Nimitz News

At an all-hands Captain's Call yesterday, I congratulated the crew on their great performance during our Preparations for Overseas Movement (POM) period. We've done a great deal of work on the ship during the last month preparing for cruise, and we've had an opportunity to take some leave. Hopefully everyone had a chance to get their personal and family affairs in order and is coming back refreshed and ready for the hard work yet to come. I also commended the crew for their great behavior and sound decisions during the POM period. We've gotten everyone safely back and ready to go. You have all played a major part in the success of our training period. Your support and talent in taking care of the homefront has allowed your Sailors to concentrate on their jobs here at the ship, and we realize just how important your part is. The ship is in great shape, the crew is fully trained, and the time has come to deploy.

NIMITZ will get underway for deployment on Saturday morning, 7 May at 0900. Liberty will expire onboard at 0630. Due to all the activity required to get the ship underway, we will not have visitors on board on Saturday morning. Crewmembers will say good-bye to their loved ones outside the security checkpoint on the pier prior to liberty expiration. For this reason, if your Sailor wants to show you or the kids where he or she will be living and working for the next six months or so, they should do it prior to Saturday. We will be in our white uniforms on Saturday and we'll man the rail as we get underway. It will be quite a sight.

Since we are leaving on Saturday, parking will be much easier if you want to come to North Island for the departure. You can park in any open parking except in USS RONALD REAGAN's reserved spots. That means AIRPAC, NADEP, and Credit Union parking are all fair game. The base is opening the First Street (closest to the Carrier Pier) gate and cars without stickers will be able to park in a designated lot inside the First Street gate. We will have shuttle buses running to our pier from the non-sticker lot. Of course you can see the ship leave from anywhere around San Diego Bay, so you don't have to be on base to watch. However, if you want to wait the two and a half hours from liberty expiration until we take in the mooring lines, you are welcome to do so.

I've been giving frequent plugs to our family support group, Team NIMITZ, over the past several months. With deployment upon us, this is the time that Team NIMITZ is most important. The group is led by volunteer spouses and they are doing great work planning activities for those in San Diego. The next meeting is Tuesday night, 10 May, at 0615 in Murphy Canyon Chapel. Babysitting is free and I encourage you to take advantage of the camaraderie and experience of those in the group. Remember there are lots of people out there that have done deployments before and know how it all works. You do not have to figure everything out for yourself or be alone for the deployment. You can contact Team NIMITZ at TeamNimitz@yahoo.com.

Also remember our great team of command ombudsmen. These volunteer spouses are trained to help cut through red tape and help you take advantage of all the support services available to Navy families.. They are the command's representatives here at home and have direct access to me and the chain of command. One of the Ombudsmen is always on duty and can be reached at (619) 890-3469 or ussnimitzombudsman@yahoo.com.

Well everyone, that's a wrap for this update. We've come a long way together preparing ourselves and the ship for deployment and I'm confident we are ready to go. I'm very proud of our crew and all of you. Thank you for your continued support.

Warm regards and very respectfully,

CAPT Ted Branch

Commanding Officer

USS NIMITZ (CVN 68)