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“haze-gray” surface fleet, and departed a seasoned
“Boat Guy” with the rank of First Class Petty
Officer. I worked my way up from earning my
combatant crewmember qualification to becoming a
detachment Officer-In-Charge and Patrol Officer
before I left. The Chain-of Command there really
built some special “Boat Operators”! We were
independent sailors who could get the mission done,
despite the numerous challenges we faced. We were
always working with a shoestring budget and expected
to do the unexpected. We continually pushed the
envelope of unconventional warfare and special boat
operations, giving our forces a decisive advantage
over our adversaries. A majority of our command
personnel were still filled by fleet sailors like
myself, who brought their own rating skills to the
Special Warfare Community, and were lead by a
predominantly SEAL upper Chain-of Command. We
learned on-the-job, back then, and were taught by
the seasoned veterans who came before us.
Very early on, I learned that in the world of
Special Warfare the operator was “King”. If you
wanted to succeed you had to perform at a much
higher level, and think outside the conventional
rules. You not only brought your original skill
sets to the game, you had to learn the skill sets of
each member of your boat crew! Not just a
rudimentary proficiency level, but rather a
practical mastery of skills that would allow you to
win the day.
The leadership was always looking for
individuals who demonstrated a desire to go beyond
the normal standards. They did this because they
understood that to be successful in this line of
work, you had to be able to work in some of the
harshest and most difficult environments without
quitting. The Navy SEALs we worked with counted on
that! We were groomed to be there “On-Time” and
“On-Target”! Lives depended on it. It was our way
of life.
It never ceases to amaze me that the level of
trust that was entrusted upon my fellow Petty
Officer In Charge (POIC’s). It’s hard for others to
comprehend the responsibility that was entrusted to
us at such an early age. Because of the nature of
the work, most of specifics of what we accomplished
cannot be discussed. However, I will try to share a
few of my experiences and my personal observations
to shed some light upon our contributions during
Operation Restore Hope.
Back in fall of 1992, I was assigned duties
with a Naval Amphibious Readiness Group, otherwise
known as an ARG, as part of a Special Warfare
detachment. This particular ARG consisted of three
US Navy Amphibious class ships: USS TRIPOLI
(LPH-10), USS JUNEAU (LPD-10), and USS RUSHMORE
(LSD-47). COMMANDER AMPHIBIOUS SQAUDRON THREE was
the assigned ARG Commander. He and his staff were
located onboard the USS Tripoli, and our Special
Warfare detachment was assigned to the USS JUNEAU (LPD
10). These uniquely diverse amphibious class ships
were loaded with a large contingency of United
States Marines and a small group of highly trained
Special Warfare combatants. These ships were
designed to offer a very versatile base of
operations for a special breed of warriors who could
easily function on land as well in the water. The
Ships could deploy its forces from there respective
flight decks, boat decks, and well decks.
While the USS TRIPOLI (LPH-10), which stands for
Amphibious Landing Platform Helicopter, was the
largest of the three ships and was shaped rather
like a large lunchbox with a flight deck on top. It
was designated as the Command Ship for the ARG
Commander.
The USS RUSHMORE (LSD-47), which stands for an
Amphibious Landing Support Dock. Its amphibious
capabilities include a small flight deck, large
cranes, and an elongated well deck. It carried a
majority of the heavy equipment needed to support
amphibious operations. Its rather large super
structure projected high into the air and on the
forward portion of the ships structure; like a
oversized head on a dog. It had gone through some
recent modification that classified it as a
“Smart-Ship”, which meant that it boasted a smaller
crew, with a host of internal computerized
monitoring systems to compensate for a smaller crew
and was fitted with modern amenities. It was
capable of transporting it compliment in in style.
Each berthing unit had its own ventilation exhaust
for AC. It may sound silly by today’s standards but
then it was cutting edge for enlisted sailors.
