USS Carl Vinson Welcomes Commander Naval Air Forces

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Byron C. Linder, USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Public Affairs

USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70), At Sea (NNS) -- Sailors aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) welcomed aboard commander, Naval Air Forces Dec. 14 during the Vinson Carrier Strike Group's composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) off the coast of California.

Vice Adm. Al Myers received a COMPTUEX overview in the ship's combat direction center (CDC) and observed the COMPTUEX evolutions from CDC.

He walked through the hangar bays greeting Vinson Sailors, and toured Aircraft Intermediate Department spaces. He visited Vinson's Reactor Auxiliary Room and the ship's trash processing spaces. He also met pilots from four Carrier Air Wing 17 squadrons and attended a senior enlisted meeting with Vinson's leading chief petty officers and embarked master chiefs.

"I'm thrilled to be here, and it's great to have an opportunity to get around the ship," said Myers. "You demonstrate what makes our Navy great and what makes our Navy important. I am very proud of you."

Myers praised Vinson's professionalism and dedication to duty evident in the ship's recent Inspection and Survey (INSURV) performance, the best in the past four years and the highest ever for a nuclear carrier.

"Usually I like to see one carrier do better than the last one on INSURV. But I don't know if that's possible now because Vinson set the bar so high. It's a fantastic accomplishment by all hands," said Myers. "The challenge is to keep the momentum going, to build and do even better."

Myers also encouraged the strike group Sailors to handle the gravity of their forthcoming mission.

"For the folks who are on their first deployment, they're going to write history. Vinson is going to be in the news," Myers said. "It's important to understand the Navy does two fundamental things - one is we influence foreign countries, build and disrupt coalitions, and we maintain sea lanes of commerce. You're going to influence a few foreign countries. By being present there, you're going to be protecting our lanes of commerce. You can't do that virtually, you have to be there, you have to be forward deployed. You prove every day what a strong team can do."

Vinson and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17; guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG 52); guided-missile destroyers USS Gridley (DDG 101) and USS Stockdale (DDG 106); and frigates USS Gary (FFG 51) and USS Rentz (FFG 46); are completing the COMPTUEX certification prior to a Western Pacific deployment.