Hello NIMITZ Family and Friends,
It’s been a little over two weeks since my last email and as always, I hope this one finds all of you doing well. After 35 hot days at sea, your Sailors got a break on August 9th when we anchored in Bahrain for a 5-day port visit. Bahrain is kind of tough for an aircraft carrier size liberty party. The strident force protection measures in effect and the type of boats and buses available to move the crew from anchorage to the Naval Support Activity made it a long haul getting into town. With those factors and the unrelenting heat, Bahrain most likely won’t be remembered as a favorite stop, but it did provide us a chance to rest, do a little shopping, perform some maintenance, and change the routine as everyone had been working very hard under difficult conditions here in the Arabian Gulf summer. Even with Bahrain’s extra hurdles and frustrations, once again, the crew performed superbly as ambassadors of our Navy and Nation. They are just terrific.
Following the port visit we picked right back up supporting the guys on the ground in Iraq and Maritime Security Operations. The days are still long and hot, but we have hit our stride and continue to execute our missions professionally and well. If the current schedule holds (and I believe it will) our longest, hottest at-sea period in the Gulf is behind us. We have a number of events coming up to vary the day-to-day routine and help stave off the onset of a “Groundhog Day” state of mind. That is important not only for morale, but also from an operational and safety standpoint. Monotonous routines are insidious in that they can dull the senses and cause us to lose focus in this potentially hazardous environment. We’ll mix it up a little and give everyone some change of pace.
A great example of this was yesterday when we hosted General Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a group of entertainers from the USO. The Chairman is traveling throughout the Central Command visiting the troops. He had his wife, Mary Jo, with him as well as National Football League Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, actress/model Leeann Tweeden, and comedians Colin Quinn and Jeffrey Ross. We were honored to host the Chairman and thank him for his dedicated service as our senior uniformed officer over the last four years during extraordinarily difficult times. The men and women of the armed forces are clearly first in his heart. We also have another USO show tonight and tomorrow featuring two comedians that have been touring the region for a couple of weeks.
I’m very pleased to announce the promotion list for Lieutenant Commander is out and all of NIMITZ's officers who were in-zone were selected for promotion. Congratulations to our new O4’s:
LT EASON ENG
LT BENNETT AIMD
LT CECH NAV
LT HOWELL CS
LT THOMAS OPS
LT MAKAR OPS
LT HARPER OPS
LT BOROVINA OPS
LT ADAMATZ OPS
LT WOLFE AIR
LT MCKAUGHAN AIR
LT CHRISTINO AIR
LT WOOD AIR
LT KUMMINGS AIR
LT GROENEVELD AIR
LCDR HAAS RX (previously spot promoted)
As we roll into the end of August, your Sailors are also working very hard to polish our Material and Maintenance Management (3M) program. We have an assessment coming up sometime in the near future and this is one area were we needed to make and have made great improvements over the last several months. Lots of dedicated effort here by a great many crewmembers and we are looking forward to the 3M Assessment to validate all the hard work in this area. This is just one example of the type work that goes on all the time to keep this great ship battle worthy and ready to answer the call.
Finally, today I want to thank all of you again for your great work at home supporting your Sailors. I cannot overstate the importance of your role and contribution to the success of this crew. Just last week I was asked by a Navy Times reporter how the families were doing at home and did I have many issues to deal with coming from the homefront. I proudly told him that we not only have the best crew, but we also have the best family support that I have ever seen. That is due to many factors including our solid support structures like Team NIMITZ and our terrific Command Ombudsmen who are very valuable, but mainly it’s due to all of you and your ability to keep everything ticking along smoothly at home. Keep up the great work.
Warm regards and very respectfully,
CAPT Ted Branch
Commanding Officer
USS NIMITZ (CVN 68)
Date Posted/Last Updated:8/19/2005 8:03:56 PM