USS Nimitz Friends and Family Update 10/17/04
Nimitz Family and Friends,
On Thursday morning, we returned from a VERY successful 12 day underway training period. Hundreds of training events were accomplished and our progress toward being ready for our next series of events was solid. This was an important underway, because this past underway was the only period where we were able to conduct unit level training. Every event in the future involves multiple commands and they rapidly become very complex. From the performance over the last few weeks, we are ready to move on and I am confident that Nimitz will perform above the standard in every area.
During the last two weeks, I can confirm that the flu season is here. We had a bunch of shipmates who came down with the 24 to 48 hour bug. It was a tough, but short lasting flu bug that had lots of us down hard. Medical did everything they could to allow us to recover, but the real recovery is fluids and rest. I had the 48 hour flu bug – and I’m very glad it was only 48 hours.
Our next underway is call TSTA / FEP. The acronyms stand for Tailored Ship Training Assessment and Final Evaluation Problem. We will get underway with a full compliment of Sailors and equipment. Air Wing Eleven will arrive with 1400 Sailors and load aboard the day before our departure. We will train together and our performance will be graded by ATGPAC (Afloat Training Group Pacific). The FEP is a two to three day scenario where we defend the ship. We will have numerous casualties and medical emergencies to respond to during the 48 to 72 hour problem. We are expected to continue to function throughout the scenario. That means we will continue to fly, hold sick call, feed the crew, keep laundry flowing, etc at the same time the ship is fighting a fire or responding to a simulated medical emergency. Having the basics down will allow us to respond to the emergencies whenever they occur.
You might have heard about OME or Optimal Manning Experiment. Several months ago, Nimitz was assigned to conduct a manning experiment to evaluate better ways to man the ship. Fleet wide retention is very good right now, and Nimitz retention is the best in the Pacific. This great retention has caused us to be overmanned. This week we will be back to 100% manned – and then we will TAD (temporary additional duty) approximately 5% of the crew to local commands as we test man power adjustments in several departments. OME can be the source of some turbulence, but we have worked very hard to ensure every Sailor and all of our missions are well cared for.
This coming weekend, the Nimitz Association will hold a reunion right here in San Diego. The reunion was scheduled to be held in Pensacola, but a hurricane ended the reunion before it started. We offered to assist the Association here in San Diego and they will visit Nimitz this weekend. Even though, this was a rescheduled reunion – a good number of former crewmembers are coming in from all over the country to visit Nimitz and renew friendships that may have started 29 years ago when Nimitz was commissioned. Take a look at the Nimitz Association web site – for over 29 years, Nimitz Sailors have continued many friendships and also the Nimitz tradition of Teamwork.
With Greatest Respect,
Captain Bob Gilman
Date Posted/Last Updated:10/25/2004 9:39:45 PM