Marine will be shipping out to West Pacific

By Lisa Wassilieff Special to The Acorn

"Teamwork," "Drive" and "Courage" are the three words on the Whidbey Island-class dock-landing ship USS Comstock’s crest.

Those words take a literal meaning to the sailors and Marines of Comstock as they prepare for their upcoming Western Pacific deployment scheduled for this summer.

Along with Comstock sailors, Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) will be deploying onboard Comstock as well. Comstock is part of Expeditionary Strike Group Three (ESG-3), which is comprised of six other ships and a submarine.  They are: the Tarawa-class USS Belleau Wood, Austin-class amphibious transport dock USS Denver, Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay, Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Preble and USS Hopper, and Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine, USS Charlotte.

        Marine Lance Cpl. Christian G. Gimenez, the 23-year-old son-in-law of Stan and Gale McKnight of Westlake, is a fire direction controlman who’s attached to the 11th MEU.  He works in an artillery battalion and inputs all the necessary data into computers needed to fire the M198 155mm medium-sized, towed howitzer field artillery.

        Gimenez, who’s married to the McKnights’ daughter, Brooke, is looking forward to enjoying new experiences during the upcoming deployment.

"I hope to accomplish my job, see the world and come back a better man with more life experiences," said Gimenez, a two-year Marine veteran.

Comstock’s mission on deployment will be to transport the 11th MEU and their combat equipment ashore and to designated areas in the Western Pacific. Comstock can launch and support assault craft and helicopters throughout amphibious operations against hostile shores. Comstock has one unique feature: its floodable well deck, essential for mission accomplishment. 

It can be flooded up to six feet forward and 10 feet aft when embarking or launching assault craft, and it can carry up to four Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) vehicles.

The LCACs are high-speed, over-the-beach, fully amphibious landing craft, capable of carrying a 60-ton payload while traveling at an excess of 40 knots. They are used to transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel from ship to shore and across the beach. 

Using this landing craft, Comstock forces can carry out an amphibious assault against a significantly diversified range of littoral area. 

According to the ship’s executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Todd Perry, there are three goals he hopes the entire crew will accomplish while on deployment.    

"I hope this crew gets a chance to see the world, enjoy a sense of accomplishment from doing our nation’s work and that everyone comes home safely," said Perry, 34, from Frederick, Md.

Gimenez is ready and willing to face the challenges of this upcoming deployment.

"It feels good because I get to serve my country. I get to do things normal people don’t get to do," Gimenez said.

Wassilieff is a Navy journalist with the Navy Public Affairs Center at the U.S. Naval Base in San Diego.