By Geoff Fein
Personnel aboard the USS Mobile Bay (CG-53) are training on new combat system hardware and software as the ship becomes the second Aegis cruiser in the fleet to undergo the Navy’s move toward open architecture systems under advanced capability build 08 (ACB08).
Among the changes ACB08 is bringing to the Mobile Bay are new software for the combat systems. Training for the conversion from legacy systems to the new technology began back in January, Fire Controlman 1st Class Petty Officer Jeremy Brown, Aegis computer network technician (ACNT), told Defense Daily yesterday.
Brown attended an eight-month ACNT course at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Va. Having worked with legacy systems, training on the new software was completely different, he said.
“It was more of a software intense-type training. There was instruction [about the] new hardware, but the way we, the technicians, interact with the new equipment, [there] is a lot more software interaction,” Brown said.
One big change Brown noted was that actually going in and monitoring the health of the system is much more software-based than it was before.
“That primarily for me was the hardest part of learning the new system…maintaining the system in a different way,” he added.
What made it challenging was that Brown had to learn new operating systems–Linux and Unix, he added. “I didn’t have any experience on Linux.”
Brown was given a two-week course on both Linux and Unix.
“It took me a while…of constantly using that…of training, to even become comfortable using it,” he said. “I have talked to some of [the new sailors coming into the training] and they have had prior experience with that computer language and operating system. They are more adept at picking up the skills quicker.”
Brown is one of five technicians on the Mobile Bay to go through the training. Additionally, the ship will be adding two more technicians who have already gone through the program.
“I started training in January and we didn’t start the upgrade process [on the Mobile Bay] until June…mid-June,” he said. “The ship anticipated a long training time for this new equipment, from the technical side, so we tried to send technicians early enough to where they were not missing out on a lot of the stuff…the process, so they could be there on the ship while they were getting the new equipment and test the new equipment.”
But due to changes in the schoolhouse schedule, it didn’t quite work out that way, Brown added.
“We were missing a lot of our technicians during the process we are going through now…the actual installation. We are starting to light off the equipment and I am the only technician that’s there right now on the ship. All the other technicians are still in school, learning the equipment,” he said.
The crew is working around that problem of not having technicians on the ship during testing and lighting off the new equipment, Brown added.
“They are going to miss a little bit of the beginning, but the major important stuff they need to be on board for, they will be here for it,” he said. “They are missing the initial light off and hands-on experience before they actually do the software load on the ship. Are they going to miss out on everything? No, but they will miss out on the beginning.”
And, Brown added, the reliability of the new equipment the Mobile Bay will be receiving, is “a great improvement” to the legacy systems. “The hardware side is going to have much higher reliability,” he said.
“We technicians are really excited about this new upgrade,” Brown added. “We have a large wealth of knowledge around us on the ship during this installation. We are learning a lot.”
On the operator side, Lt. j.g. Ryanne Amodei, fire control officer, said she went through a two-week course at the schoolhouse at Naval Base San Diego. During that period, operators were introduced to and trained on the new consoles and touch screens, she added.
“We went through a course to talk about some of the new equipment and the capabilities it is going to bring,” Amodei said. “Plus, to get anyone who would be standing watch in combat familiar with where stuff was going to be located on the new consoles and how to work it.”
She added that almost every combat information center (CIC) watchstander went through the training, from enlisted personnel up through lieutenant commanders.
“We did two different two week courses and we probably had 60 people go through, enough that the majority of people would know what they were doing,” Amodei said.
But a few people were unable to go through the training because they were at other schools, she noted.
“When they get back enough people [will] have gone through it [that] we will be able to hold some on-ship training and get them up to speed if they have any questions,” Amodei added. “The schoolhouse is willing to send people over once our consoles are turned on, and operational, as well.”
Amodei also got assistance from the crew of the USS Bunker Hill (CG-52). The Bunker Hill was the first of the Aegis cruisers to undergo ACB08. She wrapped up Combat System Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT) in July and has since returned to service.
“I was in contact with their FCO (Fire Control Officer). We arranged a couple of times for our upper chain of command and combat systems [personnel] to met with theirs,” she said. “One day, I arranged for the CS (combat systems) division to go over and take a look at how drastically the different spaces had changed, the ways the equipment was configured in the space.”
That visit to the Bunker Hill provided the Mobile Bay’s combat systems personnel the opportunity to see the new consoles and displays before they arrived on CG- 53, Amodei said.
Additionally, the Mobile Bay’s crew picked up lessons learned, she added. “Things we could try to avoid that were more difficult for [the Bunker Hill’s crew] going into [ACB08].”
“We used a lot of what they gave us and were able avoid some of the hardships they had with getting stuff off the ship and advice with schooling,” Amodei said. “We made sure to pay close attention to the suggestions they gave us.”
Among those suggestions were learning what it was going to be like when the Mobile Bay brought systems back up, Amodei added, and what equipment is going to be difficult to bring back up after being down for so long.
Amodei added that the Mobile Bay will provide lessons learned to the next Aegis cruiser crew to go through ACB08. The current Navy plan calls for the USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) homeported in Mayport, Fla., and USS Antietam (CG-54), homeported in San Diego, to begin modernization in the coming year.
“The help I got from the Bunker Hill helped us greatly,” she said. “I have gotten an e-mail from an FCO on one of the ships out there that is going to go through [ACB08]…kind of same thing, asking for lessons learned. Anything I can do to help the next guy ease his pain going through the process, I am more than happy to do that.”