PeleNews Pelelu ARG Arrves n U.S. 5th Fleet Photo by MC3 Derek Stroop The Pelelu Amphbous Ready Group steams n formaton. The ARG conssts of USS Green Bay (LPD 20) (left) USS Pelelu (LHA 5) (center) USS Rushmore (LSD 47)wth the 15th MEU embarked through out the three shps. Story by MC2 Danel Vramontes The Pelelu Amphbous Ready Group (ARG) embarked 15th Marne Expedtonary Unt (MEU) arrved n the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operatons, Oct. 30. Whle n the U.S. 5th Fleet, the ARG wll demonstrate forward presence, conduct martme securty operatons partcpate n theater securty cooperaton events. Commed by Capt. Mark S a k a g u c h, c o m m a n d e r, A m p h b o u s Squadron Three, the ARG wll also partcpate n routne scheduled exercses engagements wth coalton regonal partners Durng the past y e a r, the ARG traned for a wde range of contngence stuatons through weeks of underway exercses whle also conductng engneerng, general quarters damage control drlls. The ARG completed ts composte tranng unt exercse certfcaton exercse, n August 2012, testng ts capabltes to conduct amphbous operatons at sea ashore. The 15th MEU, commed by Col. Scott D. Campbell, s comprsed of approxmately 2,400 Marnes S a l o r s, a n d s e r v e s a s t h e n a t o n s rapd-response sea-based Marne A r G r o u n d Ta s k F o r c e f o r t h e r We s t e r n P a c f c d e p l o y m e n t o f 2012. Amphbous shps delver embarked Marne lng forces ashore to provde humantaran assstance, cvl support, noncombatant evacuatons, peace operatons, recovery operatons, d s a s t e r r e l e f s a n d c o u n t e r- p r a c y. Pelelu ARG 15th MEU departed ther home port of San Dego, Camp Pendelton respectvely on Sept. 17 for a scheduled deployment. The three shps of the ARG entered the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operatons n last S e p t e m b e r, completed Exercse Crocodlo n T m o r- L e s t e conducted port vsts to Phuket, Thal, Darwn, Australa Bal, Indonesa. Pelelu ARG conssts of the A m p h b o u s S q u a d r o n T h r e e s t a ff, amphbous assault shp USS Pelelu (LHA 5), amphbous dock lng shp USS Rushmore (LSD 47) amphbous transport dock shp USS Green Bay (LPD 20), wth 15th MEU embarked throughout the three shps. T h e 5 t h F l e e t s a r e a o f o p e r a t o n s encompasses 2.5 mllon square mles of water ncludes the Araban Gulf, Araban Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman parts of the Indan Ocean. The ARG embarked 15th MEU are deployed n support of martme securty operatons theater s e c u r t y c o o p e r a t o n e ff o r t s n t h e U. S. 5 t h F l e e t a r e a o f r e s p o n s b l t y.
2 Vol. 1, Issue 9 SAPR CORNER PELELIU SAPR POC: NCCS SUSAN GARROW Ext 7567 If you have been sexually assaulted, contact any of the followng personnel BEFORE you speak to anyone else: Any Chaplan; Vctm Advocates: 5th Fleet Offers Benefts to Deployed Salors, Marnes PELELIU VICTIM ADVOCATES Lt. Ncole Schwegman Lt. j. g. Andrea Goldsten HMC Jody Lacefeld AO1 Jennfer Martn AO1 Benjamn Callen LS1 Vernta Foster AE1 Jeffery Rtche ABH2 Donnell Vree HM2 Jance Sapaden OS2 Canon Demerly PR2 Cassra Cox HM1 Ryan Hachez MSgt John Lee GySgt Jennfer Antone Capt Joseph Babajan Capt Karla Cumbe or Call statesde, use 24-hour crss hotlne at 877-995- 5247 or text your locaton to 55247. SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORTING OPTIONS There are two types of reportng optons for vctms of sexual assault: Restrcted Unrestrcted. Unrestrcted: An opton that allows a mltary servce member to dsclose to the chan of comm, vctm advocate, SARC, medcal provder, frend, that they were a vctm of sexual assault. Unrestrcted reportng ensures the wdest range of rghts protectons to the vctm comm assstance regardng safety assgnment to nclude; Mltary Protectve Orders-MPOs, separaton from offender, deferred collateral msconduct, accountablty of perpetrator. Vctms receve medcal treatment, ncludng emergency care counselng, assgnment of a vctm advocate. Ths type of reportng ntates an nvestgaton untl fnal dsposton of the case. Some lmtatons of Unrestrcted Reportng: Cannot change to Restrcted Reportng. Vctm may consder nvestgaton or legal process too ntrusve. Assault wll be known dscussed among those wth a need to know. Investgaton court proceedngs may be lengthy (approxmately 6-18 months). Offender(s) may not be convcted. Photo by MC2 Danel Vramontes Salors Marnes sort mal care packages n the hangar bay of amphbous assault shp USS Pelelu (LHA 5) durng an underway replenshment at sea