Week 12 wasn’t quite as busy as the past eleven…all our special operations/port visits/exercises are over, and we are finally on the way home! We began our week with a slow transit towards the Azores. On the way, we had a bit of extra time, which was great for completing some much needed training. This week we were able to fit in some Damage Control Drills, Emergency Egress Training, and all kinds of medical training, including heat stress, CPR & First Aid.

The most exciting thing to happen on the way to the Azores wasn’t just the training though…we had our first big Search & Rescue (SAR) case! While standing a diligent lookout watch, SN Lheureux spotted a small sea turtle which was caught in a derelict fishing net. NORTHLAND sprang into action, turned around, dropped the small boat and rushed out to save the little sea creature. The little guy was quite exhausted when our small boat crew cut him free, but he was unharmed and swam away to safety. Thankfully, we found him before the sharks did!

After the turtle rescue excitement, we continued our transit and conducted a brief stop for fuel and supplies in the Azores, before resuming our transit back to Portsmouth. NORTHLAND is now on a straight track line leading directly home. We’re making use of our transit time to conduct training that we’ve been unable to do given our busy schedule for the past three months including helo ops just before we get home. While we would prefer to just take it easy our last week underway, we have a busy inport scheduled with two administrative and operational inspections including Shipboard Helicopter Standardization which means we need to be fully up to speed when it comes to helo ops. Bottom line, it looks like we’ll be arriving as scheduled and perhaps even a day early if the weather doesn’t slow us down too much…we can’t wait to get back and see everyone!

Reaching out to save our sea turtle friend.

HS1 Marin giving us all some General Military Training (GMT) on First Aid

SN Rosteck & SN Pulman waiting on the boat deck for the small boat to return after saving the sea turtle.

The sea turtle just before the rescue.

On the way out to our big turtle rescue case!

Small boat training on the boat deck.

Some pilot whales in the Atlantic.

OS1 Herman, OS2 Rivera, ET2 Fowler, OS2 Hamrah & ET1 Deocampo, receive some training on Maneuvering Boards.

NORTHLAND conducts a day of small boat training to get new members qualified

EM3 Campbell walks someone through an emergency egress drill