Pair of Storis crewmen head to Persian Gulf

Originally at: http://www.kodiakdailymirror.com/?pid=19&id=1058

When the Kodiak-based Coast Guard cutter Storis sets out on its next patrol it will leave two crewmembers on shore, as Petty Officer Chris Eubank and Lt. j.g. Ben Norcross prepare for their coming assignments in the Persian Gulf.

Both joined the Storis as their first Coast Guard assignment, and volunteered to go overseas for a drastic change of climate and duties.

Eubank, originally from Davison, Mich., has never traveled overseas before. He decided to ask for the Middle East assignment to serve his country and to relieve Coast Guardsmen there who wish to return to their families.

The new assignment means exchanging Alaska for Arabia and a medium, ocean-going vessel for a smaller cutter, or “going from cold to hot and long to short,” Eubank said.

And “hot” doesn’t only refer to high thermometer readings in the busy shipping lanes near Iraq.

“It’s really hectic from what I’ve heard,” Eubank said.

The petty officer is slated to join the 110-foot Monomy, now based in Bahrain, an island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia. It’s one of six Coast Guard vessels tasked to patrol the Persian Gulf and protect Navy vessels from attacks such as the one that killed 17 sailors on the USS Cole in October 2000.

“Our job is to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Eubank said.

Although he has never served on one of the smaller cutters, Eubank has seen the Monomy because it appeared in the feature film “Clear and Present Danger” starring Harrison Ford. As a boson’s mate third class on Storis, Eubank’s primary duty was navigation. For the Persian Gulf he will go through more than two months of special training in Virginia. It will include not only further practice for potentially dangerous boardings, but important knowledge about the very different culture and customs American crews encounter in the Middle East.

Eubank is grateful for the strong support for his decision he gets from fellow crewmembers, his chain of command and his family.

“My mother was kind of a little shocked when I told her,” Eubank said.

This will mark the first overseas travel for Norcross as well, although he has the inside scoop on serving in the Middle East from a family member.

His sister made a tour of duty as executive officer on the Coast Guard cutter Sapelo in the Persian Gulf in 2004. He also has some preparation for the weather.

“I grew up in south Texas, so I’m used to the heat,” he said.

Norcross knows to expect some culture shock not only from a new country, but also from a very different professional environment. He will go from a 230-foot vessel with a crew of about 80 to a 110-foot cutter with fewer than 20 people on board. And instead of being the Storis’s most junior officer he becomes executive officer of the Wrangell.

The Coast Guard’s missions differ from the Bering Sea to the Persian Gulf, as well, from primarily fisheries enforcement and safety in Alaska to high-risk boardings in a war zone.

Norcross volunteered to go to the Middle East for the opportunity to serve on a 110-foot vessel. He has long looked forward to working on a small cutter.

“If I could have it overseas, that’s even better,” he said.

A 2003 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, Norcross will head back to New London, Conn., this spring for advanced schooling in command and executive officer duties. Then, like Eubank, he will spend some time in Norfolk, Va., training with his new crew.

Norcross feels ready to take on more responsibility on the Wrangell, with a greater variety of duties from navigation and administration to boardings. As executive officer, he will get into the “weeds of taking care of a lot of what goes on on the vessel.”

Norcross and Eubank both expect to be at their new stations in the Persian Gulf by June.

Cmdr. James McCauley, captain of the Storis, is proud of his two subordinates. He said the Kodiak cutter will miss its overseas crewmembers as the Coast Guard goes through a historic expansion and assumes even wider responsibilities.

“We’re pleased to see these guys step up and take this assignment,” McCauley said. “I’m sure they’ll represent the United States well.”