The U.S. Navy's last deployed guided missile frigate, the Kauffman, returned to Naval Station Norfolk July 12, marking the end not only of their cruise, but of the Perry-class frigate deployments and what sailors have long called the "ghetto navy."
The final cruise began two days late on Jan. 9, because of a broken anchor windlass and ended after a two-day run up the coast from Mayport, Florida, her last port of call -- even after running out of bedsheets three days too early.
"The legacy of this ship isn't the vessel itself, it's the sailors serve on her," said Cmdr. Cmdr. Michael Concannon[cq], Kauffman's commanding officer.
"And though the end is bittersweet, these warriors didn't stop until the end — they didn't take the pack off until they were safe at home and oh-by-the-way, while deployed they knocked it out of the park."
Kauffman's crew with their embarked air detachment and Coast Guard Law Enforcement Team are credited with interdicting, disrupting or recovering more than 14,000 kilograms of cocaine and heroin.
Working in both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans during their six months in Central and South America those totals came the interdiction of 13 different vessels.
"Even with the end in sight," Concannon said. "What these sailors did mattered and along the way, they transited the Panama Canal twice and crossed the line — the equator and became shellbacks, too — they didn't slow down one bit."
Nursing an aging ship that some, even in her own crew, were laying bets in January that Kauffman would only see Norfolk again broken down and under tow, the crew defied those odds to steam into Norfolk under their own power.
"When we left, 62 percent of this crew had never deployed before," he said. "They as experience sailors — and as we decommission, they'll be even better assets to the command who get them because they are frigate sailors."
July 11, just a day before hitting homeport, Concannon pinned the last three frigate sailors to qualify as Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialists. Those pinnings raised the ship's warfare qualification rate to 96 percent.
Operations Specialist 3rd Class Dane Simpson was one of the last three sailors to pass their final board and get their ESWS pin onboard a frigate. Fifteen minutes later, he was back at work, standing the stern watch and assisting in a man overboard drill.
"It's just a great feeling to get this done and to do it on deployment," he said. "And on top of it to be one of the very last to qualify on a frigate is even more special -- to be on of the last frigate surface warriors is really a special thing on top of it all -- it's just an incredible feeling.
Among others to qualify onboard weren't even technically a part of the Kauffman's crew, technically. When the ship was preparing for the cruise, they needed help in engineering. Using the waterfront chief's network, Kauffman's top enlisted sailor, Senior Chief Sonar Technician (SW/AW) Charles "Chuck" Eakley started asking around for volunteers to accompany the ship on the cruise.
"It's a whole different world on a frigate than being on a carrier," said Hull Technician 3rd Class (SW) Mitchell Galles, who spent the cruise as a member of the Kauffman's repair shop. "You do so much more on a frigate as an HT," he said. "On a carrier, you really do a very narrow job, but on a frigate, you not only work with other engineering ratings, you stand watches as the other engineers do and learn a lot more about how the ship runs."
Both Galles, along with fellow Lincoln Engineer Machinery Technician 3rd Class (SW) Garrett Sowl [CQ] both managed to qualify as ESWS, but it's the experience of being a frigate sailor and and both stood watches in engineering department along with the
Two of the volunteers came from the engineering department onboard Abraham Lincoln. The pair were able to use the opportunity to escape a ship in the shipyard and deploy on something much smaller, possibly net their warfare pin and learn new things about their ratings.
In all there were seven sailors who made all or part of the cruise as a member of the Kauffman's crew.
Another volunteer only did half the cruise, but made quite an impact on the ship and the crew -- but also this sailor hopes, on his own career.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (SW/FMF) Marcellus McCullough, a nearly 13-year navy veteran is currently assigned to the deactivated, but not decommissioned aircraft carrier Enterprise, currently being defeuled and dismantled in Newport News. But in mid-April his chief on Enterprise was looking for a volunteer to join a ship on cruise to be the "baby doc" an assistant to the ship's independent duty corpsman.
"I saw it as an opportunity to improve myself as a sailor and learn more about my rating," McCullough said. "I also wanted to get my surface warfare pin, too and I'm on a ship that's in a drydock — so it's really tough to get anything signed off there."
But meeting the ship halfway through the cruise, McCullough didn't have much time to get qualified, but in three months, he managed to get signed off and he passed his board just as the ship pulled into Ft. Lauderdale on their way home.
As a second class in a tough rating and with nearly 13-years, McCullough is two advancement cycles away from being sent home due to high-year-tenure if he doesn't make first class and he's hoping his cruise and his second warfare pin will make the difference.
Concannon says he's optimistic that McCullough's brief cruise could make a difference in his career.
"It's a tribute to this sailor what he accomplished, we worked him hard and yet he found the way to get his surface warfare done as well -- it's a great accomplishment for him and we're sending him back to the Enterprise as a better asset for that command, too," Concannon said. "He made a heck of a difference for this crew -- he mattered."
Concannon said that not only the TAD sailors will benefit, he says, as the Kauffman begins the downhill part of the decomissioning process, his sailors, all 221 of them will all move on to new commands — and what he's sending them is a high-quality and experienced sailor.
"My job is to help build the tomorrows sailors and Navy leaders," he said. "Each of us are going to move on to a new command, but with the experience of being a frigate sailor under their belt — many of these sailors are going to make a real difference at the commands they're heading to — and that's really something that will matter to the Navy of today and the Navy of tomorrow."
By the end of September, all remaining frigates will be off the Navy's rolls and either in or on their way to mothballs.
The Navy's last two frigates in service, the Kauffman and the Mayport-based Simpson will both decommission in September. Kauffman on the 18th and Simpson on the 30th.
Both of these ships are earmarked for foreign military sales, officials say, though no foreign countries have yet committed to either ship.
Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.
