SWEEPING FOR MINES
Calabash Man Serving With Navy In Middle East
BY JOHN F. BRINDLEY
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES?
There's a cynical saying among the
Navy's mine warfare force that
"any ship can be a minesweep
er ? once."
David C. Kilgorc of Calabash is
a member of the Navy's U.S. Mine
Countermeasures (MCM) Group in
the Middle East. It's his job, work
ing with MCM units from other
countries, to ensure that none of
the multi-national force ships in
volved in Operation Desert Storm
have to face the possibility of be
ing a one-time minesweeper.
"Our unit's mission here is to
hunt and sweep for mines," said
Kilgore, the 28-year-old son of
Robert and Janice Kilgore of Cala
bash. "My role is to work on the
fantail when the sweeping gear
goes in the water."
Kilgore is a boatswain's mate
aboard the USS Leader, a 173-foot
aggressive class oceangoing mine
sweeper.
The vessel is built of wood and
has very little iron-based metal on
board. The method of construction
results in a very small "magnetic
signature," a feature which makes
sweeping for magnetic influence
mines a bit safer.
With a crew of more than 80, the
Leader is capablc of sweeping sur
face-moored mines with a mechan
ical sweep and neutralizing bot
tom-moored mines with one of
several varieties of acoustic, mag
netic or combination influence
sweeps.
Working in conjunction with
Navy MH 53E "Sea Dragon" heli
copters which provide speed and
mobility to the effort, the Leader
utilizes an SQQ-14 mine hunting
sonar to locate and classify mines.
Kilgore says mines can be
dropped surreptitiously from al
most any platform, including heli
copters and small harbor craft Iraq
U S. NAVY PHOTO SY JOE GAW10WICZ
DAVID KILGORE, the 28-year-old son of Robert and Janice Kilgore of Calabash, is serving
aboard the minesweeper USS Leader in the Middle East.
is known to have bottom-moored
influence mines and World War 1
type, moored contact mines that
float in the water.
Lt. Cmdr. Steven E. Lehr, the
Leader's skipper, said mines could
be a very real threat in the Middle
East if they are used.
"Iraq has been known to have
used mines both offensively and
defensively," Lchr said. "Should
they do that again, snipping lanes
could be tied up and amphibious
operations could be jeopardized.
Our importance is ensuring that
shipping lanes are open so that
supplies, ships and aircraft can
travel freely to support the troops
in the desert and on the water."
U.S. Mine Countermeasures
Group is unique. Made up of sever
al different mine warfare units
from throughout the United States,
it was virtually put together from
scratch and rapidly deployed to the
Middle East
The group includes one heli
copter detachment and four mine
sweepers as well as an explosive
ordnance disposal (EOD) unit
With all the MCM units located
at the same facility, they've been
able to accelerate their tactical
training and operations using chop
pers, ships and EOD personnel in
unison.
For Kilgore, the biggest chal
lenge he finds operating in this part
of the world is "isolation, not
knowing what the next day may
bring" and being away from family
and friends.
The message he would like to
leave with the people back home in
the Calabash area is thanks for all
the support.
"I would like to say 'hello' to
my family and friends," Kilgore
said. "I want to know how they
arc."
(John F. Brindley is the director
of the Navy Public Affairs Center
in San Diego, on special assign
ment in the Middle East.)
Varnamtown Signs Fall
Victim To Pranksters
BY DOUG RUTTER
Green metal signs marking the
Vamamtown town limits have be
come frequent targets of pranksters
who have pulled them out of the
ground over and over again.
Signs on Sabbath Home Road
and Varnamtown Road have been
removed at least nine times since
the community incorporated a little
more than two years ago, according
to the present and past mayor. i
The Rev. Trade Varnum, the i
town's first mayor, said ilie sign on '
Sabbath Home Road was pulled up
four times during his 14 months in
office. The sign on Varnamtown
Road was removed at least twice.
Vamum said he found the signs
in the woods most of the times they
were taken and he put them back up
himself. Whoever took the signs
usually didn't drag them more than
50 feet away from the post hole.
The last time the sign on Sabbath
Home Road was pulled up, Varnum
said he dug an "X" about three feet
deep in the ground and nailed treat
ed boards to the bottom of the post
to secure it.
"I tried to fix it so it would be ex
tremely hard for someone to dig
up," Vamum said. As far as he
knows, the sign hasn't been re
moved again.
Mayor Judy Galloway said the
town limit sign on Vamamtown
Road has been stolen three times
since she took office in December
1989.
The N.C. Department of Trans
portation (DOT) replaced the sign
the first time it was stolen, and the
town recovered the sign the second
time. "Somebody found out who
stole it and got it back," Mayor Gal
loway said.
