Deployment could take Cole to area of 2000 attack

For a related HCCE scenario, check out "My Love is Vengeance" for the EC2003 IOPG battleset at the Harpgamer Scenarios page.

From Navy Times

June 06, 2006

Deployment could take Cole to area of 2000 attack

By William H. McMichael

Times staff writer

NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Va. — The crew of the destroyer Cole is getting ready to deploy once again. But this time, its sailors could end up operating in the vicinity of the October 2000 terrorist attack that crippled and nearly sank the ship.

It would be natural to assume that everyone on board would love to sail to Yemen and the waters off east Africa to somehow “get back” at al-Qaida — which investigators say was behind the boat-borne terrorist bomb that killed 17 sailors and wounded 42 during a refueling stop.

Crew members interviewed Monday say they’re not sure whether that’s the case. But they feel there’s a strong undercurrent of that payback feeling on board DDG 67 — or, at least, of wanting to show its attackers that the Cole is alive and kicking.

“It’s kind of like that saying, ‘You might knock us down today, but we’re going to get up tomorrow,’ ” said Gas Turbine System Technician (Mechanical) 2nd Class (SW) David Perez, who was assigned to the Cole on Sept. 11, 2001. “And that’s kind of the atmosphere for, I would say, most of the crew.”

“We’re not afraid,” said Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SW) Jessica Saunders, admitting that she wouldn’t mind helping fire the destroyer’s 5-inch cannon in anger if the opportunity arose. “We will go back. And we will show U.S. pride to the world.”

At the same time, Perez said, some on board may have mixed emotions. “It’s still kind of an eerie feeling, because of the fact that the last time they were there, they had the blast,” Perez said.

None of the crew members on board during the attack are still with the ship. Twenty-five sailors remain on board who were, like Perez, assigned to Cole during the extensive repair period in Pascagoula, Miss.

The repaired Cole made its first post-attack deployment from November 2003 to May 2004. But it was attached to NATO’s Standing Naval Force Mediterranean and remained in the Mediterranean Sea the entire time.

Now it’s assigned to the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, most of which is pulling out of East Coast ports today en route to North Carolina to pick up the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit before heading to the Middle East. While the Navy doesn’t generally release details of future deployments, officials say the Iwo Jima ESG is likely to follow in the footsteps of other recent ESGs and spend at least part of its deployment off the Horn of Africa in a combination of humanitarian assistance, military training of allies and interception of at-sea pirates and terrorists.

A return to Aden harbor, however, would not appear to be on the horizon for any members of the ESG — or any other U.S. ships. According to Cmdr. Jeff Breslau, 5th Fleet spokesman, Navy ships are getting their fuel underway and do not use the port of Aden.

The Cole will leave Norfolk later this week, officials said.