GW Makes Successful Return to Sea

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GW Makes Successful Return to Sea
Story Number: NNS040914-04
Release Date: 9/14/2004 12:42:00 PM

By Journalist 2nd Class (SW/AW) John Osborne, USS George Washington Public Affairs

USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, At Sea (NNS) -- USS George Washington (CVN 73) (GW) Sailors returned to sea Sept. 13 to perform carrier qualifications, conduct training drills and fine tune their warfighting skills, in order to keep the surge carrier in top form if the need to deploy should arise.

This is the first time GW and her crew have been to sea since July 26, when they returned home to Norfolk after a successful deployment as the carrier providing air support to ground troops for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This underway period is expected to span a couple of weeks, and the majority of flight operations will involve carrier qualifications for Training Air Wing 1 and 2 out of Naval Air Station (NAS) Kingsville, Texas. The 52 trainees must complete 10 arrested landings aboard the carrier as part of their final stages of training en route to earning their wings.

In addition to flight training, damage control and other training drills will be conducted on a regular basis to refresh the skills of experienced Sailors and integrate new personnel into the system.

“This is our Navy’s future, and they need to be ready,” said Cmdr. John Marshall, GW’s air operations officer. “We have new people throughout the ship, and we need to take care of them in this dangerous environment we work in. We have to be vigilant in these times of change, because our number one mission is to take care of our people.”

As the surge carrier, GW will remain ready to deploy on short notice through the end of this year. This will also be the final underway for GW under commanding officer, Capt. Martin Erdossy, who will turn over the helm to Capt. Gary White Sept. 30.

For related news, visit the USS George Washington (CVN 73) Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cvn73.

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