Nimitz News

Dear NIMITZ Family and Friends,

Hello everyone from the Eastern Pacific and the Southern California Operating Area. We are underway conducting sea trials following a highly successful planned maintenance and modernization period (Planned Incremental Availability (PIA)). About six months ago I wrote you that the crew was ready to start the PIA and shift gears from what had been a very busy operational period over the previous 15 months. I can tell you now that the crew is ready to go back to sea and begin our training phase for the next deployment. The last six months in PIA have afforded most of our Sailors an opportunity to have a regular and predictable schedule and some quality time with their families. However, there is nothing easy about a yard period for the crew. There is a great deal of work involved, and living and working aboard the ship goes from just routinely difficult to downright unpleasant. That said, your Sailors did a magnificent job in the PIA and this week demonstrated all our equipment. We are pulling into port this morning after once again “hitting it out of the park.” Your Sailors raised the bar in every area of performance and certification.

With the completion of PIA, our requirement to more closely align schedules with the Shipyard workers has gone away. Therefore, on Tuesday, 5 September, we will transition back to NIMITZ hours. The workday will begin at 0600 with breakfast beforehand and ship’s work will knock off at 1230 with lunch to follow. These hours are the same ones we used last turnaround and they afford us an opportunity to get our jobs done, miss some of the traffic, and have a little more personal time. I will say that this scheme is really designed to benefit the Blueshirts and its success depends on the quality of planning and preparation for future day’s work by all levels of leadership. Those of us who wear khaki can expect to get home earlier than during PIA, but most khaki will be around into the afternoon in order to be most efficient the following day.

Our operational schedule is very similar to the work-ups we did two years ago with a good bit of time underway. It is especially important for our new Sailors and those returning to sea duty to prepare not only themselves, but to ensure their families are prepared for the time away from homeport. Dependent ID card and base vehicle decal expiration dates, powers of attorney, family care plans, wills, and bill payment arrangements are just a few of the items that crewmembers need to verify. Our Ombudsmen, and Family Support Group—Team NIMITZ, are great sources for information and experience.

I’d like to congratulate all our new Chief Petty Officer Selectees:
DARCY JOHN T ACC
DEGUZMAN ALEXANDRA R SKC
DEVALL RYAN J MMNC
DORRAH ANTHONY L OSC
FRENCH CLARENCE E OSC
GEORGE KAREEM L EMC
HAWKINS ERICK R ETNC
HIMLEY NATHAN R ETNC
HOOKS GWENDOLYN D AEC
JOHNS PETER A EMNC
LEWIS PHILLIP A ETC
LUNDELL MARK A ABEC
MARTIN VINCENT E ETNC
MIDDLETON JEFFREY M HTC
MILLER WILLIAM K ABEC
MOYD MICHAEL AZC
NGO RENATO E HMC
NOCON WILFRED A EMNC
PAUL JOHN M AOC
SCHWARZ ERIN L ETNC
TROFTGRUBEN DANIEL M ATC
VICTA ROLAND S ASC
VIERRA ISAAC C CSC
WALTON RODRAIGUS A EMC
WILKINS DELIA E HMC
WRIGHT WILLIAM P ATC

As you know, CPO selection is a major career milestone and a significant achievement. The transition training has been going very well and we will have our pinning ceremony where the new Chiefs don their hats and anchors on September 15th.

Plans for our Friends and Family Day cruise on September 16th are really shaping up. We are expecting over 3,000 guests for the event which will include displays of our shipboard equipment and capabilities, as well as flight operations and an aerial demonstration by some of our Air Wing Eleven aircraft.

Finally today, I want to thank you once again for all you do in supporting your NIMITZ Sailors. It is your ability to take care of business on the home front that allows us to do this job out here. Simply put, we couldn’t do it without your continued support. Thanks for all you do and keep up the great work.

Please be safe over the Labor Day weekend and I hope to see you on 16 September.

Warm regards and very respectfully,

CAPT Ted Branch, USN
Commanding Officer
USS NIMITZ (CVN 68)