Bobo poses as ‘glorified’ smuggler

By Ed Baxter

Dutch security forces search a crew member aboard Military Sealift Command maritime prepositioning ship MV 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo during maritime interdiction operations off the coast of Sardinia, Italy, for Exercise Destined Glory 2004 held Sept. 16-Oct. 16.

Crouched behind shipping containers on the main deck of a merchant ship, French commandos moved cautiously about with their weapons drawn. Their mission? Seize control of the ship they had boarded, isolate the crew and inspect the ship's cargo.

In this scenario, the ship that French forces suspected of carrying illicit or dangerous cargo was Military Sealift Command's maritime prepositioning ship MV 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo.

Naval forces from France, along with five other countries, conducted maritime interdiction operations aboard Bobo during Exercise Destined Glory 2004 Sept. 16-Oct. 16. Destined Glory, NATO's largest air and amphibious exercise this year, was held off the coast of Sardinia, Italy.

Bobo, a commercial cargo ship under long-term charter to the U.S. Navy, offers a realistic training platform for maritime interdiction operations.

"The size of these ships gives interdiction forces an appreciation for the difficulty and challenges of boarding large commercial vessels," said Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron One commander Capt. James O'Connor, USN. Bobo is more than 670 feet long and has six cargo decks.

French special forces prepare to seize control of Bobo, an MSC ship moonlighting as a suspected arms smuggler during a multi-national military exercise.

For Bobo and her crew, Destined Glory began on the morning of Oct. 4 when French destroyer FS La Motte Picquet ordered the MSC ship to slow down and prepare for an inspection of her cargo and crew. French special forces intercepted and boarded the ship via small watercraft referred to as fast boats. The French forces were followed aboard Bobo by teams from USS Underwood and the Netherlands naval ship HNLS Van Speijk.

Special forces searched crew members, secured the bridge and questioned the master — played by ship's chief steward, Rich Gray — about the ship's cargo and destination.

"He [Gray] did a great job coordinating the exercise participants and acting as a realistic master of a vessel being boarded against her will," said Lt. Cmdr. Mike Bryant, USN, MPSRON One's chief staff officer.

The military forces also conducted a thorough inspection of the ship's cargo holds.

"We placed two boxes in each of the holds, one labeled as missile parts and the other labeled as an illicit drug," said Bryant. Teams were tasked to track the boxes down as quickly as possible. "The key was to give them an appreciation for the difficulty of searching a vessel of this size."

An American military boarding team climbs aboard Bobo from a small watercraft commonly referred to as a fast boat.

The next day, Italian destroyer ITS Francesco Mimbelli radioed Bobo for her destination and a list of her cargo. After determining the ship was engaged in suspicious behavior, six Italian team members dropped by rope onto Bobo's flight deck from a helicopter while another eight approached by fast boat. At the same time, a British Royal Navy helicopter assigned to HMS Manchester provided aerial cover for the teams boarding the ship, watching out for enemy fire.

Teams from HMS Manchester and Spain's SPS Andalucia followed the Italians aboard Bobo. On Oct. 8, forces from USS Underwood, FS La Motte Picquet and HNLS Van Speijk reprised their role in the exercise and carried out another boarding operation aboard the ship.

Bobo is one of five commercial cargo ships in MPSRON One. Together, these ships carry enough combat equipment and supplies to support 16,000 deployed U.S. Marines for up to 30 days. Bobo is operated by a crew of 29 merchant mariners under contract to MSC. Additionally, there is a military detachment deployed aboard the ship commanded by a U.S. Navy captain. These ships are forward deployed, ready to get underway and sail in response to an armed conflict or a humanitarian crisis whenever their services are needed.

More than 50 ships and 46 aircraft from the United States, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Canada participated in Exercise Destined Glory.