USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD6)

Matt's ship this sea duty is the amphibious assault ship called the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD6).  It's pronounced Bahn-hahm Ri-shard.

 It's really big, especially compared to the destroyers (USS Ross DDG-71 and USS Russell DDG-59) that he's been on in the past.  This base, US Fleet Activities Sasebo, has only about eight ships in port regularly and the Bonhomme Richard, or "BHR" as the ship is referred to here, is easily the largest one in port.  It is like a mini-aircraft carrier.  Of course, "mini" is a relative term.  Next to a modern aircraft carrier it would be much smaller but here it is the king of the base.  At least one out of every four people I seem to meet here is/has their spouse assigned to the BHR.  The destroyers Matt have been on in the past have a crew of around 300-400 people.  The BHR's crew numbers about 1,000 and that is without the Marine detachment.  The amphibs, or "Gators" as the amphibious ships are nicknamed, are tasked with moving Marines and their "stuff"--weapons, helicopters, etc.--to wherever they need to go.  It can be maybe 1,500 Marines at a time if need be. 

For a sense of scale, that is Leah and Matt in front of the BHR.

One of the helicopters on the flight deck.

If you are interested in the technical specs, you can peruse the Navy's website although they still have the BHR homeport as San Diego.  (The BHR and the USS Essex did a "hull swap" in April, right when Matt arrived in Sasebo.)  http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=400&ct=4

If you want to see lots of pictures of daily life on the BHR you can check out their Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/ussbhr. 

This is a picture that Matt took of a sunset while on the BHR.

One night while Matt had duty we joined him for dinner on the ship in the Chiefs' Mess.

Since their mission is different from that of destroyers, their deployment schedules are different.  Although it seemed Matt was away most of the time while he was on the Russell when we were in HI, those deployments were with a large carrier group (lots of different types of ships lead by an aircraft carrier) and were typically six to seven months in length.  Now on an amphib they go out on their own or with minesweepers--there are four minesweeper ships here in Sasebo--and are gone for only two to three months at a time but go out more often.  Although Matt doesn't like being away from us he is excited to go to sea on a completely different type of ship and not be doing the same old jobs and going to all the same places he went when we were in HI.  One thing is always the same no matter what type of ship Matt is on:  he can always benefit from hearing from his family and friends.  If you need Matt's contact info for the ship (e-mail and/or mailing address), please let me know.