On Tuesday, February 7 2006, my friend John Maloch and I were invited to a reception aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. This aircraft carrier (CVN76) is the newest of the Nimitz fleet of nuclear powered aircraft carriers. More information about this ship is available at the Navy website: http://www.reagan.navy.mil/.
The ship is on its maiden voyage and
Click on any picture
to see a larger image.
Dinner At Our House
On the following Thursday, we had two sailors over for dinner, and I’d like to talk about this first. This time we had the company of two female sailors, and it was a great opportunity for us to learn more about life onboard and in particular, what life is like for women aboard a ship that has a total complement of 5,500, including the air squadron.
On the left is Amanda Palmer from
Both Amanda and Robin are assigned to the air squadron that is aboard the Ronald Reagan. Each has been in the Navy for more than 4 years and each is mulling the pros and cons of re-upping for another tour of duty. Each joined the Navy to have more opportunities than were available in the small towns they came from. Amanda was inspired early on to make a career in the Navy. She says that the reality conflicts somewhat with her dreams but overall the experience has been a good one. Robin concurs. Amanda is married and the one thing she does not like is that she is away from her husband so much.
We learned quite a lot from these ladies. Although they are assigned to the air squadron, they (and all other squadron members) are pretty fully integrated into the ship’s crew. Amanda and Robin live in an area that holds 200 women. E1 through E6 all share sleeping quarters, E7 through E9 do as well, although they get bigger bunks. After that, the higher ranks get staterooms (it sounds like an overly expansive term for an aircraft carrier), where they have a bit more room. But still, the rooms are shared, although by a smaller number of people.
Everybody runs a 12 hour shift and Robin and Amanda work the night shift. They say it is not quite as hectic as days with the tradeoff that they get to sleep in the midst of all the ship activities.
We really enjoyed the evening talking to these down to earth
young women. And if all the people are like
Robin and Amanda, the countries armed forces are in great shape. We do hope that if these ladies pass by
Reception Onboard
After the opening remarks, being the shy retiring guys that we are, John and I immediately asked to have our photographs taken with the officials who were on board for the evening.
On the left is a photo of Singapore Defense Minister Teo Chee
Hean,
John and I with the Admiral
John and I with the Commander of the Ronald Reagan, Captain Terry Kraft. A point of note: This man is a relatively young guy and he is in charge of a ship with 5,500 people on it. It’s a floating city and not only must he deal with the strategic and military purposes of the ship, he is also mayor of a town… dealing with every basic service issue that supports life aboard the ship. That is a lot of responsibility.
Of course, we also met lots of sailors who actually make the whole thing work. Pictured here are Leah Warren and Michael Patterson. Ms Warren intends to pursue a doctorate in zoology when she leaves the Navy.
At left is Gayon Stacey Barrios, in the middle is Eddie Cobb, and on the right is Ms. McKennie (sorry, I didn’t get a first name… someone email her name and I will update the page).
We spent quite a bit of time chatting with this fellow, Boyd Ibenden. Boyd has managed a bunch of large projects and currently works for the Admiral. He volunteered that while working for some admirals can be a very challenging prospect, working for Admiral Miller is a very good thing. He says he brings out the best in people and makes them strive to work to their full capacity, a leader, if you will.
Hangar deck 2 was all decked out for the reception and the food was great. That middle column in the middle picture is all boiled shrimp and the platter below it was filled to the overflow with the same. And of course, there was excellent roast beef, not to mention many other excellent foods in abundance.
Another good thing about being at this reception was the ice cold American beer that flowed.
A couple of views of the Ronald Reagan. I did not shoot much in the way of ship photos. The ship is very similar to that of the USS Abraham Lincoln, a ship we did tour. To see more photos of what a Nimitz class carrier looks like, try The USS Abraham Lincoln.
A view of hangar deck 3 on the left, with the Admiral’s craft in the background, followed by the official insignia and seal of the Ronald Reagan.
Had to get a souvenir… a Ronald Regan tee-shirt.