Story by MC3 Derek Stroop Salors Marnes aboard amphbous assault shp USS Pelelu (LHA 5) entered the 5th Fleet area of operaton Oct. 30 wth unque benefts not commonly found n any other U.S. Fleets. These benefts nclude mmnent danger pay (IDP), famly separaton allowance (FSA), tax excluson postage-free mal sponsored by the Unted States Postal Servce. IDP s pad when servce members serve on offcal duty wthn a specfed area of operaton. We are pad on a per dem-bass, sad Personnel Specalst 2nd Class Paul Umal. It s $7.50 per day, whch turns out to be $225 for a full month whle n 5th Fleet. A new polcy came nto effect n December 2011, whch requred the Department of Defense to prorate IDP payments nto ndvdual days served n an IDP specfed area, rather than a lump sum for the months served n the area. Another beneft s the FSA. Accordng to the Defense Fnancal Accountng Servce, FSA s payable to any servce member, wth dependents, who s on duty aboard a shp that s away from ts homeport contnuously for 30 days n the amount of $250 per month. FSA s also payable to both spouses f they are both n the mltary, no matter what branch, sad Umal. Pay earned whle n the 5th Fleet s not taxed. The tax advantage s 100 percent for enlsted members warrant offcers, s lmted to $7368.30 for all other offcers. Ths tax advantage s not prorated, so f at least one day s spent n the combat zone or desgnated area, the whole month s tax free, accordng to mltarypay. defense.gov, webste for the Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel Readness. Salors Marnes on board Pelelu can also take advantage of the free mal opportunty. Accordng to Chef Logstcs Specalst Wllam Taylor, ths opton s only offered to servce members malng from desgnated areas, lke U.S. 5th Fleet, back to the Unted States or any of ts terrtores lke Guam or Puerto Rco. The program s not for loved ones back home malng to the shp. Servce members can mal letters, postcards, sound recordngs or any personal correspondence from an Armed Servces Post Offce to any place n the Unted States. Free mal must have a complete APO or FPO return, the word free n the upper rght h corner wth an APO or FPO postmark complete delvery nformaton, sad Taylor. For more nformaton about free mal contact the shp s post offce at extenson 5262. For more nformaton on pay benefts, contact the personnel offce aboard Pelelu or go to the DFAS webste, http://www.dfas.ml. PeleNews s publshed prnted on board by the USS Pelelu (LHA 5) Meda Dvson. Ths newspaper s an authorzed publcaton for members of the Department of Defense. Contents are not necessarly the offcal vews of the U.S. Government. PeleNews reserves the rght to edt submssons. Submsson deadlne s Thursday by noon to pao@lha5.navy.ml Commng Offcer Capt. John D. Deehr Executve Offcer Cmdr. Jay M. Stengold Comm Master Chef CMDCM (SW/AW) Davd Deare Publc Affars Offcer Lt. Ncole Schwegman Managng Edtor MCC (SW/EXW) Jeremy L. Wood Leadng Petty Offcer MC1 (SW/AW) George G. DeLeon Desgner/Edtor MCSN Alex Vant Leven Staff MC2 (SW) Danel Vramontes MC2 Nck Brown MC3(AW) Valere M. Grayson MC3 Derek S. Stroop MCSN Jasmne N. Sheard MCSN Dustn Knght MCSN Mchael I. Duran
3 Vol. 1, Issue 9 Pelelu Salors, Marnes Begn Savngs Depost Program Story by MCSN Mchael Duran Havng entered U.S. ffth fleet area of responsblty, Oct. 30, Salors Marnes aboard amphbous assault shp USS Pelelu (LHA 5) are elgble for the Department of Defense Savngs Depost Program (SDP), guaranteeng a 10 percent annual nterest rate on funds. Admnstered by the Defense Fnance Accountng Servce, SDP s only elgble to servce members who have deployed longer than 30 days are operatng n desgnated hazardous duty zones. Orgnatng durng the Vetnam War, SDP retuned durng Operaton Desert Storm further exped nto what t s today. The Savngs Depost Program was establshed to help servce members who are deployed save some extra money whle away from home, sad Ensgn Kenneth Anderson from Red Bluff, Calf., Pelelu s dsbursng offcer. Many servce members do not have the ablty to start other types of savngs programs such as [certfcates of depost], stocks, bonds, etc. The SDP allows us to earn a lttle extra money n the absence of other savngs optons that we would have back home. To make a depost, Salor Marnes must contact ther respectve dsbursng offces to open an account. Deposts can be made n cash, personal check, or allotments through the mypay webste. Although members can put n as much money as they lke, nterest s only earned on balances up to $10,000 wth dvdends pad quarterly. The program