The Sacramento class of fast combat support ships are the largest underway replenishment vessels in the world. A bold statement, but true.

But with the decommissioning of the USS Sacramento recently and next years decommissioning of the USS Camden, these two war horses of the Pacific Fleet will be remembered by nearly four decades of Sailors who served aboard, yours truly included, on the USS Camden in the mid-1980s.

So what is it exactly that transforms a regular Sailor into an AOE Sailor?

Many of us came to an AOE from a wide variety of duty assignments both afloat and ashore. Many right out of boot camp. But the AOE mystique is not so much that, but rather a real sense of ownership by each individual Sailor who reports for duty on any of the two classes ships, Sacramento or Supply class. An AOE Sailor will have witnessed an incredible tour of sea duty made up of hard work and sacrifice, but brimming with leadership skills and seamanship knowledge for a lifetime when they depart. 

As witnessed during the Sacramento’s decommissioning ceremony on Oct.1, nearly 200 former Golden Bear Sailors traveled from as far as Hawaii, Florida, New Jersey and Indiana to witness the ship’s final active service moments. They were excited to see old shipmates after many years and to make new friendships with Sacramento Sailors from another decade.

Only an AOE Sailor knows the vibe, the unique scents, and can appreciate unrepping a carrier on the port side, a destroyer on the starboard side with the ship’s two H-46 helicopters performing their back and forth aerial ballet of vert-repping slings of cargo to their two customers while at the same time, the carrier is conducting flight operations. Everyone is steaming along at a good clip and on a steady course as sea swells crash off the bows of all three ships.

Meanwhile, looking aft, there are four more ships steaming in formation awaiting their turn for fuel, food, spare parts or ordnance and possibly mail. And of course this could be taking place not only in daylight but at night as well.

But not all the action is on the main deck and flight deck. A half dozen levels below, AOE Sailors are staging cases of dry provisions and perishable food items from a myriad of storerooms to massive elevators that will bring them to the main deck for further transfer. At the same time, weapons department is staging ordnance for transfer when the call is made.

Further below, the engineering department is keeping the AOE’s four main boilers, engines, generators and distilling plants at peak performance.

Many an AOE Sailor remembers walking out on the flight deck or fantail of either the Sacramento or Camden and looking down at the wake created by the two gigantic propellers as 100,000 shaft horsepower moves 53,000-tons of ship in excess of 32 knots keeping equal time with the battle group carrier responding to the Navy’s needs either in the Western Pacific or Indian Ocean for long, sustainable periods of time.

There are many AOE Sailors who literally made a career out of cross-decking from both AOE-1 and AOE-2 and then taking a short shore tour of duty and then returning to an AOE. An AOE veteran will tell you that the large size, relatively small crew and overall comfort made an AOE a popular choice.

As we have witnessed, the Supply class AOEs Rainier and Bridge here in Puget Sound have been decommissioned and turned over to Military Sealift Command for economic and recapitalization reasons. Sacramento, now decommissioned, will be followed by USS Camden in 2005.

A salute is in order to all AOE Sailors who were and still are, the heart and soul that made these large ships so valuable to the United States Navy and also a sweet tour of sea duty.