Be Ready, Desert Storm Version

By CDR Mike Capasso, USN (Ret.)

I was a senior Lieutenant and I had just reported to Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Light 42 (HSL-42) in February 1990. I was assigned to Detachment (Det) 6 as the Maintenance Officer and we had completed several short deployments/workups onboard USS Moosbrugger (DD 980) in anticipation of a long deployment sometime that October or November. Moosbrugger, affectionately nicknamed the "Moose" by her crew, was a Spruance-class destroyer homeported in Charleston, South Carolina. She was named in honor of Vice Admiral Frederick Moosbrugger, who is best known for his service in World War II as a highly successful commander of destroyer squadrons.

Friday, 10 Aug 1990 - Notification

I had just finished Combined ASW Training School (CATS) at NAS Jacksonville and returned home early on a Friday afternoon. My wife needed to run to the store, so she left our two boys, both under two years old, with me and headed out. She had not been gone long when the phone rang. It was the Squadron Duty Officer (SDO) calling to tell me the CO wanted to talk to me and to report to the squadron immediately. I replied that I was alone with my boys and that my wife would be back in about an hour. He said it was important, and to come as soon as possible, and to bring my boys with me if I couldn’t have someone watch them.

Since we lived on base, it took me only a few minutes to get to the squadron. I left my boys in the CO’s outer office under the supervision of the SDO. The CO and XO were both there. They informed me that our detachment might be deploying on short notice, to support what would eventually be called Operation Desert Shield. When I asked how short, they said possibly as soon as Monday. They advised me that it wasn’t confirmed yet and not to take any action or tell anyone. Additionally, our Officer in Charge (OIC) was transferring out of the Squadron shortly, so I was going to be promoted from Maintenance Officer to OIC of the Det. I was then dismissed and left the office. In the outer office, I found my boys had been playing with a helicopter model on the coffee table that belonged to the CO and had broken a part off of it. Not a good start to a deployment.

I took my boys, left the office, and walked down to the Det spaces in the hangar to see if anyone was there. Given current events, I knew that the deployment was more likely than not. I also knew that if we had any chance of deploying on Monday, we would need all hands to prepare as soon as possible. I felt that if I waited until the next day, Saturday, it would have been difficult to get everyone back to the squadron as the Det personnel would have been who knows where on an off weekend. I made the decision to have everyone report to the hangar the next morning at 0700. I figured that if the deployment was called off, I would have inconvenienced the men only for a short time on a Saturday. But if the deployment was a go, I could notify the entire det and get to work, giving us a head start. Luckily, my Chief Petty Officer (CPO) was still there. I told the Chief what was going on and had him call everyone in the Det to have them report to the squadron at 0700 on Saturday morning. It turned out to be the right choice, because the decision was made later that night and we were able to get everyone to the hangar early with a lot of work ahead of us.

Pack Up

The next two days were hectic with all the Det personnel arriving early in the morning to late at night at the squadron. We transferred our current aircraft to another det and received a MEF (Middle East Force) configured aircraft. While the maintenance team packed the tools and equipment in cruise boxes and Tri-Wall containers, they also had to prepare our new aircraft for inspection, as well as repair any outstanding discrepancies that might have impacted our departure.

The pilots spent the entire two days renewing our NATOPS and instrument checks so that we would be current for the entire deployment, while coordinating the completion and pack-up of any operational and administrative records. It has always been my contention that a good pilot can pass both the NATOPS and instrument checks, including the written tests, without studying. My belief was put to the test that weekend and I wasn’t disappointed. All five pilots passed with flying colors.

Conclusion

As one might imagine, there was quite a lot of stress on the team. There was not much family time during the packup, but the team pulled together and, with outstanding support from the home-guard squadron personnel, they met the scheduled departure. The equipment truck and van with the majority of the Det personnel departed on Monday morning for Charleston and the aircraft were ferried later that afternoon. HSL-42 Det 6 was onboard the “Moose” and ready for departure by Monday night, 13 August 1990. The ship with the Det onboard departed Charleston on 16 August 1990, less than a week after learning we were going to deploy.

Epilogue

In August 1990, USS Moosbrugger was part of the initial United States response to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. She deployed on six days’ notice, with HSL-42 Det 6 onboard, for Operation Desert Shield to join the rapidly formed USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) Battle Group. She deployed from Charleston, South Carolina and joined the battle group en route to the Red Sea via the Mediterranean Sixth Fleet. In the months of coalition build-up prior to the beginning of hostilities, the Moosbrugger performed several important tasks. She was first tasked to delay her Suez Canal transit by several weeks to provide the U.S. contribution to the formation of NATO's Standing Naval Force Mediterranean, making port calls in Italy and Balearic Islands. Completing her short stay with NATO, Moosbrugger transited the Suez Canal in early September to rejoin Kennedy and immediately took a station in the northern Red Sea entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba, tasked with visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) to support enforcement of UN sanctions against Iraq. In September and early October, she stopped and boarded nearly 30 merchant ships bound for Jordan. Following a short maintenance period in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, she took onboard small contingents of U.S. Coast Guard personnel and Navy SEALs, both trained in VBSS, and continued search and seizure operations until transiting back north through the Suez Canal. Moosbrugger spent Christmas 1990 in Haifa, Israel, departing the following day back to the Suez Canal and Red Sea.

When Operation Desert Storm began in January 1991, Moosbrugger was again assigned maritime interdiction patrol at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. Her assignment was to stop, board, and search merchant vessels flagged by nations sympathetic to Iraq; and to prevent any war materials found onboard from reaching Jordan and, ultimately, Iraq. When hostilities ceased, Moosbrugger made ports-of-call in Egypt, Crete, and Gibraltar before crossing the Atlantic for the United States. Moosbrugger was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for service during the Persian Gulf War.