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The New Orleans recently celebrated her 20th birthday, and on this day is still performing her mission with the pride and enthusiasm of a crew that keeps her young. To successfully carry out the practice assault depicted in some of these photos, the crew has been at work long before the helicopters are launched. In fact, one of the most complex evolutions in naval warfare is the amphibious assault. The planning, execution, coordination, and control of all assault elements is a remarkable process carried out by professionals who epitomize the team concept. Planning culminates on the evening prior to an assault with publication of the “green sheet," a master plan for all ship's departments to implement for the next day's activities.
The mess cooks have barely put away the midnight rations when breakfast food is broken out for the 0300 feeding of aircrews, flight deck crews, and the assault Marines. The New Orleans can serve up to 8,000 meals a day when a full complement of Marines is on board. Flight deck crews are preparing this floating airfield for a day's operation as fuel crews, firefighters, handlers, ordnancemen, and landing signal enlisted- men seem no more than faint shadows swirling among the helicopters being readied for this predawn assault. By day's end they will have conducted several hundred
launches and recoveries, pumped tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel, and loaded hundreds of troops and tons of cargo. A day that started at 0200 may not end until early the next evening.
The entire crew of the New Orleans takes part in putting a Marine rifleman on the beach. The engineers perform seeming miracles in an aged plant, distilling more than 100,000 gallons of sea water daily to provide fresh water for habitability, the cleaning of helicopters, and the feed water necessary for steam propulsion. Communicators process a seemingly endless chain of messages while a full spectrum of radio gear is tuned and peaked to support the operation. From the movement of ammunition in the early morning hours to the heaps of laundry washed throughout the night, the crew of the New Orleans must continue the internal routine that keeps a ship operating at sea.
When the practice assault has concluded, the Marines have returned to their floating bivouac, and the flight deck has grown quiet, the ship's crew is just beginning preparations for another day.