By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity
USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Persian Gulf, Dec. 23, 2017 — The
Chairman’s 2017 USO Holiday Tour left al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab
Emirates and flew 20 minutes to sovereign U.S. soil in the form of the 4.5-acre
flight deck of this Nimitz-class aircraft carrier today.
Navy and Marine Corps aircraft use this big-deck carrier to
take the fight to America’s enemies and to maintain American presence in tough
waters. The ship left its home port of San Diego in October. The crew has
already missed Thanksgiving with their families and will be launching
operations over Christmas, so Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, thought it was important to bring the show to the
Roosevelt.
The chairman’s senior enlisted advisor -- Army Command Sgt.
Maj. John W. Troxell -- told the crew that they are living up to the “Big
Stick” motto of the vessel’s namesake. “Any time somebody wants to get froggy
out on the water, we just send up a carrier strike group, do a little freedom
of navigation operation and show them who the real maritime kings of the world
are,” he said at the start of the show on the hangar deck.
In an interview after the USO show, Troxell said the
Roosevelt and the rest of Carrier Strike Group 9 are an integral part of the
fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. “The aircraft that are
flying off of this carrier … every day are going to Syria and they are going to
Iraq and they are putting the hammer on [the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria],”
the sergeant major said. “Because of their efforts, we have this threat on the
run.”
And it requires operations around the clock and around the
calendar, he said. The enemy doesn’t take Christmas off, Troxell noted, and
service members need to be ready, even on holidays, to defend the United
States, its interests and its allies.
American Might
The Roosevelt epitomizes the reality of American might. The
nuclear-powered ship is 1,092 feet long and 20 stories tall. Its flight deck is
252 feet wide. The ship carries more than 70 aircraft, from F/A-18E/F Super
Hornets and MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters to E/A-18 Growlers and the old C-2
Greyhounds. And it moves along at about 35 miles per hour.
The sergeant major got a chance to speak to members of the
crew and said morale is high. “They understand why they are here,” he said.
“They understand what the mission is.”
The morale is also high “probably because they have a port
visit coming up in Dubai, and they are going to get a little well-deserved
liberty they need after being out here for several months,” the SEAC said with
a smile.
He said the Roosevelt is a huge American advantage, but the
crew is what makes it work and he is impressed with “how well-trained, how
well-educated and how focused they are. These petty officers out here are
clearly the greatest competitive advantage we have in the waters, because of
them being empowered by the officers of this vessel.”
Troxell noted that thousands of service members will be away
from families doing the nation’s work on Christmas and New Year’s. The
Chairman’s Holiday USO Tour is one effort to let them know that America cares
about them, he said. “It is truly an honor for me to be part of this USO tour,
along with General Dunford … and be over here on the holidays. Nothing is more
important to us than spending time with the troops on the Christmas holidays.”
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