USS Tripoli Grinds Through Its Selected Restricted Availability Period

by Petty Officer 2nd Class Maci Sternod

28 December 2023 SAN DIEGO – Amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli (LHA7) began a Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) period, March 10.

The ship’s crew and civilian contractors have been working side by side to complete repairs and maintenance to ensure the ship is mission ready for future operational tasking.

“Maintenance periods like this are so important not only to repair the ship, but also to extend the ship’s life expectancy,” said Cmdr. James Holmes, Tripoli’s chief engineer. “Everyone knows that if you take care of your car and make sure to get oil changes and tune ups on time that you’ll have that car for a long time. SRA is the same idea, but large scale with thousands of people working to make sure our ship meets all underway operations.”

Following Tripoli’s maiden deployment, the crew shifted focus to ship preservation while contractors began working on the large-scale repairs and upgrades. Additionally, many Sailors were assigned to different teams for general preservation around the ship, making repairs to the deck, painting spaces, fixing lagging and other habitability jobs.

“It is our ship and our home,” said Chief Aviation Electrician’s Mate Ezekial Zacharias, the ship’s force leading chief petty officer. “We spend so much time on the ship that the pride we take in completing jobs and correcting discrepancies has so much impact on Sailors’ morale.”

Since Tripoli entered SRA, the ship’s galley was closed in order to upgrade outdated equipment. Having an extended in-port period provides a good opportunity to accomplish necessary upgrades such as new ovens and refinished floors.

Since re-opening the mess decks, the daily routine of breakfast, lunch and dinner being served cultivates a familiar space for Sailors to congregate. This helps build camaraderie while enjoying a hot meal.

“Cooking for thousands of Sailors, three times a day, every day is a big job and it is hard on our equipment,” said Senior Chief Culinary Specialist Patrick Parigi. “We’re happy to have the new equipment because it makes us more efficient and in turn, we can make better food for our shipmates.”

In addition to the galley, the ship’s C5I department installed new computer towers and monitors with an upgraded network. Within a time-constrained schedule, Sailors from the IT division worked extra hours to manage, distribute, install and test the new equipment, ensuring that the ship’s network and assets met optimal performance requirements.

“This was much a much-needed update,” said Chief Information Systems Technician Camellia Cameron. “Technology is always changing and this was the perfect time to make sure that Tripoli is ready for the next challenge.”

Tripoli and its crew are expecting to wrap up the maintenance and transition into the basic phase of their operational status early next year.

“This crew has been hard at work these past nine months really shifting gears from a deployment into a maintenance phase, but they definitely didn’t slow down,” said Capt. Gary Harrington, Tripoli’s commanding officer. “I’m incredibly proud to have such a hard-working crew.”

Tripoli is an America-class amphibious assault carrier homeported in San Diego. The ship is currently in its selected restricted maintenance availability.