s extremely benefcal to Salors Marnes because the return $ 100 on your nvestment s very good, sad Anderson. Members who partcpate n the program earn 2.5 percent per quarter on ther nvestment. So for example, f you deposted $1,000 to the program, after sx months, you would make 5 percent, or $50. Compared to most bank savngs accounts, that return rate s much better. Wthdrawng funds pror to leavng the hazardous duty zone s not authorzed, unless n the event of an emergency. Once the member has returned from hazardous duty, the member can choose to close ther accounts; however nterest wll contnue to accrue for an addtonal 90 days after departure. If the account accrues more than the maxmum $10,000, the extra funds can be wthdrawn quarterly upon dvdend earnngs. All SDP accounts wll close automatcally 120 days after leavng the hazardous duty zone to a drect depost nto the account of the member s choosng. The bggest thng for me s that you can set money asde that you can t touch untl after deployment, sad Yeoman 3 rd Class Joshua Nyhaug from Chesapeake, Va. who s nterested n the program. Even though t may not seem lke a whole bunch, you re stll makng a lttle bt off of t you ddn t have before. And you don t want to come back empty-hed. Pelelu s the flagshp for the Pelelu Amphbous Ready Group along wth the embarked 15th Marne Expedtonary Unt are deployed n support of martme securty operatons theater securty cooperaton efforts n the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsblty. At $10,000 * 2.5% = $10,250.00 n 3 Months = $10,500.00* n 6 Months = $10,750.00* n 9 Months $ 0 At $1,000 * 2.5% = $1,025.00 n 3 Months = $1,050.62 n 6 Months = $1,076.89 n 9 Months *Although balances may exceed $10,000, nterest s only earned on balances up to $10,000. CMC s Corner YO, Shpmate! What s up? Great, now that I have your attenton, most of you are aware that there s a new sherff n town! I am QMCM(SW/AW) Barber, I have the prvlege of beng your Comm Master Chef, untl our permanent one arrves. So, what does ths mean for you? Frst, let me begn by tellng you how proud I am of every sngle one of you! Your behavor n our last port vst was outstng! For the most part, everyone dd what the comm asked you to do. You are by far the greatest Salors n the fleet, wthout you, I mean every sngle one of you, we couldn t do the thngs we do. We couldn t accomplsh wth excellence the thngs that we have. Every sngle one of you matters! Everythng you do matters! Don t let anyone tell you otherwse! Although I am proud of all of you, I want everyone to be aware that I have no tolerance n dsrespectng your fellow shpmate. I am a frm belever n treatng people wth respect. Just because I am a master chef you may be a seaman, arman, or freman, I beleve you deserve to be treated wth the same respect as the next person. Therefore, I ntend to treat everyone wth respect as an adult. My expectaton of all of you s that you act lke a mature adult, remember that you are n the Unted States Navy; not Home Depot, not McDonalds, not even Exxon Moble Corp. We have rules, regulatons stards n our Navy for a reason. They are there to make lfe smple, so that we serve our country your shpmates rght. Play by the rules lfe wll be good! If you don t play by the rules, you wll come see the sherff, I wll hold you accountable as an adult. That s my promse to you. I look forward to the tme ahead as your comm master chef. Thank you so much for your tme, keep makng me Pelelu proud. CMC
4 Vol. 1, Issue 9 Pelelu, 15th MEU Volunteer In Thal # Sxty-three Salors Marnes assgned to USS Pelelu (LHA 5) embarked 15th MEU, partcpate n communty servce (COMSERV) Photo Story by MCSN Jasmne Sheard More than 60 Salors Marnes assgned to amphbous assault shp USS Pelelu (LHA 5) embarked 15th Marne Expedtonary Unt partcpated n communty servce projects durng a port vst Oct. 23-24. The communty servce projects nvolved the canal upkeep near Home Lfe Orphanage Foundaton the pantng of Ban Ao Makham School, both located n Phang Nga provnce, north of the sl of Phuket. I thnk that communty servce projects afford Salors Marnes an opportunty to nteract wth the people of our host naton n a unque way, sad Cmdr. Shaun Brown, Pelelu s comm chaplan. These projects allow us to nteract nformally broaden our horzons. Servce members helped moved rocks drt to a caged wall to prevent l eroson at the orphanage, where a rver threatens several buldngs on the campus near the Sarasn Brdge. The orphanage s home to 26 tsunam-affected or underprvleged chldren. It was mportant for me