The Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force (NFAF) provides logistic support to U.S. Navy combatant ships worldwide.

ilitary Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force provides logistic support to U.S. Navy combatant ships worldwide by delivering fuel, food, cargo and ammunition at sea, as well as providing towing and salvage services. The NFAF also includes two 1,000-bed hospital ships, USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort, which are retained in reduced operating status and can be fully crewed in five days. U.S. Civil Service mariners crew the NFAF ships, some of which also have small U.S. Navy military departments on board to provide technical support. Fiscal year 2000 saw the beginning of a program to replace the military communications departments with federal civilian mariners on all NFAF ships. On the combat stores ships, Navy personnel also conduct supply operations. Military medical professionals staff the medical facilities aboard the hospital ships.

Deployments and Operations

Fleet Oilers

USNS Tippecanoe, USNS Yukon and USNS Walter S. Diehl all deployed to the Persian Gulf for various periods during FY 2000. Cumulatively these three ships supported USS Kitty Hawk, Theodore Roosevelt, Constellation, Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Washington carrier strike groups in addition to several amphibious readiness groups and other combatant units.

MSC oiler USNS Kanawha's fuel hoses connect to the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower during underway replenishment operations in the Mediterranean Sea. (Photo by Edward Baxter)

USNS Rappahannock operated throughout the Western Pacific in support of various units of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. USNS John Ericsson operated out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as the Mid-Pacific oiler until USNS Yukon relieved her in early July.

In mid-July, Yukon was damaged by another ship during an underway replenishment operation. As a result, Yukon was placed in a shipyard repair period earlier than scheduled for damage repair and other normal maintenance actions. While Yukon was unavailable, Navy ships in the mid-Pacific refueled primarily in port in Hawaii.

Closer to home, USNS Pecos and USNS Guadalupe supported Third Fleet in the Eastern Pacific. Along the way, both of these ships were singled out for praise from the Joint Interagency Task Force for their superb support of Navy and Coast Guard units during several counter-drug operations. On the East Coast, USNS Kanawha deployed in tandem with the ammunition ship USNS Mount Baker to support the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower battle group throughout a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Prior to deploying, Kanawha and Mount Baker received several communications suite upgrades to enhance their connectivity with the battle group. The two ships returned to Norfolk in August, but will deploy together again in November 2000 with Harry S. Truman battle group.

The other East Coast oilers, USNS Laramie, USNS Leroy Grumman, USNS Patuxent and USNS John Lenthall made Mediterranean deployments during FY 2000 and performed Atlantic duty oiler operations when not deployed.

Combat Stores Ships

MSC's six combat stores ships provided critical underway logistical support to

A commercial helicopter prepares for a vertical replenishment mission from an MSC combat stores ship.

deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious strike groups around the world. USNS Spica and USNS Niagara Falls both served in the Persian Gulf during the year, supporting carrier strike groups and other combatant units deployed there in support of Operation Southern Watch. USNS San Jose provided service to ships throughout the Western Pacific and was a key player in Operation Warden, which helped stabilize and maintain the peace in East Timor.

On the East Coast, USNS Sirius broke new ground by becoming the first U.S. Navy logistics ship to complete a Mediterranean deployment using a commercial helicopter detachment in place of Navy CH-46s.

USNS Sirius is the first Navy logistics ship to complete a Mediterranean deployment using a commercial helicopter detachment.

When sister ship USNS Saturn relieved Sirius in July, the commercial helicopter detachment transferred from one ship to the other, remaining forward-deployed in the Mediterranean full time.

In November 1999, the crew of combat stores ship USNS Spica provided food, water and assistance to an Iranian skiff five days adrift in the Gulf of Oman.

USNS Concord also enjoyed a very successful Mediterranean deployment with a standard CH-46 detachment embarked.

Ammunition Ships

MSC operated five ammunition ships during FY 2000, including USNS Shasta, the last U.S. Navy ammunition ship to undergo conversion to MSC specifications. Shasta completed her civilian modification overhaul in Norfolk in February and got underway for San Diego by way of the Panama Canal the following month. She underwent further trials and a post-shakedown availability on the West Coast prior to entering full MSC service as the Eastern Pacific/Mid-Pacific ammunition ship in July.

Ammunition ship USNS Kiska replenishes aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

In March, Shasta saved nine Colombians and their dog, adrift for seven days on their fishing vessel off the coast of Central America. Shasta fed the crew and towed the vessel to safety.

In July, MSC's longest-serving ammunition ship, USNS Kilauea, returned from the Western Pacific after 18 years forward deployed in support of the Seventh Fleet. Kilauea was scheduled to enter reduced operating status at the end of the fiscal year. USNS Kiska took Kilauea's place in the Western Pacific, along with USNS Flint.

On the other side of the world, USNS Mount Baker was the East Coast's only active ammunition ship, with USNS Butte and USNS Santa Barbara in reduced operating status.

Fleet Tugs

MSC operated five ocean-going fleet tugs in FY 2000. Three of the tugs were forward deployed, one in the Persian Gulf and two in the Mediterranean at different times, performing services for Fifth and Sixth Fleets respectively.

