7th Med Deployment

The Navy community can lead to many career paths crossing, or as often said, "It's a small world." Such is the case with Ed Nicholson and Serge Yonov. Formerly, Serge was serving as her Engineer Officer aboard the USS St. Louis (LKA- I ~6). In 1973, Ed Nicholson received orders to become the new Engineering Officer of the USS St. Louis and relieved Serge from that position. Similarly, Ed succeeded Serge as commanding officer of USS Connole. Incidentally, the current commanding officer of the USS Connole, David Schwiering, was serving as the junior engineering officer on the USS St. Louis in 1973 and worked with both Serge and Ed.

After taking command, Ed and crew prepared the ship for its seventh Med. deployment They left in early November 1982 and were separated from their families during the major holidays of November and December.

The message that the crew missed their families comes through clearly from Ed's letter that follows:

"The last we saw of you was when we were pulling Out of our beloved "City by the Sea."

We were heading out to join the Sixth Fleet to accomplish what we have been training for since returning from our last deployment. We left with mixed emotions. We are saddened by the fact that the most precious and sacred holidays were approaching and that these are family times. We are uplifted however, by the knowledge that in making this voyage, we are contributing to the safety and security of those people and ideals we hold dear.

Our transatlantic crossing was uneventful. Our training schedule was more than adequate to fill the hours. it kept everyone busy. We averaged two flights daily by the LAMPS helicopter. The Operations Department had many exercises with the other ships in company and these served to further sharpen our skills in operations. We refueled on two occasions from the USS KALAMAZOO and the professionalism on the part of 1st Division was noticed and positively commented on by the Commodore embarked on KALAMAZOO.

Thanksgiving day was celebrated with the traditional turkey dinner and trimmings. The holiday routine of the day was accented by a skeet shoot from the Flight Deck. Everyone was afforded an opportunity to try his luck. I think that everyone who did try enjoyed himself. This event eventually led to the CONNOLE being challenged by the USS CAPADANNO. We await this challenge with great eagerness. We all know that the ultimate winner will be CONNOLE.

Since entering the Med, we have been engaged in operations in the East Med. During this time, on several occasions we have had ship's force complete jobs in our Engineering and Operations Departments that are not normally ship's force jobs. The know how and "Can Do" spirit of the BT's, HT's, and ET's repaired both the Forced Draft Blowers and Air Search Radars. Either of these problems had the potential for reducing our operational readiness to a significant degree and could have required outside help to correct. This would have left us unable to fulfill our commitments and reduced the overall effectiveness of the Sixth Fleet Battle Group we were working with. However, CONNOLE's own people saw what had to be done and did it. Their work kept us operational and served to contribute to the ongoing tradition that CONNOLE is the most reliable Frigate in the Fleet.

Over the past months, we have been privileged to have on board Mr. Mark Jones. Mr. Jones is an Instructor with the Navy's Program for Afloat College Education (PACE) program. He has been teaching courses in General Mathematics and College Algebra. Members of the crew have been taking Mr. Jones' courses for college credit or as preparation for college. Mr. Jones will be concluding his program and departing CONNOLE when CONNOLE leaves Barcelona. His contributions have been welcome and are appreciated.

Our mail is just beginning to get to us. For this we are grateful. There is nothing quite like a letter from family and friend to raise the spirit. We greatly appreciate the time taken to drop us a line.

As the Yuletide season nears, we are all looking forward to spending it in Barcelona, Spain. It is my hope to see the entire crew take advantage of this opportunity and take in the sounds, sights and flavors of this historic city. Some family members will be flying in from home. We are all looking forward to a well deserved holiday/liberty period in Barcelona.

Barcelona is the major city in the region of Spain, called Catalonia. It is a coastal city with Mt. Montjuich and Mt. Tibidaho rising behind it. It is an ancient city. From 874 to 1137, Barcelona was an independent city state. Then through the marriage of the Count of Barcelona and the Heiress of Argon, the Kingdom of Argon and Catalonia was created with Barcelona as its capital. From this beginning, Barcelona continued to develop into one of the great centers of trade and commerce in the Medieval world.

It is a modern Barcelona that we are sailing into this Christmas Eve. The history of the city blends with modern diversions that I trust will keep us all busy and entertained. Examples of what the crew of CONNOLE will have access to are; The old streets and shops of the Gothic Quarter, the Cathedrals, the Museum of Antique Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Monestary of Montserrat and the world famous Barcelona Zoo.

I trust it will be a memorable port visit for all. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of CONNOLE's family and friends a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. You will all be hearing from us again in the next Family Cram. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy some of the photographs that are enclosed. They tell the story of CONNOLE the best way it can be told."