to partcpate n the [communty servce] because t gave me a chance to do some good n the world to help out kds that really needed t, so that they can contnue lvng n a safe envronment, sad Marne Sgt. Ferno Pcazo. Other volunteers ncluded the Royal Tha Navy, U.S. Navy League - Phuket other local organzatons. Ths project also marked the 100th communty servce project conducted sponsored by the U.S. Navy League n the Phuket Phang Nga regon. Local meda from Phuket were also present to cover the mlestone. Gven the fact that ths was the bggest turn out that the [communty servce projects] has had beng the 100th tme t has done ths, has made me even more proud to be a part of ths, Pcazo sad. I strongly recommend to anyone that f they ever get a chance to do ths n the future, take advantage of t. It s well worth the effort tme, just to see those kds smlng laughng wll change your look on the world forever. An estmated 12 tons of materal rocks were moved by the servce members. The other project was the pantng of Baan Ao Makham School, a Muslm school attended by more than 90 chldren between the ages of 4-12. Ths was the frst ever communty servce project at the school. Brad Kenny, member a drector for U.S. Navy League Thal Southern Seaboard councl, coordnated the projects. The reactons I see from locals other people who know about the COMSERV projects are really astonshng, sad Kenny. I thnk t gves a bg lft to the mage to the Navy Marnes. After completng the projects, the servce members were treated wth Tha lunch sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Phang Nga, Andaman Phang Nga the U.S. Navy League - Phuket. The food was prepared served by the chldren ther parents. I thnk t was a wn-wn stuaton, sad Lt. Mark Won, chaplan aboard Pelelu. I saw a couple of our Salors Marnes weepng as we left overheard a few of them sayng, I m nobody n Amerca, but here, I m somebody. Even though t was a small thng for us to just pant ther walls, t was very humblng gratfyng. It s that knd of apprecaton value that we take from ths experence. At the end of the day, the Salors Marnes spent a moment to nteract through some fun games, soccer wth a Tha boxng exhbton dancng from the chldren It was bg for us, but bgger for the chldren, added Won. Havng mltary personnel from Amerca come see them, play wth them spend tme wth them meant a great deal to them. It s hard to say how far that wll go n affectng ther lves, but I m sure among the lst of thngs they wll do ths year, t wll be toward the top of the lst. Story by Petty Offcer 2nd Class Part 8 (SG) T. Grout, PeleNews contrbutor Blake reclned n hs char as the posts refreshed. Stephane wrote, Skypng wth momma makes me mss home. Seeng Jack n the background doesn t help. But I ll be there soon! Several mnutes later Stephane s hgh school frend qups, Can t wat to see you. We ll do Waffle House lke the old days but wth dfferent results than the old days. Blake sends another FRIEND Request. Over the next hour FRIEND Requests from Blake s account entered the famly frends account of Stephane Sharp. How I enjoy ths game, Blake smled wthn. Meanwhle, Stephane fnshed her call, tuned Pora to a country staton, prepared a smple meal of chcken, brown rce, steamed spnach. Her George Forman worked wonders elmnated much of a mess After her meal dressng n shorts SDSU sweatshrt, she admred the Facebook comments, herself respondng sporadcally here there. He opened a new browser logged n to a new Facebook account under a new name. Havng already frended hs Blake account he could now see the others. It was a tedous process usng multple browsers multple accounts all to coordnate on one lead, but the potentally rch payoff overshadowed the nconvenence. After some tme just under a dozen requests from fve dfferent accounts sent, he returned to hs Blake account wrote, The next 24 hours wll seem lke 24 days. It s been a whle snce I could smply talk to a woman. Pan hurts but recovery sometmes makes the pan worthwhle. After a mnute he swtched to one of the other accounts where Blake s post appeared Blake commented on hmself under one of hs other names, I m so happy for you Bro. It s good to see you come back to the person I grew up wth. Then the next account, What! When dd ths happen??? Call me agan, Dude don t get too head over heals man, she s just after your money. Spacng hs comments approprately apart. And he wated. Stephane also followed the post. She smled. She blushed. She dreamed. An hour later more comments, a few from the new FRIENDS then fnally, a message from Stephane.