USNS Apache completed a one-year Mediterranean deployment in April 2000, and USNS Mohawk began her deployment in late August.

MSC's fleet ocean-going tug USNS Catawba acted as the on-scene command unit for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet when Gulf Air Flight 072 crashed off the northern coast of Bahrain. The tug's shallow draft allowed her to drop anchor close to the crash site. GMC(EOD) Steven C. Haines, USN, pulls alongside the wreckage while deployed on Catawba's rigid-hull inflatable boat. (Photo by PH1(SW) Paul Rancourt, USN)

Affectionately known as "the Desert Cat," USNS Catawba is long-term forward deployed to the Persian Gulf where, on several occasions, she performed short-notice tows of disabled vessels that had been detained as a result of the ongoing maritime interdiction operations in support of the United Nations trade sanctions against Iraq. In March, fleet ocean tug Catawba rescued a disabled 100-foot dhow in the Persian Gulf, towing it to a safe anchorage off the coast of Bahrain. When not in the Mediterranean, Apache and Mohawk operate out of Little Creek, Va. USNS Navajo and USNS Sioux operated in the Mid-Pacific and Eastern Pacific respectively.

Because of their unique capabilities, the fleet tugs are often employed in a salvage and recovery role. During FY 2000, Mohawk, Sioux and Catawba each earned kudos for their critically important contributions to the salvage efforts in the wake of the November 1999 Egypt Air, February 2000 Alaska Air and August 2000 Gulf Air crashes.

Hospital Ships

USNS Comfort, usually berthed in reduced operating status in Baltimore, Md., hosted a Discovery Channel film crew during exercise Roving Sands 2000 off the North Carolina coast. Footage gathered was to be used for part of a two-hour television special featuring some of the world's finest vessels, including USS Harry S. Truman, USS Mitscher, coast guard training vessel Eagle and the largest sail boat in the world -- The Royal Clipper. Roving Sands 2000 demonstrated the capability of the Mercy-class hospital ship to handle a surge of 200 patients over a 24-hour period.

ABOVE: Medical personnel embarked aboard hospital ship USNS Comfort evacuate litters to the ship's lifeboats during a casualty evacuation drill off the coast of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
RIGHT: USNS Comfort Medical Treatment Facility personnel off-load mock casualties from a military helicopter on the hospital ship's deck during the multi-national Operation Roving Sands 00 and Operation Purple Caduceus. (Photos by Cristina McGlew)

During FY 2000, Comfort and her sister ship, USNS Mercy, installed advanced digital radiography processing capabilities that reduce hazardous materials on board and provide spontaneous imaging capability to the patient work center. Comfort was also modified to protect against airborne communicable diseases in the Intensive Care Unit area. Mercy will receive this modification next year.

Helicopter Support

MSC combat stores and ammunition ships provide platforms for either Navy CH-46 Sea Knights or commercial contract helicopters, currently SA-330J Pumas, for fleet support operations. The Navy helicopters and crews that support NFAF East and the Second and Sixth Fleets are provided by Helicopter Tactical Wing Atlantic at Naval Air Station Norfolk, Va. NFAF West and the Third, Fifth and Seventh Fleets are supported by Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Five operating out of Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, and Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Eleven from Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, Calif.

Harbor Tugs and Service Craft

During FY 2000, contracts were renegotiated for harbor tug services supporting the U.S. Navy fleets on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. New contracts were awarded for harbor tugs and service craft supporting fleet operations in Vieques, Puerto Rico, and for oil spill prevention and support in the Pacific Northwest. Harbor tugs and service craft operations are monitored by MSC's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force program.

Special Awards and Recognition

In addition to routine "Bravo Zulu" messages and kudos from customers, several NFAF ships and civilian mariners were singled out for special honors and awards in FY 2000.

USNS Tippecanoe received the 1999 Commander, Seventh Fleet Award for Logistics Excellence. Tippecanoe steamed 114,000 nautical miles during her 248 underway days in 1999, delivering more than 1.2 million barrels of fuel and 1,200 pallets of cargo during more than 200 underway replenishments.

Admiral of the Ocean Sea Mariners' Plaques and Rosettes for 1999 went to the officers and crew of USNS Kilauea for conducting an emergency tow of the disabled merchant vessel Anangel Might and to Chief Mate Anthony G. Boudouin aboard USNS Walter S. Diehl for his well trained emergency team's response to a shipboard fire, preventing a disaster.

Navy Supply Corps Commander Max Black, the officer in charge of the military department on the USNS Spica, was the recipient of the U.S. Navy League's Admiral Ben Moreel award for logistics excellence. The Navy League also presented two new awards this year specifically for MSC civilian mariners. Boatswain Ingolf Rode Jr. aboard USNS Leroy Grumman received the Able Seaman Oscar Chappell Award for Outstanding Maritime Stewardship, and the Captain Arthur L. Johnson Award for Inspirational Leadership was presented to Assistant Supply Officer Alfredo P. Carmona, who acted as Supply Officer aboard USNS Tippecanoe during the ship's deployment to the Persian Gulf.