September 02, 2005

Stop-movement order issued

Times staff

The massive hurricane that hit the Gulf Coast has forced the Navy to issue a stop-movement order, according to a Naval Administrative message released Aug. 31.
The order affects sailors scheduled to report between Aug. 27 and Dec. 30 to these locations:

Bases: Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Naval Air Station Meridian, Naval Station Pascagoula and Stennis Space Center, all in Mississippi; Naval Support Activity New Orleans, Naval Reserve Forces Command and Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, all in Louisiana; and Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps sites in those vicinities.

Ships: Frigates John L. Hall and Stephen W. Groves; fast sealift ships Pollux, Altair and Bellatrix; large medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships Pililaau and Bob Hope; maritime prepositioning ship 1st Lt. Harry L. Martin; mine countermeasures ships Devastator, Gladiator and Scout; destroyer Forrest Sherman; and the pre-commissioning units for the destroyers Kidd and Truxtun and amphibious transport docks San Antonio, Mesa Verda, New Orleans and Green Bay.

Officially, the order does not affect those on temporary additional duty in the above-mentioned locations; however, those scheduled to report in the next 30 days are advised to ask their chain of command to determine what they should do.

I heard that squadrons at NAS New Orleans on detachment are being releived by other crews from sister commands asap.  Apparently all USN commands in the area have moved to DFW to operate as some of these squadrons are in the mideast supporting war operations.

We recieved an email at work (AFRC at Robins AFB), asking for volunteers to house students from Keesler for several days in our homes till the USAF can arrange quarters at another base.  I believe most  of the Airmen there have no quarters left and the Base is in shambles.

BTW: 300 troops going home to Katrina zone