RAS/recycling, supporting missions and moods.
A Replenishment at Sea (RAS) is a ship-wide event that replenishes fuel, ammunition, provisions, and spare parts to support the carrier's mission of forward power projection.This event also helps boost crew morale with the onload of fresh fruits and vegetables, VRGDV DQG VQDF Ship's Store, and mail from Sailors' family and friends.
RAS events are a major evolution, and USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) depends on the RAS to maintain sustainability, combat readiness and to keep the crew's morale high.
A RAS involves several days of advance planning and coordination, not only within the ship, but also with other ships, such as the Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ships (T-AKE). TAKE and CVN ships coordinate between Supply Officers, but this task is usually delegated to the S-8 Material Officer and his counterpart on the T-AKE. Lt. Rob Salire, Vinson's S-8 Division Material Officer, coordinates the onload and offload of cargo between Carl Vinson and USNS Wally Schirra (T-AKE), the T-AKE ship for the Carl Vinson Strike Group as well as other ships in the Battle Group and operational area.
The method of RAS and the number of pallets to on-load and off-load are used to estimate the length of time required for the operation, as well as give the commanding officer an idea of what the Supply Department will be receiving that day. There are two methods of on-loading or off-loading material, the vertical replenishments (VERTREP) and connected replenishments (CONREP). Both methods are coordinated by multiple departments on the ship, but are primarily driven by the S-8 Material Division. S8 directs all activity on the flight deck, and most of the traffic in the hangar bays on RAS day.
RAS Planning ... Planning occurs weeks before the actual event. The S-8 Material Officer, Principal Assistant for Logistics (PAL), and Principal Assistant for Services (PAS) meet on a daily basis with Air Operations, Surface Operations, and Strike Group officers to plan the date, time, and method of RAS for the upcoming event. The schedule is normally very fluid with dates and times changing every day up until the week of the event. This pre-planning is then translated into a RAS brief that is presented to the CO the day prior to the event. The S-8 Material Officer feeds the information from the brief to the other divisions within Supply so they know the number of pallets they will receive, as well as estimates of what will be offloaded. This data is also communicated to the support ship the week of the event to ensure smooth coordination between the ships and Supply Departments.
RAS Brief with CO ... All shipboard departments give a brief, as this is a ship-wide event. The on-load and off-load process, as well as the quantity of pallets, are briefed to the CO. Coordination with the Handler, who is responsible for managing aircraft movement throughout the ship, and a key player in RAS events, is also extremely important and briefed during this meeting.
Supply Department Brief with all players ... The night before a RAS, Lt. Salire huddles with all the players in Supply to discuss roles, responsibilities, and safety. Every Sailor has the responsibility of a safety observer, and to have their "head on a swivel" at all times when on the flight deck and in the hangar bays. Safety is paramount, especially when forklifts are transiting, helicopters are flying just feet above the flight deck, and pallet jacks are moving heavy pallets weighing up to 2,500 lbs.
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Day of RAS ... Supply is involved with VERTREP and CONREP, retrieval and breakdown of pallets. S-8 Division handles operations on the flight deck, such as removing cargo nets from pallets, forklift operators moving pallets out of the way of the helicopter landing area, and pallet jackers staging pallets on the aircraft elevator to be moved into the hangar bay. The rest of Supply and the ship-wide working party unload and breakdown the pallets for storage.
Recycling via the RAS ... Carl Vinson strives to be a "Green Machine," recycling all reusable material on the ship while minimizing its environmental footprint. Recycled refuse is then sent to a support ship during RAS events. Vinson has completed 16 RAS events so far this cruise and has recycled more than 236 pallets of cardboard bales, 162 triwalls of aluminum waste, and 201 triwalls of plastic pucks."
"Being a part of the RAS, from the planning to completion, is challenging, yet rewarding," explained Lt. Salire. "Seeing the Supply Department work together in one massive evolution is amazing, and improving the morale of the ship in order to complete our mission is what we do."
By Lt. Wayne McDonald, SC, USN, S1 Stock Control Officer and Lt. Robert Salire, SC, USN, S8 Material Officer, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70)
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| Title Annotation: | Cover story |
|---|---|
| Author: | McDonald, Wayne; Salire, Robert |
| Publication: | Navy Supply Corps Newsletter |
| Date: | May 1, 2011 |
| Words: | 793 |
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