USNS Safeguard Showcases Submarine Rescue

By Lt. Lara Bollinger, Commander Submarine Group 7 Public Affairs

USNS SAFEGUARD, At Sea (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy along with navies from Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Singapore conducted the submarine escape and rescue (SMER) exercise "Pacific Reach" Aug. 17-25 in the South China Sea.

Military Sealift Command's rescue and salvage ship USNS Safeguard (T-ARS 50) and the San Diego-based Deep Submergence Unit (DSU) participated in a variety of submarine rescue drills, including multiple deployments of the U.S. submarine rescue chamber, demonstrating a highly sophisticated level of international interoperability to conduct humanitarian submarine rescue missions.

"This exercise shows that our systems can work with international navies' submarine systems, and that our procedures are similar and we can cross over," said Cmdr. David Lemly, DSU commanding officer. "In an actual rescue, multiple nations would respond, and we may end up using several different systems; whichever can get there first. So it's important that we not only know how we can operate together, but that we are communicating and have confidence that we can operate together."

Pacific Reach is the largest and most sophisticated submarine rescue exercise conducted in the Asia Pacific region. Senior military officials from 13 countries participated as observers, including Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom.

"In Southeast Asia our job is to provide rescue, salvage, towing and diving services for any asset for any of the countries here if it's been requested," said Senior Chief Master Diver Ted Walker, Mobile Diver Salvage Unit 1. "Our mobile diver unit is very versatile, and we can provide a ready rescue cell anywhere in the world. Right now we're providing a platform for DSU, and we're helping them to do this exercise."

Safeguard was one of two submarine rescue support vessels, including the Singaporean MV Swift Rescue, that served as the focal point for a series of submarine rescue events. The DSU deployed the SRC from Safeguard using a large crane to lift the massive capsule over the side. Using this submarine rescue chamber (SRC), the DSU conducted successful open-hatch matings with JDS Arashio (SS 586) and RSS Chieftain, submarines from Japan and the Republic of Singapore that bottomed for this simulated rescue scenario.

During one event, four countries were represented in a single, simulated rescue and chamber mating. Naval officers from the U.S., China, and Republic of Singapore were sealed together inside the U.S. SRC for more than three hours as they were lowered via tether to mate with Arashio. At a depth of nearly 200 feet, the SRC connected with the submarine, and a U.S. Navy diver inside the SRC opened Arashio's hatch to shake hands with Japanese crew members from the bottomed submarine.

This year's exercise, the fifth in the series, was hosted by the RSN for the second time and consisted of a shore phase conducted at the Changi Command and Control Center, and a sea phase held in the South China Sea. The exercise also comprised a medical symposium as well as simulated evacuation and treatment of personnel from submarines in distress.

"The medical portion of this exercise is essential," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Gertner, MV Swift Rescue deep submergence medical officer. "We rescue submariners and not submarines, so just getting the guys to the surface isn't necessarily enough. One of the biggest challenges is that things get really chaotic with many patients. You can't bring a hospital out here, so you have to do the best with what you have, which means you usually have limited manpower and lots of injuries all at once."

Medical teams from the U.S. were among the countries participating in medical symposiums and drills to share ideas and practices with each other, with the goal of overall improving the survival rates of submariners who may be rescued from high-pressure underwater environments.

"It's important worldwide to be able to support the submarine force," said Gertner. "We're sending them out into harm's way, and it's crucial to be able to have a plan and resources to save them if necessary."

Exercise Pacific Reach aims to develop regional submarine escape and rescue capabilities and strengthen interoperability in submarine rescue operations among participating navies.

RSN Fleet Commander, Rear Adm. Joseph Leong, spoke during the opening of the exercise.

"Exercise Pacific Reach serves as a platform to foster cooperation on submarine escape and rescue, as well as to enhance multilateral relations among the submarine operating countries," said Leong. "As more countries acquire or enhance their submarine capabilities in the region, it is also important that we build and maintain a strong network for multilateral submarine rescue collaboration."

This year, the RSN contributed a landing ship tank, RSS Endeavour, submarine RSS Chieftain, MV Swift Rescue and submersible rescue vehicle, Deep Search and Rescue Six. With hyperbaric facilities such as recompression chambers and a high dependency unit, MV Swift Rescue provides immediate and specialized medical treatment to injured personnel who are evacuated from distressed submarines. In 2000, the RSN hosted the first Exercise Pacific Reach, involving navies from Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States.