The third type of amphibious ship was the USS JUNEAU
(LPD 10). It was the smallest of the three but was
the best platform to support the SEAL’s and our
unit. It had a good size flight deck for multiple
helicopters to launch off. It also had a good size
well deck below and a large crane to support our
boat operations. Its profile was much lower that
the other two ships and due to its predominately
shallow draft it made for an excellent and versatile
platform for us. The downside is that it had been
around for years and the ship was old. Berthing
conditions were sparse and our living quarters was
in one of the troop berthing spaces. It supported
our enlisted members for both the SEALS and Boat
Guys. Though, it only had limited ventilation and
old style troop racks made out of metal frames and
canvas cloth with small stuff (cloth cord) to tie
the whole thing together. These racks were stacked
three high. We had a one very thin mattress,
pillow, two white sheets and a wool blanket. We
would spend many hours in these tight accommodations
with close 25 personnel. You learned to value your
own space. Most of us spent as much of our time
either working on our equipment in our load out
boxes or on our boats that were on the forward part
of the flight deck. We had one a few modern
convenience’s, a TV, and a VCR to watch our small
library of movies during our deployment. During
General Quarters we would be locked down like
sardines for hours. Playing a variety of card games
or Risk. I think the ship’s crew took some measure
of satisfaction in that fact that we were locked
down. Their was always those who loved the idea of
being around the SEAL’s , and then those who hated
them for whatever reason. Oddly enough, because most
of the Boat Guys came from the fleet we never forgot
how good we had it now in comparison. The end
result was that we were usually employed as the
go-between for the SEAL’s and the Ships crew.
I can remember after our main missions were over and
the relief efforts were in full swing we still
conducted a early morning mission to take the SEAL’s
into the beach. It was a real mission, how
important….I’ll never know, but the Ships crew was
not too happy as they were launching us as usual in
the very we hours of the morning. One of the deck
crew saw in the gear that was being loaded into my
boat was a large bag that looked like a small
surfboard carrying case. After the mission was over
and the SEAL’s returned to the ship they realized
the Ships’ Deck department had thrown their exercise
bars over the side of the ship. After that mission,
tension between the two factions became very jaded.
Luckily, for the SEAL’s if you want to get anything
done on a ship you need to know how the games are
played. Many of the young SEAL’s never experienced
shipboard life and their only experience was in
SPECWAR. My guys were very good at being able to
work in both environments and still get the job
done. If it was one thing I could always count on
was the ability of my guys to wheel and deal and
work the different personalities to our advantage.
Its simple truth about being deployed and working
with very limited resources. It also helped to
have a ships crew that was extremely capable in
their own right. It’s a truth about our line of
work…it’s the people that make the real difference,
not only the technology.
All three ships and their crews combined with
the Marines, Special Warfare , and support element’s
complemented each other well and together they
formed a truly formable naval amphibious force.
We commonly referred this type of deployment as
an “ARG Alpha deployment”, and our job was to
provide our particular special capabilities in
direct support of the ARG Commander. Though we had
our parent command back in Coronado California we
operated with the mindset that we would be operating
independently for extended periods of time. We
trained and integrated extensively with ARG Alpha
elements to project U.S. policy around the world.
Our amphibious forces were designed to take the
fight from the sea and establish a beachhead and
carry the fight landward. To successfully
accomplish this mission the Navy and Marine
leadership utilizes its unconventional warriors to
gain the critical eyes on ground, gather data, and
carry out a myriad of other sensitive missions
against our enemies.
My primary job on this detachment was as an
assigned POIC for 1 of the 3, 24FT Rigid Hulled
Inflatable Boats (RHIB’s) used to deliver SEAL
platoon to there objectives. I was also served as
the Assistant Officer In Charge (AOIC) of the Boat
Detachment; responsible for leading the other POIC’s
and boat crews on missions and assist in briefing
and planning our missions to ARG Leadership.
Each small vessel had a single diesel engine,
with stern drive and a single screw. They were
pretty agile and quiet for such a small platform and
were much lighter than standard ship boats of the
day. However, they also had a down side that would
soon become apparent.
The boat crews were small and consisted of the POIC,
Engineer, and Third Hand. These small crews and
craft would become the primary SEAL delivery
platform utilized during naval special warfare
operations during Operation Restore Hope in Somalia,
Africa from December 1992 to February 1993.
On 16 October 1992 the ARG departed San Diego CA.
SEAL Team 1 Alpha Platoon, and Special Boat Unit 12
Detachment consisting of three crews and an OIC.
We arrived in the vicinity of Oahu, Hawaii on 22nd
October and moored all three ships on the 23rd for a
night of replenishment and departed once again on
the 24th of October to head further west.
The ARG was scheduled to participate in
military exercise Valiant Usher, but those plans
were cancelled on 6 November. The USS JUNEAU (LPD
10) made a brief stop for fuel at White Beach,
located in Okinawa Japan and rejoined the USS
TRIPOLI (LPH-10) and USS RUSHMORE (LSD-47) on 7
November to head towards the port of Singapore for
some scheduled maintenance and liberty before
heading off to the Persian Gulf. We were all
looking forward to visiting Singapore.
