, the JOUETT and some fifty ships, hundreds of aircraft, and several thousand Marines conducted realistic wartime training in the ocean areas off Southern California. During this seven day exercise, JOUETT had the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in her many capabilities. Anti-submarine operations, air defense, shore bombardment, search and rescue, aircraft carrier plane guard, were some of the tasks assigned. Also the ship provided command and communication facilities for Commander Destroyer Squadron ONE and his embarked staff.

When the exercise ended for us on 5 December, we returned to San Diego. However, being in port did not ease our tasks. Ahead were a number of difficult inspections by teams of experts to determine any flaws in our equipments or procedures before we sailed for duty in the Western Pacific. Almost every facet of the ship was checked - electronics, ordnance, security, engineering, communications, navigation, supply, dental and medical. All inspectors had fine things to say about the preparations made by JOUETT men. We uniformly received grades of Excellent and quite a few areas were rated OUTSTANDING. All of us agreed that the hard work was well worth it, knowing we were ready for the tasks ahead.

In addition to preparing the ship for deployment, we were busy preparing ourselves as individuals for the six month's absence from home port. We registered allotments, made arrangements for savings, found locations for our cars, executed wills, and brought on board athletic/sporting equipment for some of the planned at-sea extra curricular activities. We continued to receive innoculations against typhus, diptheria, small pox, typhoid, cholera, and polio. You would be surprised to see how quickly our crew can line up for shots if we also place the paymaster at the end of the innoculation line.

Our dependents were also prepared for the cruise. Those in San Diego were able to attend a two hour briefing by a team consisting of representatives of the local police department, the Navy Legal Office, the Navy Dependents Medical Clinic, Red Cross, Navy Relief Society, local church organizations. I believe everyone who attended came away with much useful information and a confidence that a number of San Diego agencies cared about dependents of deployed Navy men and would readily lend special assistance when summoned.

On the 11th of December we celebrated the first birthday of JOUETT with an all hands dinner-dance at the Naval Training Station Petty Officers Club. The party featured two dance bands in separate ballrooms, a roast beef dinner, and ample liquid refreshments. In addition to about 300 officers and crew members there were over a hundred invited guests (nurses, waves, lady marines, college students, and airline hostesses). While the cost of the party depleted our Welfare Fund by $2,000 everyone agreed that it was a great success.

On the 16th of December, the children of JOUETT officers and men were guests of Santa Claus at our Annual Christmas Party sponsored by the Wives Club. Each youngster received a gift appropriate to his or her age. JOUETT cooks baked over a thousand cookies for the party which was held at the Fleet Recreation Park. On 19 December JOUETT crew members hosted over a hundred wives and teenage children to a very special "at home" at sea. This operations known as a Dependent's Cruise is permitted about once a year to enable the family and friends of the crew to see what life aboard ship is really like at sea. Informality was the keynote as the guests roamed the ship watching the crew carry out their normal functions. Most everyone was situated topside during the ninety minute transit of San Diego harbor but after that they scattered to the engineroom, fireroom, focsle and fantail. Commander Addams, the Executive Officer, gave a running commentary of the ship's internal activities as well as sights along the shoreline as we threaded our way out of the harbor. After a short run out to sea, we returned to anchor in Coronado Roads. Here we shared a buffet lunch - barbecue pit style on the helo deck or cafeteria style in the crew's dining area. Returning to port about 3 P.M. a host of happy wives, parents, friends, and children departed the ship claiming they had felt no "mal de mer", and were experienced sailors like "ole Dad".

For the remainder of December and until 4 January, a sizeable portion of the crew was on leave, many traveling to the other three corners of the U.S. and even to Hawaii. During this period our work was lighter and we were able to enjoy early liberty most working days. Of course, the Duty Section of about 75 men was always on board caring for the ship and maintaining security.

It is customary for U. S. Navy ships inport over the holidays to erect some kind of decoration to celebrate the season. Under the direction of Lieutenant Commander Malone, our Engineering Officer, a tree of lights sixty feet tall was constructed on JOUETT's foremast. On top of this a large white star was situated. Additional lights outlined the main deck lifelines and another tree was erected on the fantail. All in all, our electrical gang did a great job and made us very proud of JOUETT each time we saw the lights from ashore.

After the 4th of January we snapped back to work in earnest to prepare for our pre-deployment inspection by Commander Destroyer Squadron ONE. Once again the hard work paid off, because the Commodore, in speaking to all hands stated that he was quite pleased with the results.

Right up to our departure on 16 January, we were busy topping-off with supplies for our cruise of six months away from the continental United States. We stock over 50,000 separate items in our 22 storerooms maintained by the Supply Officer, Lieutenant Commander Lantsberger. During the last few days we took on 11,500 pounds of beef, 800 gallons of milk, 1600 dozen eggs, and last but not least, 800 pounds of popcorn for our nightly movies. Some of our men had sore muscles after all the loading because even in our modern computerized Navy we still load stores by hand.

Since the last Familygram, promotions have taken place for a number of officers and men. I had the pleasure of presenting the JOUETT Outstanding Service Award to the following petty officers: Chief Quartermaster William E. JOHNSEN, Chief Electronics Technician Charles N. BOWERS, Chief Storekeeper Jack R. MEAD, and First Class Fire Control Technician Paul J. STANGE.

Tuesday, January 16th, was a warm, clear day in San Diego, but a number of eyes were moist as the long blast on JOUETT's whistle signified that she was backing away from pier No. 2, U. S. Naval Station, to commence the voyage to the Western Pacific. Prior to JOUETT's departure, wives, children, parents, and friends were on board for coffee and pastries and a last look at the ship. The CRUDESPAC band, embarked for the voyage, played music on the helo deck which helped remove some of the sadness from the occasion. As JOUETT nosed her way out the channel, the pier thronged with families, the city of San Diego, and finally Point Loma disappeared in the mist as we proceeded west to new adventures and service to our country.

Out at sea we are busy with training and briefings. We have an important job to do and all hands seem eager to get on with the challenges ahead. In these last months a motto has sprung up, as these things do, which seems to fit the image we have of ourselves - "JOUETT CAN-DO-IT". I am so proud of our crew - never has a more highly trained or more motivated crew set out to do the job ahead.

I plan to continue these familygrams during the cruise in the hope they may fill the information gap and above all gain your support. Your letters from home are the best way of telling us that you care.

Sincerely,

ROBERT S. HAYES

CAPTAIN, U.S. NAVY

COMMANDING OFFICER