The Bureau of Naval Personnel Career Publication
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'*.*AllHANDS*, THE BUREAU OF NAVAL PERSONNEL CAREER PUBLICATION I APRIL 1968 Nav-Pers-0 NUMBER 615 VICEADMIRAL BENEDICT J. SEMMES, Jr., USN The Chief of NavalPersonnel REARADMIRAL BERNARD M. STREAN, USN The Deputy Chief of NavalPersonnel CAPTAINJAMES G. ANDREWS, USN AssistantChief for Morale Services ~~ ~~ ~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS Features Courage SpokeLouder Than Words-He Had OnlyTime to Say “Duck!“ .......................................................................................... 2 RAG-Time Sailor-Legend of theDelta .................................................. 5 ARD leavesThem High and Dry .............................................................. 7 PatrolBoats Keep the CanalOpen ........................................................ 8 LSTs: Mobile Bases on the Mekong .......................................................... 10 Rescue at Sea: A Navy Routine ................................................................ 12 The Paramedics: Rescue Team Number One ............................................ 16 ReportFrom VX-6: TwelveYears on Ice .................................................. 18 NavalShipyard Repair-Saigon Style .................................................... 24 Life-Saving Feature What Do You Know About OBA? ............................................................ 28 Departments Lettersto the Editor .................................................................................. 32 Today’s Navy ............................................................................................ 38 Servicescope-News AboutOther Services ............................................ 46 Bulletin Board Meeting With MasterChief Petty Officer of the Navy .......................... 48 AdakDuty: It Can Be Vigorous, Rigorous, Rewarding ............................ 49 PrepSchool Can BeStart of Your New Career .................................... 54 ServiceLapel Button and Flagfor Navy Families .................................. 55 Project Transition: Guideline from Military to Civilian Life .................... 57 Special Supplement Turn the Page-If This Report Does Not Concern You ............................ 60 Taffrail Talk ................................................................................................. 64 John A. Oudine, Editor Associate Editors G. VernBlasdell, News Don Addor, layout & Art AnnHanobury, Research Gerald Wolff, Reserve 0 FRONT COVER: FLAGBAG MESSAGE-Flaghoist is a familiar method ofvisual signaling, usuallyfor tactical orders. In case you might be rusty on reading flags, the message flown fromthe halyard reads: USN, USA.-Drawing byALL HANDS staff artisl Robert H. Swain, SN, USN. 0 AT LEFT: SHORT BREAK-Members of a U. S. SEAL team pause in a smoII palm grove duringoperotions in the VinBinh Province of Vietnam. SEALS (Sea, Air and land)are counter-guerrillaexperts highly trained in unconventional warfare and paramilitary opero- tions.-Photo by Dan Dodd, PHI, USN. 0 CREDIT: All photbgraphs published inALL HANDS Magazine are official Deportment of Defense photos unlessotherwise designated. HE HAD ONLY TIME TO SAY “DUCK!” Couruge Spoke Louder IT WAS A DAY of courage, of heroic thegrenade landing in the after deed and death. cockpit of theboat, Ouellet threw That’s how 6 Mar 1967 will be himselfbetween it andthe rest of rememberedby the survivingcrew the crew, absorbing most of the blast of Patrol Boat, River (PBR) 124 and with his own body. by the bereaved parents of Seaman David G. Ouellet, USN, the Navy’s ALMOST ALL OF THE BLAST frag- second Medal of Honor recipient of ments that would have gonefor- the Vietnam conflict. ward were absorbed or deflected by The events which led to his death Ouellet’s flak jacket and body. Most in the Mekong Delta began early in of theshrapnel holes later spotted the evening on 6 March, just a little had gonethrough the stern and over a year ago. down into the hull of the boat. Only PBR 124,with 22-year-old Ouel- three small fragments went forward. let of Wellesley, Mass.,as its for- Onecaused a slight scratchon the wardtwin-50 cal. machinegunner, back of VanZandt’s hand. Another Lad penetrated into theCua Dai caused a slight scratch on the scalp tributary of the MekongRiver in of RM2 Joseph H. Camp. However, search of Viet Cong infiltrators. The Ouellet’s head came to rest in a five- location was about 18 miles from the Seaman David G. Ouellet, USN inchhole caused by the explosion. boat’s homebase, My Tho. “I amfirmly convinced,” said CDRRuecker, “that the action of CCORDING TO THE REPORTS re- Seaman Ouellet was not a mere re- A ceived from Commander K. H. action. From his positiondown in Ruecker, then Commander River the forwardgun mount, with