THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407190332
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The amphibious assault ship Wasp, which returned Monday after nine weeks off the coast of Haiti, will get only a brief rest.
The Wasp and its crew of 1,200 will return to the Haitian coast in a matter of weeks, according to its captain.
That is good news for the four-ship amphibious group that's led by the assault ship Inchon. The Inchon group, which is near Haiti now, has had even less time in port.
Capt. Robert C. Chaplin, the Wasp's commanding officer, said Monday his crew will rush maintenance work and get new supplies in Norfolk, then relieve the Inchon in a few weeks.
The Inchon group, which includes the amphibious transport dock Trenton, dock landing ship Portland and tank landing ship Spartanburg County, was ordered to return to sea less than two weeks after completing a six-month deployment.
Those ships, plus dozens of Coast Guard cutters, Navy patrols boats and other vessels, have been ordered to the Caribbean in case Americans have to be evacuated from Haiti. President Clinton also has held out the option of invading the island nation if its elected leaders are not returned to power.
The Haitian crisis has disrupted the plans of hundreds of Norfolk-based sailors and Camp Lejeune, N.C., Marines who had been scheduled to spend more time in port this summer.
Top Navy officers are concerned about the deployment schedules.
``The highest levels are watching our schedule now,'' Chaplin said. The Navy's policy is to allow crews that have completed a six-month deployment to remain in port for the next 12 months, with only short training periods between.
``We've busted that,'' Chaplin said, noting that his crew returned Aug. 20 from a six-month deployment off Somalia.
Navy officials have acknowledged that decisions to reduce the Navy from 550 to about 350 ships by the end of this decade have put more pressure on those that remain. In some cases, maintenance work has had to be delayed.
The Wasp, which carried 650 Marines in addition to its crew, was relieved this week as the command and control ship off Haiti by the 2nd Fleet command ship Mount Whitney. by CNB