When that sign was stolen a sec
ond time, the state replaced it with a
new one. However, the name of the
riverfront community was erro
neously changed from Vamamtown
to Vamumtown.
Lcland Davis, division sign shop
supervisor with the DOT, said Var
Healing Past Pain
Is Seminar Topic
Healing past pain stemming from
substance abuse will be the topic of
a free seminar Monday, Feb. 4,
from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. in the
teaching auditorium at Brunswick
Community College in Supply.
Nancy McCarter, a substancc
abuse counselor with the Southeas
tern Center for Mental Health, Dev
elopmental Disabilities and Sub
stancc Abuse, will conduct the sem
inar, which is open to the public.
Reservations arc not required, but
they arc appreciated. For more in
formation, call Ms. McCarter at
253-4485.
varnumtoyS
^ CITY LIMIT J
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG ?UTTE?
TOWN LIMIT SIGNS in the
small community of Varnam
town have a habit of disap
pearing frequently, the appar
ent victims of pranksters. The
state recently put up this new
sign on Varnamtown Road, but
mispelled the name of the
town.
namtown isn't the only local com
munity that has problems keeping
its signs up.
"It's not only Varnamtown," Davis
said. "It's in the Belville-Leland
area. It's all over the division. It's no
set pattern to it."
Mrs. Galloway said she thinks
teen-agers have been responsible
for the vandalism in Varnamtown.
'i really think it's just childish
pranks," she said. "You kno?v how
young'uns are these days."
Vamum also said he thinks kids
have been behind the pranks. "May
be whoever's doing it will get tired
of pulling it up and hauling it
away," he said. "I hope they will."
Davis said town limit signs cost
about $20 each, and posts and labor
add to the expense He said judges
usually fine people S50 to SI 00 if
they arc caught stealing or damag
ing a sign.
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CI 000 THE B?ONSW!CK MACON
Long Beach Fisherman
Honored For Sailfish
Boycc Broadwcll of Long Bcach
is one of 38 fishermen who received
plaques as category winners in the
1990 N.C. Saltwater Fishing Tour
nament
Broadwell, who was the only
winner from Brunswick County, en
tered the largest sailfish of the year.
It weighed 82 pounds, 6 ounces.
The N.C. Division of Marine
Fisheries sponsors the annual event,
which ended Dec. 31, 1990, accord
ing to a news release.
The tournament recognizes an
glers who catch the largest fish in
each of 33 categories and people
who release the most fish in six re
lease categories.
In addition to awarding trophies
for the category winners, the Divi
sion of Marine Fisheries gives cer
tificates to all anglers who catch
fish that meet a minimum weight
limit
The minimum weight for king
mackerel, for instance, is 30
pounds. The state will award 4,206
certificates for the 1990 tournament.
The largest fish entered in this
year's tournament was a 738-pound
blue marlin. The smallest winning
fish was a sea mullet that weighed 2
pounds, i 1 ounces.
Species that showed an increase
in applications over the previous
year included bluefish, flounder and
Spanish mackerel.
However, fishermen turned in
fewer applications for other species.
There were no entries of spot or
croaker last year, and king mackerel
entries were down 40 percent from
1989.
Statistics show that catch-and-re
lcase fishing is becoming increas
ingly popular in the annual tourna
ment, according to the news release.
While release certificates are
awarded only for ambetjack, red
drum, while marlin, blue martin,
sailfish and tarpon, releases com
prised 37 percent of all applications
received in 1990.
The three predominant species
entered in the tournament all were
eligible for release. White marlin
was the most popular catch, and all
but seven of the 476 entries last
year were released.
There were 419 entries for red
drum during the year, with 374 re
leased. Fishermen submitted 377
applications for blue marlin in
1990, and 352 of those fish were re
leased.
Four state records were broken in
1990, and the International Game
Fish Association accepted two new
state shark records as world records,
according to the news release.
The 1991 fishing tournament be
gan Jan. 1. Rule changes include in
creasing the minimum weights for
black sea bass from 3 to 4 pounds,
blue marlin from 300 to 400
pounds, and shark from 100 to 150
pounds.
Also, cobia is now eligible for a
catch-and-releasc award. The news
release says the minimum length re
quirement is 33 inches.
Official weigh stations in Bruns
wick County are Tripp's Fishing
Center, Shaflottc Point; Sheffield's,
Occan Isle Beach; Holden Beach
Fishing Pier; Long Beach Pier; Oak
Island Bait and Tackle Shop, Long
Beach; and Captain Jerry's Tackle
Shack, Southport.
For more information on the N.C.
Saltwater Fishing Tournament, call
the Division of Marine Fisheries toll
free at 1-800-682-2632.
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Start
March 5
Coll today to sign up.
ii k
Marilyn J. Boehm. M.D., Ph. D. 919-754-5581
Village Pines, Shallotte 919-754-9949
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