Guest post by RADM Ronald J. Rábago, Assistant Commandant for Acquisition and Chief Acquisition Officer (CG-9).
Friday, November 6, our second National Security Cutter, WAESCHE, was preliminarily accepted for delivery by the Coast Guard, and I had the honor of participating in the ceremony at the shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.
It was a sunny day in Pascagoula as I stood on the flight deck of the Coast Guard's newest cutter.
I was joined by CAPT Lance Bardo, the first CO of WAESCHE, as well as officials from Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, personnel from the Gulf Coast Project Residence Office under the leadership of CO CAPT Jim Knight, and WAESCHE's crew. The crew was mustered and at attention as we formally began the process to bring WAESCHE into the Coast Guard fleet. As a member of the acquisition team, this was a very satisfying day. Handing the ship's keys to the Commanding Officer of our newest cutter was a real thrill for me. After years of hard work by hundreds of Coast Guard men and women and craftsmen from the shipbuilding industry, this was the day we were all waiting for.
Today's delivery by the shipbuilder and preliminary acceptance by the Coast Guard marks a huge milestone in transitioning WAESCHE to full operational status in the fleet.
Preliminary acceptance starts off her one-year warranty period, during which we will work with the shipbuilder to resolve outstanding discrepancies from last month's acceptance trials and the entire build process. Final acceptance about a year from now will follow. Preliminary acceptance also puts WAESCHE in "In-Commission Special" status, which means she is part of the Coast Guard but not yet assigned to full mission duties. She'll leave Pascagoula in late December and make her way to her homeport in Alameda, Calif., to prepare for formal commissioning in May.
WAESCHE now joins BERTHOLF (WMSL 750) as the Coast Guard's most technically advanced cutter, capable of taking on our most challenging maritime security and national defense missions around the world. We learned many lessons during BERTHOLF's construction that were applied to WAESCHE, which will leave us with fewer items to resolve with the shipbuilder in the coming months.
WAESCHE can reach speeds of 28+ knots and features state-of-the-art propulsion gear and weapons suites, small boat stern launch and recovery, communications interoperability with Defense Department and other government assets, and outstanding accommodations. This is a tremendously capable cutter that will enable the Coast Guard to meet its many post-9/11 missions.
The Acquisition Directorate is working hard to bring a total of eight National Security Cutters to the fleet. The third National Security Cutter, STRATTON, is 30 percent complete and already making good use of lessons learned from the first two ships as evident in her construction.
After the ceremony, I had a chance to briefly talk with some of WAESCHE's crew. Everyone was excited about being a part of Coast Guard history and their role in bringing this cutter to life. With the enthusiasm and professionalism I saw on their faces, I am completely confident that WAESCHE is off to a great start.
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