only Squadron Five, darkness was begin- his headand shoulder exposed, he ning to set in over the quiet country- could have easily just lowered him- side whenSeaman Ouellet noticed self tocomplete safety. If hehad suspicious activity in a rice field done so, hewould have escaped near the river bank. He recom- even probable injury. mendedto his boatcaptain SM2 Be pulled himself out of the pro- “The actions of SeamanOuellet James W. Van Zandt that they close tecting gun mount and ran aft down during the flight of the grenade were the area and investigate. the narrow gunwale of the speeding apparent conscientious efforts to At about 24 knots, the boat passed boat shouting as he did so: “Duck!” save his shipmates. He realized the the area ata distance of 40to 50 As he bounded from the gunwale dangerand placed that secondary yards when a fragmentation grenade onto the engine compartment cover, to his determination that his boat was launched from the shore. None with his left handhe pushed the and his shipmateswould not be of the surviving crew members saw boatcaptain, Van Zandt, from be- harmedby the grenade. This is in eitherthe activity or thelaunched tweenthe two vertical waist-high keepingwith his previousconduct grenade.However, it appearsthat armor plates forward to safety. duringthe numerous times he was Ouellet saw both. In the split second that followed under enemy fire.” PBRr move cautiously while searching for enemyon canal bank. II E YELLED FOR us toduck,” re- calls Van Zandt, who told how Ouellet pushed him down and con- tinued running aft without stopping. At his warning, the rest of the crew hit the deck and took cover. CrewmemberJames D. Colville, GM3, USN, who hadbeen forward withOuellet before the young sea- man burst aft, recalls that after the explosion Ouellet was “lying in the port corner of the stern of the boat. I ran back by the starboard gunwale and crossed over to him. Van Zandt reached him about the same time.” Ouellet was badly wounded in the body and forehead. Two of the five- mancrew immediately began ad- 2 ALL HANDS Y, medicalaid and maintain contact with othergroups. Rt: Vietnamese assault boat patrols Mekong Delta. RAG-TIME SAILOR- legen Assignedas an advisor to Viet- HOLDING onto the handrail, the Assessing the damage,Chief chief made his wayalong the Canby and the crew made the neces- nameseCoastal Group (junk force) side of the command boat. At 0200 sary repairs before returning to the 37at ThiemThom inlower Kien it was dark, and everystep had to ambush site to give theenemy a HoaProvince, Canby remained betaken carefully. One careless taste of his own medicine. there for over a year. In September move, and he could have fallen into After silencing the enemyguns, 1965,he was reassignedto Coastal the swollen Mang Thit River. the RAG continued patrolling the Group 36 at Long Phu in Ba Xuyen Withthe Vietnamese River As- area until daybreak. Province. It was while he was serving with sault Group (RAG) commandboat HIS WAS TYPICAL of the kind of moving swiftly downstream,Chief the junk forces that reports of the Tduty experienced by Canby,and chiefs heroic exploits first began cir- Gunner’s Mate Edmund B. Canby, typical of manysuch actions in USN, was making his way tothe culatingaround the Delta. On 9 which U. S. Navy advisors are di- Nov 1964, while he was still serving craft’s forward 20-mm gun mount to rectly involved in the conflict in assist thegunner in repairing his with the ThiemThom junk base Vietnam. units, an eventoccurred which weapon. 15 May 1964, Military Assistance Chief Canby, the enlisted advisor formed the basis of the legend. Advisory Group(MAAG) Vietnam That afternoon, the junk in which tothe Vietnamese Navy’sRAG 31 was redesignated as Military Assist- basedat Vinh Long in SouthViet- Canby was riding as an advisor gave ance Command, Vietnam (MACV) . chaseto five VietCong sampans, nam’s Mekong Delta, had worked on The Navy’s efforts at that time came all types of guns during his 24 years herdingthem toward shore. AShis underthe command of the Naval junk came within range of the shore, in the Navy and could fix the Advisory Group(NAG)-and this weapon, even in the dark. enemymachine guns and rifles was when Chief Canby first reported opened up with a heavy barrage of During one period whichwas sup- for duty in Vietnam. posed to be a 24-hourtruce in the fire. fighting on Buddha’s birthday,the Grabbing a 57-mm recoilless rifle, RAG patrolhad been attacked by I RAG-TIME HERO Canbyimmediately returned the the enemy from both sides of the Whileserving in Southeast Asia, enemy’sfire. The Vietnamesecrew river. The 65-footcommand boat Chief Canby has been decorated by manned the .30-caliber machine gun had taken hits by a B-40 rocket, re- the VietnameseGovernment with and 60-mm mortar. coilless rifle fire and automatic weap- the Cross