It is hard to believe that the USS Little Rock (LCS 9) Commissioning was 9 months ago on December 16, 2017. Since then, the weather has been much warmer and the ship finally arrived in the homeport at Mayport Station, Florida concluding the long post-commissioning journey. The LCS 9 and crew were forced to winter-over in Montreal, Canada due to ice in the St. Lawrence Seaway but had plenty of time to run drills, train and make sure the ship was ready to make the trek to Florida.
To signify the conclusion of the Commissioning, the USS Little Rock (LCS 9) Commissioning Committee awarded honorary plankowner plaques to committees members and supporters during a breakfast on Tuesday, August 14, 2018. Maurice L. “Moe” Naylon III, chairman of the Commissioning Committee made the presentation of the plaques. A Plankowner is the designation given to the original members of a newly commissioned US Navy warship. Honorary Plankowners are those individuals who played a significant role in the commissioning of the new ship but are not members of the crew.
Each new ship has a custom-designed plankowner plaque. The USS Little Rock (LCS 9) plankowner plaques were created by Paul Maurer, Art Director at the firm Abbey Mecca & Company in Buffalo, NY. The wood base plaque features a silhouette of LCS 9 and seals of the cities of Little Rock and Buffalo. The plaques have insets of official commissioning coins and each one includes a piece of original teak decking taken from the first USS Little Rock which is now on permanent display in Buffalo at the Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park.
Honorary Plankowner Plaques were presented to:
Michael Adelizzio
William R. Barden, USN, Ret.
David B. Beaton
Camille Brandon
John Branning, USN, Ret.
CAPT Paul R. Burkhart, USN
Hon. Byron W. Brown
David W. Carapetyan
Steve Chase
LT Howard C. Curlett III, USN, (Ret)
Elizabeth L. Demakos
William Kereszetes
Brennan A. Kershner
Charles F. Kreiner, Jr. USN, Captain, Ret.
Raymond E. Mabus, Jr. USN, Lt. Ret.
Steven A. Monaco
Paul J. Marzello
Wayne W. Mertz
Lou Michel
Maurice L. Naylon III
Jeanne Naylon
Heidi Anne Raphael
Brian J. Roche
Lewis R. Robinson
Brian D. Rusk
William J. Shephard
Robert C. Singer
Wayne P. Sorrentino, USN, Ret.
John C. Torrisi
Dionne L. Williamson
Abbey Mecca & Company
American Demolition & Nuclear Decommissioning, Inc.
BAE Systems
Basil Family Dealerships
Be Our Guest, Ltd.
Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park
Buffalo Fire Boat Edward M. Cotter
Buffalo Fire Department
Buffalo Police Department
Buffalo Renaissance Foundation
CTBK
Delaware North
Entercom
Erie County Sheriff’s Office
Lawley
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training
Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority
Pegula Sports and Entertainment, LLC
The Buffalo News
Try-It Distributing Co., Inc.
West Herr Automotive Group, Inc.
Xylem, Inc.
KeyBank
Maid of the Mist Corporation
Keller Technologies Corp.
Calspan Corporation
Dunn Tire
Barrantys, LLC
Acquest Development, LLC
Business First of Buffalo
Buxton Machine and Tool Company, Inc.
Georgetown Square Wine & Liquor
New Era Cap
Schneider Family of Services
In addition to the presentation of Honorary Plankowner plaques, the Commissioning Committee showed a video recapping the historic events of December 2016. The video also featuring a message from CMDR Todd Peters, EXO Lenard Mitchell and CMDCM Jackson with an update on the crew and the ship. You can watch the video here
