European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 10, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday May 10, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 9 Petty officer 2nd class Clyde Trahan left checks a front Burner aboard the Guadalcanal while shipmate Seaman Bien Renido Cornie Lantiqua stocks soft drinks pay is Low morale High in a sea of hard work Sis Gary Muter  Mediterranean Bureau Craig Casillas and scan Porter work 18 hours a Day catch a few z s in curtained off Racks and line up for everything from meals to showers to mail. All for far less than the minimum wage of $3.35 an hour. The 22-year-old Casillas who recently was promoted to Petty officer third class and Porter a 23-year-old Seaman Are radioman aboard the Dock Landing ship Whitbey Island. During a recent exercise in rough weather off the coast of Sardinia they served their regular 6 45 . To 6 45 . Watches manned what would be their wartime Battle stations for As Long As three hours. Daily and helped unload supplies for three and four hours a Day. I be never added up the hours we put in a month but let s Sec that s 82 hours a week just on duty watches plus All the other time we put in. It totals out at about 600 hours a month Porter said. For their efforts Casillas from port Byron iii., and Porter from Jacksonville n.c., arc each paid about $800 a month before deductions or $1.33 an hour. If we got paid overtime our paychecks would be a different Story Porter added. Petty officer 1 St class Michael Deleon 31, a Boatswain s mate from Newark n.j., is one of two Landing safety officers on the Whitbey Island. In addition to his regular duties As Petty officer of the deck department s 30-Man second division Delcon alternates with another Petty officer As the person in charge of the ship s flight deck personnel during helicopter operations. The length of flight operations varies greatly he said but on average the operations last 10 to 12 hours daily. Flight quarters can Start at 7 . And secure at 3 . Or 4 .," Delcon said. Then they might Call flight quarters again at 5 . Or even sooner. This week i be been pulling in 14-to 18-hour Days. Normally my Days last from 12 to 14 hours. It s a lot of Long hours but i enjoy what i  Petty officer 2nd class Clyde Trahan 33, a boiler technician aboard the amphibious assault ship Guadalcanal also is used to hard work. Few sailors work harder or put in More hours under trying conditions than those who work in engineering sections aboard Veteran steam riven . Navy ships like the Guadalcanal. Without their efforts the ship can t move and has no electricity the Cooks can t Cook and there is no hot water. The 602-foot-Long Guadalcanal is 26 years old and requires lots of work to keep it running. When we Are under Way the men work an average of 12 to 14 hours a Day said it. Cmdr. Kenneth a. Phelps 49, the Guadalcanal s chief Engineer. That s when everything is going right. If something Breaks we buckle Down and fix it for As Long As that might  Trahan 33, from Houston easily remembers Days when things went wrong. We had a  break Down in the persian Gulf and we worked 42 hours straight to fix it. We look Breaks but it was an ongoing Effort until we got it done Trahan said. As a boiler technician Trahan works in the stifling fire room deep in the ship s bowels. On a Good Day the temperature there is roughly 100 degrees. On bad Days it can be appalling. Trahan remembers the thermometer hitting 138 degrees in the fire room during the Guadalcanal s deployment to the Gulf during the summer of 1987. When we Are in heat like that Well mostly work three hours on and have six to eight hours off to let our bodies catch up Trahan said. Two huge boilers that turn water into steam dominate. The steam turns the turbines that rotate the ship s single screw generates electricity and turns sea water into the fresh water that goes to showers drinking fountains and the Galley. The steam also heats the ship and provides the laundry with hot water. The Guys Down Here arc great said it. Christopher Neuguth. 26, the boilers officer. They have a dirty Job with Long hours and  and noise. The turbines scream at 85 decibels or higher throughout most of the fire room and reach 105 decibels in certain spots. Ear Protection is the Rule and double Protection is necessary in some areas. Basically the Guadalcanal is always making steam whether under Way or in port and work in the engineering spaces Seldom lets up. During a port visit to Naples the Guadalcanal a Small Carrier designed to accommodate a Marine battalion and its helicopters shut Down its engine room for routine maintenance. But that did t Cut any Slack for the engineering division. When we shut Down for repairs the hours actually get longer because there is More work to be done in order to get ready to steam again Neuguth said. Seaman Michael Collier a 20-year-old machinist s mate who works on the ship s main propulsion is finding out about Long hours and Low pay. Collier a resident of Ann Arbor mich., is on his first cruise in the Navy. Sometimes i say what am i doing Herat but it works out. I m getting plenty of experience and the Chance to Sec places like Jerusalem and Rome Collier said. The forty sailors and marines of the Guadalcanal s sales and services division also put in astonishingly Long hours. The division maintains two ship s stores two barbershops a full service laundry and a Host of vending and video machines to serve the 1,600 sailors and marines aboard. The Guadalcanal has 6,000 cases of soda and juice aboard enough to last 45 Days and it s the Job of Seaman  Cornie Lantiqua 20, to keep the ship s nine soft drink vending machines fully stocked he loads the machines up with 120 cases weighing slightly More than 20 pounds apiece of soft drinks a Day. His Day Day in and Day out begins at 7 . And Seldom ends before 10 30 . I think he s the hardest working Guy on the ship said it. Cmdr. Kurt Huff 35, the ship s Supply officer. No one wants to do the Job because it is so hard. When the hot weather comes consumption will go up by 35 to 40 percent and then i la have to Swap Guys in and out of the Job to avoid wearing him out Huff said. I had one Guy doing that Job while we were on a summer cruise to puerto Rico and he lost 35 pounds in a  Petty officer 3rd class Craig Fisher and Seaman Tony Boggs work in the laundry of the amphibious transport Dock Austin and they labor Long hours doing laundry for the nearly 500 officers and sailors aboard. It s Only me and him to do All this laundry Fisher said. We get 15 to 20 bags a Day weighing from 25 to 50 pounds. And that s just dungarees and does t count the officers and chiefs khakis we have to Wash and press. Some of them Send Down seven sets a week to be  Fisher said he and Boggs work about nine hours a Day on laundry and other chores. In addition they stand regular four hour ship s watches every third Day. The worst part is that we be got other jobs Fisher said. I be got to keep the soda machines full collect the coins from them and help Stow ship s supplies. Sometimes we get sundays off but when we get behind during the week because we have no steam due to lost air pressure we have to come in on sundays to catch up. Maybe someone will read about us and Send us some help Fisher said. We sure could use  contributing 10 this report Start writer Gary Miller in Naples