APLIS POSTCARD #6
17 March 2007
Position: 73-06N/145-43W
Temperature: -10ºF
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from APLIS. Weather today was the opposite from
yesterday. Started out a cold clear
morning but an overcast developed in the early afternoon.
Overnight, the boats started into their first Tactical
Development test. This is a series of
tests designed to evaluate performance of new sonars and other systems on both
of the submarines. It’s the reason we
have set up the camp and will take up the majority of our test time.
We have a round-the-clock watch team providing tracking
range information for the submarines and coordinating all the
tests/events. Like everything else
we’re doing here, our watches reflect the international military-civilian
flavor of APLIS. The Range Safety
Officers continuously monitor the submarines’ location to assist them with
their operations and ensure that everything is safe. This watch is manned by LtCdr Stuart Capes, the Royal Navy
Submarine Force navigator; LCDR Paul Acquavella, the Senior watch Officer at
the Pacific Submarine Force headquarters; LCDR Mike Johnson, the Operations
Officer at Submarine Development Squadron Five; and LT Jeff St. George, a Watch
Officer at the Atlantic Submarine Force Headquarters. Assisting them on watch are Senior Chief Bissonette, from Arctic
Submarine Laboratory; Petty Officer Darren Davies, from the Royal Navy’s
Maritime Warfare Centre; and Tim Ayers from Arctic Submarine Laboratory.
RSOs - Mike Johnson, Jeff St George,
& Stuart Capes
These watches hold down the fort in our Command Hut - the communication
center of APLIS. We can talk to the submerged
submarines by underwater voice and using the ACOMMS system; when they’re
surfaced by radio. We also communicate
with the airplanes, the helicopter, and field parties by radio. We also have Iridium telephone link with the
our Prudhoe Bay logistics bases and other places ashore. Sometimes it seems that we’re talking on all
of these circuits at the same time but our watch teams handle everything with
calm professionalism.
First thing this morning, we broke off from testing to have
ALEXANDRIA surface again. The reason
for this was to embark today’s VIP party.
This group was hosted by Comander Naval Submarine Force, Vice Admiral
John Donnelly and included Navy Secretary Donald Winter; Congressman John
Culberson from Texas; Congressman Rick Larsen from Washington; Ms. Sid
Ashworth, the Defense advisor to Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska; and Rear
Admiral David Cooke, head of the Royal Navy submarine force.
Early in the afternoon, the VIP party departed Prudhoe Bay and
headed for APLIS. But as they were on
their way here, the fog started to set in, reducing visibility ad making any
landing a bit tricky. Pilot Shawn
Shoultys, who’s been flying into APLIS for over a week, was familiar with our layout. He brought his plane down on our icy runway
then helped talked the second Cessna in as well. After a brief tour of the camp, it was time to send the VIPs out
to ALEX but, by this time, the freezing fog had set in so badly that the
helicopter couldn’t take off. Unfazed,
the VIPs had a great time experiencing camp life. The Secretary and VADM Donnelly even took their turns at mining
ice to help keep us in drinking water.
VADM Donnelly (Commander, Submarine
Force) Mining Ice
After about on hour of being stranded at APLIS, the weather
cleared enough for the helo pilot to make it out to ALEX by hugging the
ground. We set the VIPs off to ALEX
where they will get to spend the night under the ice before surfacing tomorrow
and returning to Washington.
It was an interesting experience all around. The weather disrupted our schedule but, in
typical APLIS style, everybody came through safe and happy. A lot of credit to our pilots who came
through for us in tough circumstances.
Jeff Gossett
Arctic Submarine Laboratory