GSEC Michael Slobe, 18 years and still counting at SSC Great Lakes found the website. Chief Slobe has served on FFG 7, FFG 31, FFG 53 and COMDESRON 1, San Diego.
Tom Mc Dermott GSM1 (SW) Ret. served on CG 54, DD 976, LPH 10, FF 1066 and BB 62 is trying to locate GSCS Donald Sticken. Senior Chief Sticken last duty station was RTC Great Lakes. Anyone that would like to aid this sailor in his search please contactE-mail Wes
GSM1(SW) Charles G. Birchfield found our website. Petty Officer Birchfield is deployed and was looking for the Navy Gas Turbines Website for technical directives and general gas turbine bulletins.
GSCM (SW) Ret. Bob Leeder who works for a contractor in San Diego is doing great things by providing deckplate and classroom instruction for our sailors on the West Coast. I saw a report that showed the before and after level of knowledge of these sailors in engineering fundamentals and systems and there was an increase in ever category.
NSWCCD-SSES is testing a new breed of fuel nozzles and the results that I saw after over 500 hours of testing in 501K series engines was phenomenal. Believe it or not, there was no visible coking, sludge or deposits on the fuel nozzle tip. This would be a great improvement over the old Parker Hannifin nozzles and would greatly reduce nozzle replacements.
NSWCCD-SSES is also testing a tool to measure flow across the existing Parker Hannifin nozzles P/N 23039161 to determine serviceability for continued use. The tool would use low pressure air, a manifold and gages to test the nozzle in place.
Looking for DOD directives and also links to Navy directives ? Try Navy Directives where you will find a wealth of information.
Listed below is an opportunity. As I have said in the past I don't derive any financial reward from putting this newsletter together. If I feel it will help any former or existing shipmates then I make the decision to run it.
Position Title: Marine Technical Service Technician Supervisor: Greg FitzGerrell Phone: (713) 803-0556 Fax: (713) 803-0555 E-mail Greg FitzGerrell
Position Duties/Responsibilities: To provide customers with on going service including commissioning support for marine equipment installations. Job holders are required to be familiar with all components and auxiliary equipment associated with GE Gas Turbine driven generators including controlling systems and waste heat boilers. Considerable domestic and international travel required.
Position Qualifications: Five years of related experience with commissioning of GE LM generator packages. A&P license a plus. Positions will be both ship-based and shipyard-based. Any Maritime or U S Navy shipboard experience also a plus. Understanding of U S Coast Guard, Lloyds or DNV rules for sea-going vessels a plus.
Hopefully this newsletter will get posted before we go to the polls. With the presidential election running neck-to-neck, it still might not be too late to cast a vote and make a difference. If you need last minute information try.
Provided below is a great story that was sent to me. Read it please and if you are like me you'll want to run out and buy the book.
The Boys of Iwo Jima
Each year I am hired to go to Washington DC with the eight grade class from Clinton, WI, where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me.
This fall's trip was especially memorable. On the last night of our trip we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history - that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the Island of Iwo Jima, Japan during WW II. Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial.
I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, "Where are you guys from?" I told him that we were from Wisconsin. "Hey, I'm a cheesehead too! Come gather around, Cheeseheads, and I will tell you a story."
(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington DC to speak at the memorial the following day.)
He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who has since passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape.
It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington DC. But it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night. When all had gathered around he reverently began to speak. Here are his words that night.
"My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called "Flags of Our Fathers'" which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me. Six boys raised the flag.
The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called "War." But it didn't turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are generals who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old.
(He pointed to the statue.)
You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from new Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken, and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph. A photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in their for protection, because he was scared. He was 18 years old. Boys won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.
The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the "old man" because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, "Let's go kill some Japanese" or "Let's die for our country."
He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, "You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers."
The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pema Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes walked off Iwo Jima. He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, "You're a hero."
He told reporters, "How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?" So you take your class at school. 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32. Ten years after this picture was taken.
The next guy going around the statue is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, "Yeah you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epson salts. Those cows crapped all night."
Yes he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. The neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.
The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Kronkite's producers, or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say, "No, I'm sorry sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back." My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press. You see, my dad didn't see himself as a hero.
Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed in pain. When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, "I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. DID not come back."
So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima, and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps.
My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time." suddenly the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero none-the-less.
Don Schuler of Solar Turbines, who I might add was one of the first people to access this website, has a new email address. Try D_schuler@msn.com. And RollsRoyce Allison and GE better be looking over their shoulder because Solar is going to be swinging a heavy bat to get the contract for the DD 21 generator sets.