On 10-12 November the USS JUNEAU completed its
engineering operational performance tests and
entered the strait of Singapore with the USS TRIPOLI
(LPH-10), while the USS RUSHMORE (LSD-47) split from
the ARG for a stop to a port in Malaysia. The
Rushmore rejoined the ARG on 24 November, and in
just a few days the world events, would divert us
from our course to a new destination of Mogadishu
Somalia.
Outward bound from Singapore we finishing our
boat preparation’s to support the scheduled
operations, as my boat in particular, had suffered
some damage from a training evolution that had gone
awry between San Diego and Hawaii (but that’s
another story). My amazing engineer had spearheaded
the much-needed repairs on our boat. He
successfully replaced our diesel engine, repaired
the engine cover, and even fabricated a new steering
wheel by welding chain links in a circle. We all
joked about it; but his one condition was that at
the end of the deployment it would become his
memento to take home. It was that level of pride
and ingenuity that made us so special. There was
nothing we could not overcome!
Little did we know that world events were
rapidly changing for the worse? The United Nations
forces in Somalia were under duress and the
political unrest had thrown that country into
chaos. Long draughts had caused severe food
shortages and local factions were fighting for
dominance. The people of Somalia were starving in
large masses and the warlords were fighting to
control as much of the few resources that were
available. In response to the turmoil President
George Bush decided to act in conjunction with
United Nation resolutions. Orders were given down
through the Chain of Command to our ARG Commander to
respond.
I recall being called into a meeting and told
that we had new orders. We were not going to go the
Persian Gulf, but instead we were going divert to
Africa. I can remember the feeling in the room?
What the heck is in Africa for us to do? We were
simply told that this was not a training mission and
that we would be going in live so start the mission
preparations.
Despite what many people think about how high-tech
the military is the fact is that even though we got
a lot of new devices to try out we did not have the
rapid communication avenues that are common today.
In short, no Internet on an underway ship. We
actually worked in a controlled vacuum of
information. The good thing about this is that we
didn’t have to worry about onboard activities being
leaked out. The down side was that we didn’t get a
real clear picture of what we were heading into, the
way we would today by watching CNN today. We relied
on traditional “Intel” sources of the day.
On December 5th thru 7th
of 1992 we were positioned in the operational area
off the coast of Mogadishu, Somalia. We were far
enough off the coast not to be seen from land and in
the darkness of the night the USS JUNEAU (LPD 10)
moved away from the other ships and proceeded
landward. It was soon thereafter that our boats
were ready to be lifted from their trailers, located
on the forward Starboard side of the Flight Deck,
next to the helicopter hanger. It was from here
that each boat would be lifted up by a large Ships
crane and maneuvered by the ships deck-department
and moved to the “rail” for launching. The rail
was the side of the ship that was our boarding point
for the boat crew. One after another all three
boats were placed into the water and loaded up with
our SEAL’s and ready to go to work. We maneuvered
away from the ship and proceed landward, while the
USS JUNEAU (LPD 10) headed back out into the black.
She disappeared from our sight as we continued in
towards the coast.
I can remember the rush of adrenaline as all
three boats headed towards our target. We scanned
the coastline for shapes and distinguishing lights
and landmark’s and to my amazement only seeing three
lights on the whole coast. There was not a lot to
see from the distance we were at and as we got
closer there things really didn’t change.
How could a modern coastal city have no
illumination? It boggled ones mind. Things sure
would change over the next few months when our ARG
departed and there would be hundreds of lights, over
50 ships anchored off the coast and flights coming
into the airport every 30 minutes.
I can’t emphasize this more, but doing the job
we do…stealth is key to our success! If we did our
job right the enemy will never know we are there
until it’s to late.
It was our responsibility to get the team guys to
the right place so they could do their job
undetected, and get them out when they were done.
Our training had served us all well and even though
the SEAL’s had left to perform there assigned
missions. We performed our mission to remain
undetected and at the ready to support as needed.
It was during this time that I truly became aware of
the responsibility of leadership and making sound
decisions in the field. I can remember my concern
to get it right. It was shortly thereafter that my
guys had spotted some small waterborne craft closing
on our position. I would be faced with my making my
first of many tactical decisions. We could of
engaged but that would of announced our presence and
compromise our mission objectives. I ordered our
boats to reverse slowly and the keep darkness of the
sea at our back, while we shadowed the contacts,
weapons ready and ever watchful, we ensured they did
not impede on the SEAL’s mission. I was very
satisfied that I had made the right decision and the
both missions ended successfully. Though my actions
were not extraordinary by any means they were right
for the moment.
