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| Open-ended deployment: USN's LCS crew marooned in Singapore |
| 2017-02-22 |
| The embarked crew of the littoral combat ship Coronado, forward deployed to Singapore, was supposed to be home for Thanksgiving after a four- or five-month tour. But now the crew has been on board and overseas for eight months and there is no end in sight. About 70 sailors compose Crew 204, which deployed in June for the Rim of the Pacific exercise and to replace the LCS Fort Worth at Changi Naval Base. But once the Coronado and her crew arrived in Singapore, the Navy’s top Surface Warfare Officer announced a sweeping overhaul to the LCS program's training standards that was spurred by a string of accidents, some of which were caused by crew errors. The shakeup has delayed getting the Coronado's replacement crew qualified and could extend the ship's deployment length to as long as a year, according to two family members who spoke to Navy Times. That would be one of the longest Navy deployments in decades. The fact that nobody knows exactly when it will end has eroded crew morale and put an enormous strain on families. Both family members, who spoke to Navy Times on condition of anonymity to avoid consequences for their loved ones, said the uncertainty had tanked the morale of the crew. A main factor driving Crew 204's open-ended deployment is the delay in getting a new crew qualified to replace them after a change in training standards. Qualifying under the new training standards requires some underway time. And to get underway, the crew, which will be Crew 203, needs a ship and for now all the trimaran LCS-2 variant ships are either in overhaul or undergoing repairs. Officials told Navy Times that the replacement crew should be training on the LCS Independence, but that ship is in need of engine repairs and is not immediately available. Navy officials say Crew 204’s open-ended deployment is an unintended consequence of the complete reorganization of the LCS program's manning program that was triggered last year by a spate of LCS engineering problems, including breakdowns on the Freedom and the Fort Worth caused by crew errors. In a December statement, SURFPAC spokesman Cmdr. John Perkins told Navy Times that the crew would be rotated home once its replacement is fully trained, but the word on the Coronado’s deckplates is that their replacements aren’t that close. “They were being told April, now they are being told mid-to-late May,” one of the family members said. “Truth seems to be that the replacement crew has made little-to-no progress." |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #7 retraining the crew won't make the LCS POS any better. Sorta like wanting to retrain the Titanic's crew to use galvanized buckets instead of wooden ones for the bailing process when they had that little 'hit and run...' |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2017-02-22 15:44 |
| #6 A more reasonable answer would be to tow the LCS back to Pearl (or whatever homeport it has). At least it would be moving. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2017-02-22 11:54 |
| #5 How about retroactively stripping all Flag officers (+ 06s) involved with this program of their 'good old boy' medals they got on PCS/retirement? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2017-02-22 10:32 |
| #4 all the trimaran LCS-2 variant ships are either in overhaul or undergoing repairs Seems reasonable (to me!) for the Navy to require the manufacturer to staff a maintenance/engineering crew for each vessel and fly the sailors home. Such is the power of progress payments. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-02-22 09:20 |
| #3 On the other hand, if you've gotta be stuck somewhere there are far, far worse places than Singapore. I lived in Singapore for many years. They are handy for the East Coast sea food restaurants. A $10 taxi ride. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2017-02-22 06:17 |
| #2 Sounds like bring the Skipper back to D.C. for discussions with the Chief of Naval Operations might be a good idea. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-02-22 04:07 |
| #1 ...On the other hand, if you've gotta be stuck somewhere there are far, far worse places than Singapore. All kidding aside, however, the answer is simple: if they are looking now at another ninety days, bring the damned boat home. It will cost less than the wait, and the world already knows that the LCS is a multi-billion dollar disaster. It won't make anything worse...unless, of course, they can't bring it home because of mechanical problems that we're not being told about. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2017-02-22 04:04 |