People planes places.

Awards

The aircraft rescue and firefighting team at MCAS Yuma, Ariz., received the 2001 Marine Corps Fire Department of the Year award, presented to the unit with the best records in customer service, innovation, quality management and quality of life.

Enterprise (CVN 65) took top honors in the large command category of the Department of Defense 2002 Defense Maintenance Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in military equipment and weapon systems maintenance.

Training Air Wing 2's Lt. Joel Janopoulos was awarded the Naval Air Training Command's 2002

Landing Signal Officer of the Year award.

PCU Ronald Reagan's training officer Cdr. Judith A. Lee received the 2002 Joy Bright Hancock Award during the Women Officers Professional Association symposium. She was selected from a field of 79 officers and senior enlisted personnel for her inspirational leadership.

John. C. Wright III, an NAS Jacksonville, Fla., firefighter, was recognized for his dedication, hard work and distinguished career by being named both the 2001 All-Navy Firefighter of the Year and the 2001 Department of Defense Firefighter of the Year.

Naval Region Mid-Atlantic named Saipan (LHA 2) the large afloat winner in its Personal Excellence Partnership Flagship award. The honor recognizes the best educational partnership program between a Navy command and a school or youth service organization.

Kearsarge (LHD 3) received the 2001 Secretary of the Navy Energy Conservation Award. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in energy management, innovations in the improvements of energy efficient equipment and energy conserving approaches in daily operations.

Four VAQ-130 crew members and the flight deck of Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) were saturated with aircraft fuel when a hose on a EA-6B Prowler ripped away from its nozzle during a routine hot-pump refueling. AO3 Yari Quintana grabbed the out-of-control hose while AD2 Dan Cowan and AT3 Kyle Mahaffey put a crimp in it. AMC(AW) Ward Toner signaled a rapid engine shutdown on the Prowler, after which the aircrew immediately left the aircraft. Then, the damaged hose was dragged to edge of the flight deck and secured. The four sailors each received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for teamwork, quick thinking and professionalism.

Scan Pattern

To provide more opportunities for growth, the Navy recently implemented the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 5 (CWO5). An expected 84 will phase in over the next five years, providing technical experience and leadership and enhancing combat readiness. No additional billets will be created as a result of this implementation, and the number of CWO5 billets may not exceed five percent of the total number of CWO billets. For more information go to www.bupers.navy.mil.

The Aviation Maintenance Officer School, formerly located at the Naval Aviation. Schools Command, NAS Pensacola, Fla., relocated to NAS Whiting Field, Fla., in December 2002. The relocation allows for further growth and professional development of the school, which graduated 249 students from its indoctrination and manager courses in FY 01.

A piece of the Berlin Wall, adorned with a bronze profile of the ship's namesake, was placed aboard PCU Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), crediting the former president with ending the Cold War. Chas Fagan, the artist who created the sculpture, presented the piece to Ronald Reagan Sailors during a ceremony in Newport News, Va.

A new Naval Air Technical Data and Engineering Services Command website, www.natec.navy.mil, designed to relieve the bulk of the paperwork and hassle of publication requests and changes, is leading the push for hosting more than 20,000 NAVAIR publications online by 2007. The digital access is faster for the fleet, and also solves the logistical paper problem of storing and updating the manuals. Most of the manuals will be printable on demand.

Rescues

A Marine Corps C-130 Hercules and two Air Force HH-60G Pavehawk helicopters from Keflavik, Iceland, rescued two people stranded in the ocean 300 miles southeast of Iceland. A Canadian and a British sailor were stranded when the mast from their 30-foot yacht broke during 50-knot winds in 15- to 20-foot seas. The victims were hoisted aboard the helos and provided first-aid treatment while in transit to a hospital in Reykjavik. The VMGR-452 Hercules provided in-flight refueling for the helos due to the long range of the rescue.

Essex (LHD 2), anchored off the coast of Pohang, Korea, onloaded more than 900 members of the 3d Marine Expeditionary Force who were stranded there by typhoon Rusa. The Marines' original transportation had been affected by the typhoon and they were running low on supplies. Essex was called from her forward-deployed port of Sasebo, Japan, to pick up and transport the Marines to Okinawa, Japan.

A Sailor from VFA-151 was recovered off the coast of southern California after spending more than seven hours in the Pacific Ocean. The crewman was blown overboard by jet blast as he walked behind an EA-6B Prowler on board Constellation (CV 64). Because fellow shipmates saw him go over the side, rescue efforts began immediately. Helicopter and rigid inflatable boats from Connie, Valley Forge (CG 50), Bunker Hill (CG 52) and Kinkaid (DD 965) assisted and returned the victim to Connie where he was in stable condition after medical treatment.