USNS Niagara Falls supply officers fully qualified

By Ensign Emma Mathis

Earning a Surface Warfare Supply Corps Officer pin is an important and difficult achievement for any supply officer. Fortunately, none of the Supply Corps officers aboard Military Sealift Command combat stores ship USNS Niagara Falls will have to worry about earning one of the coveted pins anymore.

During a recent period in port in Guam, Cmdr. Dave Hellman, SC, USN, officer in charge of the ship's embarked military detachment, along with Ensign Emma Mathis, SC, USN, and Ensign Ben Razon, SC, USN, all successfully completed their Surface Warfare Supply Corps Officer board and earned their SWSCO pins. Since the ship's other supply officers, Lt. j.g. Katrina Boarman, SC, USN, Ensign Jecisken Ramsey, SC, USN, and Ensign Kevin Davis, SC, USN, have already earned their warfare pins, each of the Supply Corps officers assigned to Niagara Falls now wears the pin, which signifies an important career milestone.

"It is a significant accomplishment when all of a ship's supply officers have earned their Surface Warfare Supply pins. This is yet another shining moment for the Mighty Falls." noted the ship's master, Capt. Jeffrey Siepert.

The Surface Warfare Supply Corps Officer program is key to the occupational development of Supply Corps officers. "The real purpose behind the SWSCO program is to ensure that supply officers understand the importance of critical shipboard systems and how they operate. This way they can ensure a complete understanding of customers' requests and then quickly provide the best possible supply support," said Cmdr. Hellman.

The newly qualified officers attribute their success to the outstanding professional expertise and willingness of the civilian mariners to spend time explaining how shipboard systems operate and fully integrating the supply officers into various shipboard evolutions.

It is this spirit of dedication and teamwork that enabled Niagara Falls and her crew to perform so superbly during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

During OIF, Niagara Falls supported four carrier strike groups, in addition to Amphibious Task Forces East and West, and two amphibious strike groups. The ship delivered more than 19,000 pallets of essential material and nearly 600,000 gallons of fuel to customer ships during 194 underway replenishments. Niagara Falls took on nearly 1,800 pallets of supplies in port in less than 12 hours and delivered an amazing 481 pallets to aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in just 90 minutes.

"My entire ship prides itself on a one ship, one crew philosophy which was clearly evident during our months in the Middle East. The Niagara Falls team was able to maintain a superior level of customer support during an unprecedented period. This could not have happened without the superb teamwork, dedication and command pride of the entire crew," said Capt. Siepert.

The commander of Task Force 53 also commended Niagara Falls and her crew for their superior fleet support during the ship's deployment.

Upon return from their extended deployment, Niagara Falls and her crew hosted a visit by Vice Adm. David L. Brewer III, USN, Commander, Military Sealift Command. During his visit, Vice Adm. Brewer presented each of the ship's civilian mariner crew with a U.S. Maritime Administration Merchant Marine Expeditionary Medal for their service and accomplishments during OIF.