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06/17/2008
Kitty Hawk Bids Japan Sayonara
for the Last Time
Story Number: NNS080530-12
Release Date: 5/30/2008 1:59:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Carlos Gomez, Kitty
Hawk Public Affairs
USS KITTY HAWK, At Sea (NNS) -- USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) left
Japan for the last time May 28, with hundreds of friends, family
members and distinguished visitors watching as the ship left the
piers where she has operated from for nearly a decade.
The Navy's oldest active-duty aircraft carrier left for Pearl
Harbor. There she will pass on her responsibilities as the only
carrier operating permanently outside of the United States to
USS George Washington (CVN 73) later this summer.
Thomas Schieffer, the U.S. ambassador to Japan; Hitoshi Kimura,
Japan's senior vice-minister of foreign affairs; and Rear Adm.
James Kelly, U.S. Naval Forces Japan commander, were among the
guests that included local business, civic and military leaders.
Rear Adm. Rick Wren, Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group commander,
highlighted and praised the ship's accomplishments during its
time in Yokosuka.
"As commander of Battle Force 7th Fleet, I want to thank the men
and women of USS Kitty Hawk for their contributions to maritime
security in this region," Wren said.
Kitty Hawk made 20 deployments in the Western Pacific during
that time, taking part in a number of exercises, including:
Cobra Gold; Foal Eagle; Malabar; Annual Exercise; Rim of the
Pacific; Talisman Saber; and Keen Sword, the largest joint
exercise for the Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Wren also thanked the Japanese for their help and cooperation in
hosting Kitty Hawk.
"I also want to extend my deepest appreciation to the citizens
of this wonderful nation
for their support to the [Forward
Deployed Naval Forces] carrier," Wren said.
Wren and Capt. Todd Zecchin, Kitty Hawk's commanding officer,
then boarded and waved goodbye to the crowd as the ship's crew
raised her brow from the quarterdeck and flag on her mast.
More than 1,000 Kitty Hawk Sailors 'manned the rails' as the
ship pulled out into Truman Bay while the Japan Maritime
Self-Defense Force's band played "Anchor's Aweigh" from the
pier.
As the ship pulled away, she released hundreds of red, white and
blue balloons.
Sailors then formed on the flight deck and spelled out
'sayonara,' which means 'goodbye' in Japanese for a
commemorative farewell photograph.
About 900 Kitty Hawk Sailors and over 100 members of will return
to Japan in the embarked Carrier Strike Group 5 and Destroyer
Squadron 15 staff members will return to Japan in August on
George Washington, as will the 2,000 Sailors of Carrier Air Wing
5, which operates from Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan, when
not embarked on the carrier.
The remainder of Kitty Hawk's crew will return to the West Coast
to decommission the ship in Bremerton, Wash., in early 2009.
The ship's pending decommissioning has stirred some nostalgic
feelings from the crew.
"It's going to be emotional for me, because in my opinion, Kitty
Hawk still has a lot of years left," said Chief Aviation
Boatswain's Mate (Fuel) Geronimo Crisostomo, who served a total
of three tours on Kitty Hawk. "It can still do the job out
there."
During her 10 years in Japan, Kitty Hawk has proven she can do
the job--and make history.
On March 22, 2001, Kitty Hawk became the first aircraft carrier
to enter Singapore's Changi Naval Base Pier.
The first F/A-18F Super Hornet landing on board Kitty Hawk's
4.1-acre flight deck took place Feb. 19, 2004.
Kitty Hawk also worked to establish herself as a symbol of
goodwill and friendship with the Japanese, making port visits to
Otaru and Sasebo. The ship was also the first U.S. Navy aircraft
carrier to visit Muroran on the northern island of Hokkaido.
The USS Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group is on its spring
deployment in the Western Pacific Ocean. The strike group is the
U.S. Navy's largest and includes the carrier, seven ships of
Destroyer Squadron 15, two Aegis weapons system equipped
guided-missile cruisers and Carrier Air Wing 5. The ships
operate from Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, and the air wing
operates from Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan. Together, they
serve as the 7th Fleet's combatant force.
USS Ronald Reagan Departs on Third Deployment
Story Number: NNS080520-21
Release Date: 5/20/2008 3:04:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bill Larned, USS
Ronald Reagan Public Affairs
SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and embarked
staffs and squadrons departed from San Diego May 19, for a
scheduled Western Pacific deployment, as hundreds of friends and
family members gathered pierside, waving banners and shouting
farewells.
"This crew is ready and excited. Walking around the mess decks,
you can feel the crew's energy. We are ready to go. I could not
be more impressed with the performance of this crew. We are
ready for any mission that presents itself," said Ronald Reagan
Commanding Officer Capt. Kenneth Norton, who assumed command May
2.
The ship is the nation's newest aircraft carrier and flagship of
Carrier Strike Group 7 (CSG-7), commanded by Rear Adm. James P.
Wisecup.
