-----Original Message----- From:Brian Ackerman brian.ackerman@navy.mil Sent: Friday, March 28, 2003 9:49 AM To: Ken Deshaies kengems@k2net.cc Ken, I remember that 'encounter' with the Russians. We were in Port Hueneme CA for a brief visit. At around 0400 we suddenly got the call to go to sea and anchor because we were getting underway. We left behind some of the crew who had yet to return from liberty (I had just gotten aboard about 1/2 hour earlier). We got word that a Russian ship had picked up one of our radio controlled drones that was used for missile firing exercises and we were going to go get it back. So we played cat and mouse with them for a few hours, at one point we actually went to GQ. Finally after some negotiations they returned the drone to us by floating it in a big steel drum, which they had cut in half. The drone was in many pieces. Cold War at its finest. If it was in '85, it had to have been between May and August, as we got back from WestPac in May and I departed Leahy in August. Brian Ackerman 28 March 2003 ------ UPDATED INFO ------ From: Ackerman, Brian E CIV To: kengems@ussleahy.com Date: Monday, September 19, 2005, 3:37:09 PM Subject: Balzam Incident Just to clarify, the incident with the Russian ship Balzam was actually in May 1984, not 1985. Bruce Shima (1981-1985) and I were recently reading the 'rough log' we kept for CIWS Mount 21 and saw that we cited that incident in May 1984. There's no doubt, as the log was hand written with the date from Feb 1982 through September 1985. Brian Ackerman 1981-1985 19 Sept. 2005