Since 08-02-05
Norfolk stop brings ship close to end of journey
Since 08-02-05
From: Waspscpo@aol.com [mailto:Waspscpo@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 4:10 PM
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Subject: Norfolk stop brings ship close to end of journey
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=89991&ran=106268
Norfolk stop brings ship close to end of journey
The Virginian-Pilot
July 31, 2005
NORFOLK — The arrival this morning of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and 3,300
sailors to their new home in Norfolk is not the end of their near
around-the-world cruise. It’s the beginning of a third stage after a
six-and-a-half-month deployment that will find sailors completing the global
trip by driving across the country to retrieve spouses and children from their
homes in Bremerton, Wash.
The Vinson’s crew has about 700 families making the move. Half are already here.
Between 3,000 and 6,000 family members and friends are expected at the 8 a.m.
docking at the Norfolk Naval Station, according to Lt. Mike Kafka, a spokesman
for the 2nd Fleet.
Its air wing was to fly off Saturday and head for bases
on the West Coast as the Vinson prepares to enter the shipyard for overhaul.
Four accompanying ships are in the process of returning to Pacific Fleet ports.
Capt. Kevin M. Donegan, Vinson’s commanding officer, said by telephone before
the arrival that the ship and crew have been in a giant balancing act: “getting
ready for deployment, executing deployment and simultaneously changing home
port.”
After a 30-day leave period, a fourth stage will find the crew unloading tons of
supplies to ready the ship for its short ride to Northrop Grumman Newport News
shipyard in November. There it will begin a three-year, approximately $1.5
billion overhaul that includes refueling its nuclear power plant for the first
time in 23 years.
The deployment, which began Jan. 13 from Bremerton, has been nothing short of
busy. But it’s also been gratifying, Donegan said. “Operationally, we achieved
the effects we wanted,” he said, spending four months in the Persian Gulf
supporting coalition troops on the ground with carrier-based planes and
conducting maritime security operations to keep terrorist organizations from
using the waters of the gulf.
Planes from Air Wing 9 were launched on more than 6,500 sorties totaling at
least 20,000 flight hours. The ship assisted in the rescue of a crew from a
burning ship and medical evacuations of some Iranian fishermen. “We also found
out we won the Battle 'E’ as the best carrier in the Pacific Fleet,” Donegan
said, referring to the 2004 Battle Efficiency Award. In addition, 681 crew
members took 1,250 college level courses from 19 instructors covering three
semesters.“
And we will be flying both the Enlisted Surface Warfare pennant and the Enlisted
Air Warfare pennant when we pull back in,” Donegan said. “I think we will be
among one of the first carriers to fly both pennants. ”The honor means that all
sailors, E-5 and below, who were eligible to take tests for their specific
warfare special ty, passed and are allowed to wear the insignia on their
uniforms.
And, Donegan said, the Vinson’s performance was conducted during the height of
summer, with temperatures passing the 100-degree mark most days as crews worked
to launch planes from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. The pace was kept for 13 consecutive
days before taking one day off for maintenance and training, then they repeated
the process throughout four months.
The routine began to relax only when the carrier reached the Mediterranean Sea
on its way to the Atlantic Ocean, visiting ports that most Pacific Fleet sailors
never see. The Vinson is coming from a city where it was the biggest ship in
port and the focus of attention, to Norfolk, the site of the Navy’s largest base
, said Lt. Cmdr. Scott McIlnay, a spokesman for the ship.
But the culture shock should not be that great because nearly all of the sailors
sought the assignment here, he said. “I don’t think we are bringing many lovers
of the Pacific Northwest,” Donegan said. “Over the course of the last year and a
half they would have had a chance to put in orders for other places. So I think
the crew is looking forward to coming to Virginia because most of us have been
there before or wanted orders here.”Donegan’s ties to Virginia are strong.
He’s a 1980 graduate of the University of Virginia, led Strike Fighter Squadron
131 from Cecil Field, Fla., to Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach as the
first Hornet Squadron to complete a change of home port, and served as executive
officer of the carrier George Washington in Norfolk. His move back to Hampton
Roads begins for his family on Monday.“I think we get our household goods moved
the day after we arrive,” he said.
“My hats are off to the Navy families,” he said. “The recognized heroes are
often the military service members, but the real heroes in my book are the
military families that can orchestrate things like that, a complete move from
the West Coast to the East Coast while their sailors are gone.
”The Vinson will remain in Hampton Roads between three and a half and
four years for sure, Donegan said. “We don’t know where we go after that.”
Reach Jack Dorsey at (757) 446-2284 or jack.dorsey@pilotonline.com
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Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)