European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 08, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hore gear a 16,000-horsepower Lac thunders toward the Shore off Mogadishu Somalia. By Joseph Owen staff writer Magine this you re in the tropics you take a bus to the Beach and you ask the Driver to wait around for a few months until you re ready to leave. Troops of the 15th Marine expeditionary unit who travelled to Somalia aboard the Rushmore have done essentially that. And their bus is still parked offshore. The Rushmore a Dock Landing ship has been anchored near Mogadishu the somalian capital since about a week before its amphibious Landing Craft carried hundreds of marines to the Beach there dec. 9. Commissioned Only 20 months ago the ship has the distinction of undertaking a hands on Mission during its first deployment. We just deployed oct. 16. We stayed in Malaysia for a few Days and now Here we Are. We re accomplishing something said ship s spokesman u. Steve Candina. The 610-foot-Long Rushmore built in Seattle is the seventh in the Whitbey Island class of ships. The class is the fourth generation of Dock Landing ships but the first designed to accommodate the Landing Craft air Cushion Lac hovercraft vessels that shuttled the marines to the Beach beside Mogadishu Airport. Earlier ship docks carried floating amphibious assault vessels such As those seen in famous photographs of the a Day invasion of Normandy in 1944. The Rushmore also carries two ch-53e helicopters a 60-ton and a 20-ton Crane Large repair shops medical and dental facilities and up to 627 marines As Well As its own Crew of about 400. But the Lac troops pronounce it Al Kak is the ship s reason for being. The ship can carry four cacs for combat or five for transport. Each Landing Craft is 87 feet Long carries up to 60 tons and can travel 40 knots 45 Runph Over water or land. Lance Cpl Eric Miller left says the marines quarters aboard the Rushmore Are relatively spacious. About 50 cacs Are now in service another 10 or 15 Are planned or under construction. Watching an Lac come ashore at Mogadishu s Green Beach one has the feeling of being in a science fiction movie about alien machines taking Over the Earth. The vessel drones effortlessly across the Waves through the surf and Over the dunes kicking up a blast of wind and Spray. Then it nestles cautiously into the Sand like a victorian lady adjusting her skirt before sitting Down and it disgorge passengers and cargo. Just before the 1991 persian Gulf War the Navy rehearsed for Lac landings in occupied Kuwait but the Man Euver was a ruse and no actual landings occurred during the War. Later that year however the Landing Craft saw action in Bangladesh where the Navy used them to take Relief supplies to typhoon victims said cmdr. Bruce Dunscombe Captain of the Rushmore. Earlier . Landing Craft could stage assaults on 17 percent of the world s beaches the Lac extends that reach to 70 percent. Any place that s a trouble spot within 100 Miles of the Ocean is within our reach Dunscombe said praising the cacs flexibility. As a military weapon for the 90s, it s something that can see a lot of  Petty officer 3rd class Timothy Stevenson checks a circuit. Dunscombe should know. The new York City native has specialized in Landing Craft since 1979, and was executive officer on the fort Snelling another Dock Landing ship when it put the first troops of the Grenada invasion ashore in october 1983. The Lac carries no Armor and therefore is vulnerable to attack by anything More serious than Small arms fire. But its ability to land in so Many places makes up for that. The key thing to remember about amphibious warfare and this is important because everybody remembers world War ii is to avoid areas where you re going to get into combat Dunscombe said. To marines the Rushmore is As great an advancement As the Lac. On older ships troops Are shoehorned into tiny berths and allotted less space for clothing than even Madonna would need. But these Whitbey Island class ships afford them the same comforts the ship s Crew gets. Marine Lance Cpl. James Carter jr., 22, of Charlotte n.c., said the Rushmore offers everything you can possibly think of. This is a   Carter,.who had been on Shore duty in Somalia twice said the Rushmore s food is better than that of other ships and the air conditioning is a Welcome improvement. Navy Petty officer 2nd class Kevin j. Sinnock 23, of Qunicy iii., a damage control Man was less enthusiastic. He had wanted to keep his former duty assignment on the Abraham Lincoln a new aircraft Carrier. Flight deck operations on the Carrier Are intensive and More fun to watch and the Crew is much larger he said. On a ship this size you see the same people Day in and Day out. It gets pretty old Sinnock said. From inside his windowless damage control Center Sinnock would be hard pressed to guess whether the ship was parked near Mogadishu or Malibu. As far As work goes nothing has changed. But we All know we re doing some Good for hundreds of thousands of people he said. To it. . Jon r. Stueve an assistant first lieutenant some of the Mission s hardest work stems from a the presence of marines. The biggest problem is during mess when we re got to feed twice As Many people in the same amount of time. But we re flexible and everybody gets a Good meal he said. � i aside from More flight operations and Lac traffic Stueve does t notice much difference Between a deployment to Somalia and being anywhere else. It s the Little things. We run out of lettuce he said. Sailors on the Bridge of course see where they Are. That is True even at night now because the use of is of photos by Vinc Crawley Seaman Russell Doc cry left leans on the Chart table on the Bridge of the Rushmore. Below Petty officer 2nd class Kevin j. Sinnock rear and Petty officer 3rd class James Walker work in the damage control room. On a ship this size you Sec the same people Day in and Day out. It gets pretty old Kevin j. Sinnock Navy Petty officer 2nd class generators has brought lighting to the Airport the Harbor and other Points the operation s joint task Force controls in Mogadishu. When the Rushmore first reached Somalia the coast was an indistinguishable Swath of blackness at night. That changed just As the first marines went ashore dec. 9, and sailors watching from ship suddenly saw the Bright and now infamous display of television lights illuminating the troops. Fortunately the Rushmore which served As the Landing s primary control ship did not mistake television Crews for an attacking somalian Force. We had that figured out. I think the Landing was at 4 30  we had received word about an hour and a half before that news Media were on the Beach Dunscombe said. 18 the stars and stripes monday of Bory 8, 1993 the stars and stripes 19