USS Anchorage Finishes AMW Certifications

San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage (LPD 23), along with the embarked Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force, ASEAN, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, arrived in Pearl Harbor March 28.

Prior to the transit to Hawaii, Anchorage set off to achieve certifications AMW 2.3B and 2.4B off the coast of Southern California. The certifications are a series of exercises designed to assess an amphibious ship’s ability to recover a wide range of amphibious vehicles.

The certifications included recovering a landing craft utility boat, Marine amphibious assault vehicles and a simulated emergency recovery of a stranded landing craft, air cushioned (LCAC) as the LCAC simulated complete loss of power while off cushion.

“It is a very challenging and tedious recovery, but like always, Anchorage left nothing to chance and executed it flawlessly,” said Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Ellis, the ship’s boatswain.

Despite the challenges, the crew of Anchorage completed the certifications before setting course for Pearl Harbor.

“I am proud to say that we have met every certification on our first try,” said Cmdr. Joel Stewart, commanding officer of Anchorage. “It is this crew that does it. They go out there and they make it happen every time.”

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Press Release, April 1, 2014; Image: Wikimedia