By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Sandi Grimnes, USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) Public Affairs
NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) took first place in a holiday light display competition with other ships stationed aboard Naval Station (NS) Norfolk, Dec. 17.
Bushs' First Class Petty Officer Association (FCPOA) and Junior Enlisted Association (JEA) coordinated with the crew to decorate the ship with 6.2 miles of holiday lights.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (SW/AW) Caleb Haynie, USS George H.W. Bush JEA president, said planning for the light display began in November.
"This was a whole command effort," Haynie said. "Every department has been absolutely involved in this, from electricians who ensure electrical safety, Supply [department personnel] who coordinated the ordering and receiving all the decorations, to Navigation and Air [departments] who helped hang the lights. There is no one department that is not involved in some way."
The decorating began while Bush was at sea and included the construction of a 25 foot wreath, and an 8 foot by 6 foot Santa sleigh painted with flames and strung with holiday lights. The ship's F/A-18 trainer jet, which served in place of Santa's reindeer, was wrapped in white net lights and then outlined in blue lights, and large cardboard storage containers were painted to look like presents.
All of the lights are LED with total lumens of more than 4.5 million.
"We are lit up like the 'Griswalds'," said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class (AW/SW) Donnie Dowell, FCPOA president. "People will be blinded with the 6.2 miles of lights."
Dowell said this is the first year that USS George H.W. Bush has participated in the competition. Last year the ship hung up a few lights but did not compete.
"It's pretty amazing the amount of teamwork that has gone into this," Haynie said. "No one person can take credit for this project. Everyone has been putting in hours and volunteering."
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