5 Vol. 1, Issue 9 Phrog Spends Tme Behnd Trgger M an on the Street By MCSN Jasmne Sheard Now that Thal s behnd us, we have lastng memores that we take wth us to share wth our famly frends. Wth so much to do n Phuket wth lttle tme, our man on the street would lke to know what some of our shpmates experenced enjoyed most about ther vst. Logstcs Specalst 2nd Class (SW/AW) Omar Gallardo - Supply Dept. from Newark, N.J. I really enjoyed the food! It was great! It was better than I expected t to be. I got to eat octopus, ther fsh watermelon water. Sergeant Kyle M. Crance, weapons tactcs nstructor CH-46E Sea Knght crew chef, Marne Medum Helcopter Squadron 364 (Ren.), 15th Marne Expedtonary Unt, loads 7.62mm rounds nto a M240D machne gun whle flyng over the Indan Ocean Photo Story by Cpl. John Robbart III 15th MEU Staff Wrter Crewmembers n two CH-46E Sea Knghts traded ther tools for an afternoon n the sky behnd the trggers of some heavy machne guns, Oct. 25. Marne Medum Helcopter Squadron 364 (Ren.), 15th Marne Expedtonary Unt, conducted aeral gunnery tal gunnery tranng to refresh the sklls of eght of the unt s crew chefs as well as aeral tal gunnery qualfcatons for two of ther aeral observers. Aeral gunnery tranng enables us to effectvely engage targets from the ar n a combat envronment, sad Sgt. Kyle M. Crance, CH-46E crew chef weapons tactcs nstructor, HMM-364 (Ren.), 15th MEU. Addtonally, conductng ths tranng wll help us stay current profcent on our qualfcatons. The two Sea Knghts expended more than 6,000 rounds n support of the day nght tranng. It s always a lot of fun to go out shoot, sad Cpl. Herberto Velazquez II, CH-46E Sea Knght aeral observer mechanc, HMM-364 (Ren.), 15th MEU. Shootng n the sky made t that much more fun, added the 22-year-old natve of Newport News, Va. The Marnes acqured targets wth the M240D machne gun the.50-calber heavy machne gun from up to 1500 meters away whle flyng approxmately 200 feet above the water. I was really lookng forward to shootng the M240D, sad Sgt. John H. Krk VI, aeral gunner, observer CH-46E Sea Knght mechanc, HMM-364 (Ren.), 15th MEU. Ths was my frst tme shootng from the tal of the helcopter, added the 25-year-old natve of Ramona, Calf. The tranng also helped qualfy two mechancs for ar combat mssons a more advanced qualfcaton reserved for more experenced crewmembers. Qualfyng these Marnes s mportant because wthout qualfed crews we have less arcraft to support the fght, sad Sgt. Ryan M. St. Antone, CH-46E crew chef weapons tactcs nstructor, HMM- 364 (Ren.), 15th MEU. The tranng also enabled our Marnes the opportunty to practce engagng targets from the sky, added the 30-year-old natve of Hghl, Ind. The Marnes created targets out of wood pallets glow stcks to enable the Marnes to conduct the nght porton of ther tranng. As Marnes, we own the nght, sad Crance. Many mssons are conducted at nght n order to have the upper h. We must be prepared for mssons day or nght, whch s what makes ths tranng so mportant. Marne Medum Helcopter Squadron 364 (Ren.) serves as the avaton combat element for the 15th MEU. The 15th MEU s comprsed of approxmately 2,400 Marnes salors s currently deployed wth the Pelelu Amphbous Ready Group as a theater reserve crss response force throughout U.S. Central Comm the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsblty. Cpl. Alec Schreber from Oakley, Calf. My best experence n Thal was seeng the snake shows. I got to watch a guy kss a cobra I got to play wth a pt vper. Senor Chef Machnst s Mate (SW/AW) Mchael Conners - Engneerng Dept. from Jacksonvlle, Fla. My best experence n Thal was seeng dfferent ethnc backgrounds dfferent cultures, havng that chance to experence new thngs meet new people. Cpl. Edna Knney from Fresno, Calf. My best experence was the elephant tour. My tour gude let me st on the front of the elephant take a lot of photos.