Tippecanoe earns logistics award
This award usually goes to a combat stores ship or ammunition ship, but this year fleet oiler Tippecanoe earned the prestigious award recognizing the superior logistics ship in the Navy's largest fleet area.
Tippecanoe steamed 114,000 nautical miles during 248 days underway in 1999. The oiler provided Navy ships with everything from pancakes and syrup to potable water and spare parts to fuel - keeping the Navy combatant fleet on station and combat ready.
"I hope my entire can-do crew takes enormous pride in this achievement," said Capt. W.R. Helton, the master of USNS Tippecanoe from June 1999 to mid-February 2000 - almost the entire time the ship was assigned to the Seventh Fleet. "Tippecanoe had one of the busiest schedules of all the Seventh Fleet Combat Logistics Force Ships, but my crew rose to the challenge, displaying impressive performance throughout."
Tippecanoe delivered more than 1.2 million barrels of fuel during more than 200 replenishments at sea. The oiler also delivered nearly 1,200 pallets of fleet cargo while underway.
Aside from supplying numerous battle groups, amphibious readiness groups and surface action groups, Tippecanoe provided short notice support to ships operating in response to the crisis in East Timor and short notice support to a Y2K exercise. According to Helton, the oiler missed no commitments and had only six casualty reports in 1999, none of which affected mission capability.
"In the largest fleet area of the world are found the hardest working logistics forces," said Rear Adm. Stephen R. Loeffler, USN, the commander of Logistics Group, Western Pacific, until his change of command July 15. "Of those, Tippecanoe has set the standard of excellence and is richly deserving of recognition as the recipient of the 1999 Commander, Seventh Fleet Award for Logistics Excellence."
Commander, Logistics Group, Western Pacific, coordinates all logistics services for the Navy's Seventh Fleet. Seventh Fleet spans from the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean to the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
Tippecanoe has raised the bar for all logistics ships operating in the Seventh Fleet area of operation. (FROM MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS).
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