GSCM(SW) Ron Lennon whose first ship was the MERRILL found the website. Master Chief Lennon also served on the DDG 56, DDG 74 and at SWOSCOLCOM and now at COMOPTEVFOR in Norfolk. His email address lennonr@cotf.navy.mil.
GSE3 Travis Mayor who served on the DD996 and FFG 61 found the website and can be contacted at mayorts@yahoo.com.
This maybe a repeat but here we go. GSM1 (SW) Charles G. Birchfield found the site. Charles served on CG 21 and FFG 49. His email is grllcgb@gr110.med.navy.mil.
NSWCCD SSES has come up with a great fixture to determine if 501-K17 and 501-K34 fuel nozzles are clogged and therefore should be replaced. The beauty of the unit is that you can check out the nozzle while it is still installed in the engine and uses LP air as the test medium. This will save countless hours of pulling and replacing nozzles just because they "look bad." In the near future this test fixture will be available to all 501K powered ships.
GSEC (SW) Lew Kretschmer found the site and has served on DD 988, DD 968, at ACU 4, NRD Seattle and SIMA Charleston.
NSWCCD is looking to backfit some of the BURKE class with a Full Authority Digital Control (FADC) system for the generator set. The FADC will replace the LOCOP and provide many more useable functions to facilitate operation and troubleshooting of the GTGS. With FADC the old liquid fuel valve goes away and a new electronic fuel metering valve is installed. FADC is also being considered for installation on some of the CG 47/Model 139 generator sets.
You are never too old ! Those of us that have spent a day or two in Pascagoula know the "good times" you can have on the Gulf Coast. And I can't think of a better way to spend my "out years" then at the U.S. Naval Home, on the beach in Gulfport, MS. The home was authorized by Congress in 1881, originally was in Philadelphia and then through the insight of a few Mississippi Senators and Congressmen it got relocated in Gulfport, MS. If you need more information try this.
Looking for those medical or dental records but just can't seemed to find them ? To request copies of your medical or dental records proceed as follows;
If you retired BEFORE 31 January 1994 the address is NPRC, 9700 Page Avenue Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100.
If you retired AFTER 31 January 1994 the address is DVA, Service Medical Records Center, P.O. Box 150950, St. Louis, MO 63115-8950
All correspondence must include the sponsor's SSN as well as the dependent's SSN if the request is for dependent records.
Anyone who might have any information about GSCM(SW) (Ret.) Macke who served on CG 49 and DDG 51 and at SURFLANT please contact this website.
Seems like SSES has come up with a great idea with these "air assist" Delvan nozzles. They have tested and installed them on the OSCAR AUSTIN and the PORTER with plans to install them on a CG 47 class in January. All reports are in with "no hanging chads or dimples" this might be the answer to our fuel nozzle problems.
Warning, Warning, alien life force approaching ! You DDG 51 fleet sailors pay special attention when they replace the old monel tube bundles and bonnets on your GTGS oil coolers with titanium tube bundles and bonnets. The old cooler shell stays and it is monel NOT titanium. So when you match up the titanium bundle and bonnet with the monel shell you MUST install isolation washers and sleeves to prevent bi-metallic corrosion. There is a short circuit test (break out the multimeter) to ensure the bonnet and bundle are insulated from the shell. So don't forget the isolation washers and sleeves during installation and maintenance.
As I was looking through some old files I found this retirement creed for Chief Petty Officers and it reminded me that GSCM(SW) William C. Harper will retire with 30 years service on January 1, 2001.
THE CHIEF PETTY OFFICER RETIREMENT CREED
You have on this day, experienced that which comes to all of us who serve on active duty in "OUR NAVY." I say "OUR NAVY," because your departure from active duty in no way terminates your relationship. By law and tradition, U.S. Navy Retirees are always on the rolls ever ready to lend their service when the need arises. The respect that you earned as "The Chief" was based on the same attributes that you will now carry into retirement. You should have no regrets. Do not view your retirement as an end of an era but rather as orders to a new and challenging assignment, to a form of independent duty. Remember well that you have been, and will always be, an accepted member of the most exclusive of all fraternities - that of the U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officers. The active duty Chiefs salute you, your retired Chiefs welcome you. I wish you the traditional "Fair Winds and Following Seas."
I wish all our readers and families a very Joyous Holiday Season and a prosperous and Happy New Year.
