Nimitz News

Happy Sunday everyone. Another week passed and for me, at least, the time is just flying by. I hope the time is passing swiftly for you, too. Hard to believe it’s Memorial Day weekend already.

Your Sailors have continued to stay very busy with training and other shipboard evolutions as we make our way across the Pacific. Earlier this week we crossed the International Date Line and jumped from Monday, 23 May to Wednesday, 25 May. I suppose we will get that day back when we return from deployment in a few months. The Command Master Chief and Supply Department were concerned about crewmembers with a birthday on May 24th. They didn’t want anyone to say the Navy had taken their birthday away. So we had a special meal and a big cake and everyone celebrated. We’ve also been setting our clocks back as we travel to the west. We are retarding clocks at 0200 back to 0100 and we have done that several times now. The really good news for most of the crew is that it gives us an extra hour of sleep. It’s funny, on the evenings when we announce that we are retarding clocks; a huge cheer goes up around the ship.

The highlights of the week--by a big margin—were two frocking ceremonies we held in the hangar bay. In the first ceremony, we frocked 22 Chief Petty Officers (E7’s) to Senior Chief Petty Officers (E8’s). This is a really big step in career progression and 22 is a very large percentage of selectees. This speaks volumes about the quality of this crew and the senior enlisted leadership. Great work by all and congratulations to the new Senior Chiefs. On a subsequent night, we frocked over 250 new First, Second and Third Class Petty Officers. I have to tell you, this is one of my very favorite things to do. The hangar bay was alive with excitement as the 250+ Sailors stood in ranks with their shipmates gathered all around cheering as each Sailor’s name was read and Frocking Letters were presented. There was a lot of hooting and hollering, laughter, and even a few tears. It was quite a sight. Again, congratulations to all the new Petty Officers. I’d also like to thank our First Class Association for stepping up and running the Petty Officer Indoctrination program for the new Third Class Petty Officers. Great job and a fine display of the teamwork that is a NIMITZ tradition.

The flying is going well and the wing, flight deck, ordies, and air ops continue to do their work safely and professionally. Reactor Dept, Engineering, and AIMD are going full tilt training and maintaining their gear. We’ve been alongside our replenishment ship a couple of times for fuel and tomorrow morning we go alongside for groceries. Deck and Navigation will get a workout as well as the Supply guys putting all the stores in the proper spot. We’ve also been putting a lot of emphasis on force protection training with Weapons Dept as we continue to refine our procedures for the Arabian Gulf. And of course the work of taking care of the crew, staff, and wing continue without missing a beat as Supply, Combat Systems, and Operations continue their great performance. Finally, all the folks in Admin, Training, Medical, Dental, and Religious Ministries are hard at work taking care of their shipmates. What a team!

Well everyone, that’s a wrap for this week. Have a happy and safe Memorial Day and be assured we’re thinking of you. Our families are always in our thoughts and prayers and we realize that your job keeping up the home front is a tough one. We couldn’t do our jobs out here without your talent and dedication taking care of business at home.

Warm regards and very respectfully,

CAPT Ted Branch

Commanding Officer

USS NIMITZ (CVN 68)