CHAFEE PCU Crew Trains at MSI Newport

The officers of the pre commissioning unit for the CHAFEE (DDG-90) participated in shiphandling training on the 3rd and 4th of April at MarineSafety International's Newport training complex. . The main area of concentration, during this first of three scheduled visits, was to prepare for their first time underway, transiting from Bath, Maine, where the ship was built, to Newport, Rhode Island for the commissioning ceremony on 18 October. The officers engaged in specific simulator exercises with situations expected when entering and leaving Narragansett Bay and the approaches to Pier 2 at Coddington Cove, Naval Station Newport. Simulated tugs replicating those actually available in Newport were used to assist the ship to come alongside the dock. In addition, they practiced underway replenishment (UNREP) and transit exercises, as well as mooring and un-mooring exercises in varying wind and environmental conditions. MarineSafety, with simulation facilities at Newport, RI, Norfolk, VA and San Diego, CA, provides shiphandling training to several thousand naval officers per year. Pre-commissioning training is especially valuable because it provides a unique opportunity for the CO and XO to become familiar with the capabilities of the newly assigned deck officers in handling the new ship under a variety of conditions After it has been commissioned, the USS CHAFEE (DDG-90) will be home ported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.