Early in December, retiring GSCM(SW) Harper informed me that earlier this year Bill DeGraff had passed away. Anyone that was on the West Coast waterfront in the 1980s knew of Bill DeGraff and his amazing technical background. He parlayed his early experience on jet engines with his unique technical background into a one-man GE traveling technical road show that got many of us early GSs' out of trouble. My personal experience with Bill was troubleshooting torque splits on the Spruance class ships. Once you told Bill what you had thus far done to try and alleviate the problem, his first avenue of troubleshooting usually solved the problem. They don't make people like Bill DeGraff anymore.
GSCM(SW) Robert Schiller USNR is heading for CHET in Norfolk for his two weeks active duty. Schiller was with me on the TICONDEROGA and was one of our sharper technicians and a great fuel,oil and water king. He has been tasked while on active duty with reviewing EOSS, PMS, EOCC, etc. to try and reduce the number of start cycles on the 501-K17 and 501-K34 engines. Schiller begins his active duty on January 22 and if you have any inputs on this matter please email him at gscmrob@altavista.com
GSCM(SW) Ron Lennon found the website via GSCS(SW) Brian Hilliard. Lennon first served on the MERRILL, taught at SWOSCOLCOM, and then commissioned the JOHN S. McCAIN and the McFAUL. He is currently at COMOPTEVFOR Norfolk. His email is lennonr@cotf.navy.mil
RM3/2 Gilford Strickland, who was stationed aboard the MERRILL in 1994-96 was sad to hear that she was decommissioned and scrapped. Found out about it through this website !
The man who taught me all I need to know about being a detailer, GSCS Ron Cook (Ret), has a new email address rcook@ncinternet.net And Ron just so you don't get too jealous, I get Capitol ice hockey tickets just about anytime I want them. Good to hear from you.
Let the circle be unbroken ! So Ron Cook passes on the website to another great guy, GSCM(SW) (Ret.) Bob Kuzirian. Bob was at EASTPAC MTT San Diego when he made his visit to the VALLEY FORGE and he was one of those straight shooting type inspectors/trainers. If memory serve me correct I was the detailer that wrote his orders to NETPMSA, Pensacola, FL. His email is kzoo@ispchannel.com Bob also "did his time" on the DD 965, KINKAID.
GSEC(SW) Bob Volpe who was with us at Great Lakes as an instructor and is still a drilling reservist, is working here with me at AERA. Bob was the leading GSE on YORKTOWN and has good insight into the control systems and generator sets.
NSWCCD-SSES has been funded to buy and install more of the DeLavan fuel nozzles they have been testing. The first round of results are in and these new fuel nozzles for the K17 and K34 engines have exhibited little or no nozzle tip fouling or accumulations after more than 500 hours of operation. The nozzles use an air wipe tip design and look to be just the thing to solve the nozzle fouling and coking problem.
PTO mid-bearing. Have you ever replaced one ? If you do, remember that the inner race of the bearing is pressed on the PTO shaft and ALL THREE parts of the bearing (inner race, rollers/separator, outer race) are a matched set and MUST be replaced together.
GSCM(SW) Coker (Ret.) is busy working as a field service representative for GE and is based out of the Chicago area. Coker retired about a year ago and has spent lots of time on the road working for GE power systems. Coker can be reached at sharkie55@aol.com
GSEC(SW) Parks A. Long is currently at Great Lakes. Previously served on the STUMP, HANCOCK, PERRY and at ACU4.
If you are serving on a DDG 51 Class ship, DDG 68 and follow, you have the AG9140 generator sets and there has been a Change B issued to your technical manuals; S9311-C6-MMO-010 thru -060. Look for it and if you can't find it contact me.
Lose the load during restricted maneuvering on a CG 47 class ? One ship did recently and here is what happened. Two GTGs on line, delta Kw mode disabled on TOPS. One GTG bites the dust, the other can't handle the load. Battle lantern check, okay. Cause of initial failure, defective fuel shutoff valve solenoid. Further questioning revealed that NR. 1 GTG had un-explained shutdown problems but no one had really taken time to dig into it and find out the problem. Helluva time to troubleshoot during restricted maneuvering.
Go to www.ncts.navy.mil/nol for a comprehensive list of available Navy websites.
I've got to run and get back to the 10 or so things that are now covering my desk. January 20th is the big day here inside the beltway, when George W. Bush takes the oath of office as our next President. Hope that all those ideas he presented during the election campaign are not hollow pipe dreams about making sure that our men and women in uniform are the best trained and equipped in the world. Today, as I finish this newsletter, George W. is at the Pentagon being briefed by the JCS. Hope you and your family begin the new year in a positive way and that during the year you encounter only fair winds and following seas.