The strike group includes the guided-missile cruiser USS
Chancellorsville (CG-62), guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur
(DDG-73), USS Howard (DDG-83), and USS Gridley (DDG-101) and the
guided-missile frigate USS Thach (FFG-43). The strike group will
support the Maritime Strategy in the 5th and 7th Fleet areas of
operation.
"The more than 7,000 Sailors of the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike
group are excited to go across the horizon and do the nation's
business. It's bittersweet, because we miss our families. You
can never get used to leaving them. But we are excited and ready
to carry out the mission," Wisecup said.
"Our families are the most important component of our readiness.
They have made all of Ronald Reagan's success possible. We
cannot wait to get back home with them," said Norton.
The Ronald Reagan CSG is comprised of: Commander, Carrier Strike
Group 7, Carrier Air Wing 14, Destroyer Squadron 7, the
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), the
guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), the
guided-missile destroyers USS Decatur (DDG 73), USS Gridley (DDG
101) and USS Howard (DDG 83), the guided missile frigate USS
Thach (FFG 43) and the fast combat support ship USNS Rainier (TAOE
7).
The squadrons of CVW-14 include the "Redcocks" of Strike Fighter
Squadron (VFA) 22, the "Fist of the Fleet" of VFA-25, the
"Stingers" of VFA-113, the "Eagles" of VFA-115, the "Black
Eagles" of Airborne Early Warning Squadron 113, the "Cougars" of
Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 139, the "Providers" of
Carrier Logistics Support 30, and the "Black Knights" of
Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4.
Ronald Reagan was commissioned in July 2003, making it the ninth
and newest Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The
ship is named after the 40th U.S. president, and carries the
motto of "Peace through Strength," a recurrent theme during the
Reagan presidency.
May 14, 2008
OBITUARY
John Christiansen, 84; WWII flier rose to rank of rear admiral
By Blanca Gonzalez
 John
"Jack" Christiansen was as comfortable in the air as he was
at sea, and during his Navy career he spent plenty of time in
both places.
He was among that rare breed of World War II veterans who rose
from the ranks of enlisted men to become a rear admiral while
crossing over from a brown shoe naval aviator to a black shoe
ship commander.
Adm. Christiansen, who was commander of the San Diego-based
aircraft carrier Constellation during the Vietnam War, died of
heart failure April 30 at a Seattle hospital.
He was 84.
He had lived in Washington state for several years, but he
usually spent winters in Coronado.
After being designated a naval aviator in 1943, he participated
in the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot and attacks on Palau,
Hollandia, Truk and Tokyo in the Pacific theater. The Navy Cross
and the Distinguished Flying Cross were among his honors and
awards.
After being released from active duty in 1946, he earned a law
degree at Florida's Stetson University. He was recalled to
active duty during the Korean War and decided to make a career
of being a naval aviator.
Adm. Christiansen's daughter, Tina, said her father told her
that a big step in his career was when he received his first
command of a ship. He was a 'brown shoe,' a naval aviator, and
those that command ships in the Navy are (usually) black shoes,
and the two don't necessarily cross professional pathways
often. she said.
At his change of command, his staff gave him a plaque featuring
black shoes with a red sock in the left shoe and a green sock in
the right shoe, as a joke. Ostensibly so he could tell port from
starboard on a ship, his daughter said.
John "Jack" Christiansen was born June 8, 1923, in London to an
American mother and a Swedish father. Elizabeth and Hugo
Christiansen. Christiansen eventually moved the family to the
United States, where the future rear admiral grew up in New York
and Florida.
Adm. Christiansen quit high school at age 17 to join the Navy in
January 1941 because a recruiter told him the Navy would teach
him to be a pilot. He didn't know he would spend a lot of time
loading ammunition ships and learning hydraulics mechanics
first. When Pearl Harbor was attacked and the Navy needed more
pilots, he got his chance for flight training.
He loved flying, and he was a true fighter pilot. said Adm.
Lyle Bull, a friend who served under Adm. Christiansen's command
and who later served as commanding officer of the Constellation.
He was my mentor. Bull said. Leadership is tough to define, but
he was the epitome of a leader. He was compassionate, a
disciplinarian when he needed to be, a warrior. . . . He taught
his aviators to be good leaders.
Adm. Christiansen was a member of the Golden Eagles, the
Association of Naval Aviation, the Tailhook Association and the
Navy League. Friends said he loved boating and named his 51-foot
boat the Navy Cross.
He retired from the Navy in 1975 as the assistant deputy chief
of naval air warfare. He went on to work for Grumman Aerospace
as special assistant to the company's president and chairman,
and was later promoted to vice president and was responsible for
the field service division.
Adm. Christiansen is survived by his wife, Clare, of Coupeville,
Whidbey Island, Wash.; son, Tom; daughter, Tina; four
grandchildren, all of Coronado; and brother, Richard de Onativia
of Atlanta.
Services were held at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. |