We learned through our numerous nightly missions,
that one of the drawbacks of our boats was its
limited ability to get on step in arduous
sea-states. The boats had difficulty achieving
optimal speeds to function properly. Because the
pitch of the screw had to be matched with sea-state
and combined weight of personnel and equipment
carried. In short, we were limited in our overall
effectiveness in crappy sea-states. It was
apparent our boats needed more power and more room.
Additionally, the single screw meant that if we
suffered a prop casualty we had no redundancy factor
to save our hides. This was of particular danger as
we maneuvered into shallow and rocky uncharted
waters over the next weeks. Changing a prop in the
darkness of the night is no easy task as your
heading towards the surf zone. Luckily for us we
had the forethought to carry multiple props with
variable pitches and became proficient in changing
out props through repetition.
In the days that would follow a thorough and
accurate hydrographic survey would be completed and
would allow our forces to safely operate and land on
the different landing zones. Even the air-cushioned
hoover craft required us to make routes of
approach. Though they seldom heeded any directional
guidance in actual operations. I can remember
having to take evasive action more than once to
avoid being run over by those LCAC (Landing Craft
Air Cushion) jockeys.
One of our main objectives in our missions was
to ensure that the Mogadishu port facilities were
properly evaluated and cleared for future supply
off-loads. This was a difficult assignment because
the Port of Mogadishu has very little protection
from the incoming waves, and the seas come almost
directly in and reverberate off all three sides and
makes the pier area extremely chopping to operate
in. The warlords had sunk tugboats in the harbor to
block usage, and the waters were fouled by strong
currents and sewage run-off. Across from the mouth
of the Harbor was a large container ship that had
breached on the rocks and large white crests could
be seen crashing against its hull. It gave us all a
very realistic picture of what could happen to the
relief efforts if we didn’t do the job right.
These initial missions don’t get the same press as
the Marines landing on the beach, but are
nevertheless essential. CNN and the other major
news sources of the day captured the American Forces
landing with their faces painted and Rambo like head
bandanas. I remember the intense backlash from our
SPECWAR leadership on that matter until it was
proven that it was not our personnel that were seen
on TV.
The Port of Mogadishu was soon secured so relief
efforts could start coming in. In the interim we
were assigned to go to neighboring coastal areas to
work with the supporting allied forces. These
missions contributed opening up distribution points
for the incoming supplies and as we continued on
with our tasking more relief ships began to anchor
off the coast of Mogadishu, waiting for their turn
to off-load. Soon we had so many ships waiting for
their turn to off-load that it was hard to discern
whom they belonged to. Never underestimate the
confusion that can occur when many multinational
forces work in close proximity to each other. Also
we learned very early on that when going to another
nations Ships; one should always bring things to
exchange in trade (small memento’s and such). We
also learned that our Navy was one of the very few
that was a dry navy still. We loved going over to
the Canadian and Australian Ships for cross training
and social events. They were great hosts, but the
French had the best food by far. We were fortunate
that the SEAL’s brought back large bags of fresh
French bread. It was better than gold at the time.
In contrast it made the fact that we were all trying
to feed the Somalia people all that more ironic.
The sad truth is so there were so many people
waiting for food that people literally fought in the
streets for grain that would fall off the supply
trucks. They fought and then would disappear back
into the masses. It’s a sight that I’ll never
forget. It made me so mad to see the how far a
society could devolve. How there government failed
them and the result was that so many people were
suffering…for what? Their society had failed
itself. It was literally an image out of a post
apocalyptic movie like “Road Warrior”, and we were
trying to feed them all.
On a positive note we did get a surprise when the
President of the United States came out to see first
hand how things were being handled. During his
visit our SEAL Team and Boat Unit personnel were
utilized to augment Presidents Bush’s personal
security forces. I’ll never forget the sight of his
three identical helicopters being washed and
polished on the flight deck. They literally
glittered in the sunlight. What a sight off the
coast of Somalia. That mission was quite the honor
for us. President Bush looked so tired, it was
apparent the stress of the job was taking its toll
and he probably had not slept much in many days.
However, he still took the time to thank us before
he headed out to his next stop in the Persian Gulf.
In February, our stay in Somalia was over and
another Amphibious Readiness Group assumed
operations in our place. We proceeded off to our
next mission and counted ourselves fortunate that we
would all return home to our loved ones. However,
my experiences there will forever change how I
viewed the world as a whole.
Joseph Zemlin CWO3 USN |
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