GSMC(SW) Jason Johnson found the site while exploring the web looking for future employment and is currently serving at SIMA Mayport as the Shop 31T MGTI. GSMC Johnson has served on the DD968, DDG995, DD975 and DD991.
Stephen Gill, former GSM1(SW) did a tour on the FIFE, DD991. Stephen is now a mechanical supervisor and can be reached at sgill@tosco.com
GSMC(SW) Eric Fadely (14 years and counting) has served at SIMA Norfolk and Mayport and aboard CG52, DDG52 and FFG32. Can be reached at fadelye@hotmail.com.
Ever hear the expression "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey," well sit right down and I'll tell you the tale. Every sailing ship had cannons for protection. The cannons required round iron cannon balls and the master of the ship wanted the cannon balls stored close to the cannons. The cannonballs were stored in a square base pyramid next to the cannons. The top level had one ball, the next level down four, the next level nine and the bottom level sixteen. Four levels, thirty cannonballs. So how did they keep that bottom level in place when the ship rocked and rolled ? Simple, a small brass plate with one rounded indentation for the bottom level of balls was fastened to the deck. Brass was used because the iron shot would not rust to the "brass monkey." Now, when the temperature drops the brass contracts faster than the iron. As it got cold on those old weather exposed gun-decks, the indentations in the brass monkey got smaller than the iron cannonballs they were holding. When it got cold enough (and we know it did) the bottom layer of balls would pop out of the indentations and the cannonballs began to roll across the entire deck. Thus it could get quite literally, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey."
Ex-GSE LT. William D. Carroll, SRF Detachment, Sasebo Japan is looking for any information or insight about continuing technical problems in the Gas Turbine community. If you would like to share your ideas email LT. Carroll at C431wc@srfsas.navy.mil
Mike Robinson with the DEI Group is looking for engineers with gas turbine experience. DEI is an engineering/consulting firm in Maryland between Baltimore and Annapolis. Looking for full time employees. Contact Mike Robinson, Director of Engineering,Mrobinson@DEI-Group.com
Will the ###hole who adjusted the minimum flow stop on the 501-K17 engine aboard ship please raise your hand. For all you shipboard personnel, there are NO authorized mechanical adjustments you can make on the liquid fuel valve for the 501-K17 or 501-K34 gas turbine engines. NONE ! Follow the troubleshooting procedures in the manuals and before you attempt another start, ask yourself questions like, What was the last maintenance performed on the engine ? What rpm did the engine achieve ? What was the start air pressure ? What was the fuel manifold pressure ? What was the inlet and outlet pressure for the low pressure fuel filter ? Touch the combustor case, is it warm ? Is the LOCOP in the Normal or Service mode ? Does my TIT/TOT meter indicate about ambient temperature ? Are all the fifth and tenth stage bleed air valves open ? So many times we try to "correct" a "fail-to-fire" or "start overtemp" alarm by first making a quick adjustment on the liquid fuel valve and not looking at any symptoms. Not Good !
In the near future there is an initiative to replace the LOCOPs on specific CG47 class ships with the new Full Authority Digital Control (FADC) type control now being installed on DDG51 class ships. First one will probably be outfitted this Summer.
As I signed on to check my email today I had a message from GSCS Andy Smith. Andy commissioned TICONDEROGA with us and just finished at tour on the USS RUSSELL, DDG 59. He is now at FTSCPAC Pearl Harbor and I'm sure is doing well. We will not tell how Andy was doing such a great job cleaning the MER # 2 escape trunk that he fell asleep inside the trunk behind the door. We looked all over the ship for him and had thoughts that he some how got thrown overboard. As luck would have it, he magically re-appeared just before we were about to go tell the CO that we needed to turn the ship around and look for him.
If you don't have time to do it right, you will certainly have time to do it again. TOPS equipped ship loses the load in restricted maneuvering with delta kW mode disabled. Fecal matter hits the fan. Why was delta kW mode disabled ? Had it not been disabled would the surviving GTG been capable of handling the load ? Come to find out that the first failure was cause by a defective fuel shutoff valve solenoid. The ship had previous un-explained shutdowns of the initial GTG, but, I guess didn't dig deep enough.
Hope all is well as we forge into the first few months of the new year. I'm sure GSCS (Retired) Ron Cook as well as GSCS (Retired) John Gunsett if they are still working power production in California got them turning and burning. On the other hand GSCM(SW) (Retired) Steve Lancaster is up at a power plant in Minnesota, and this time of the year he doesn't have to worry about making enough power to keep a six-pack cold. Fair winds and following seas.