Paul Davis On Crime: USS John C. Stennis

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

USS Stennis Sailors Reach Back to Kitty Hawk to Look Ahead

As an old Navy veteran who served on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk as a young sailor during the Vietnam War, I’m pleased to discover that the old girl is still useful.

The below piece released by the U.S. Navy, written by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jonathan Jiang, illustrates how sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Stennis are training aboard the decommissioned Kitty Hawk:

BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- Sailors from USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) conducted damage control and medical trainings during three damage control "rodeo" events held aboard the decommissioned carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) May 16-18, June 13-15 and July 11-13.

John C. Stennis' damage control and medical departments were unable to hold the "rodeos" on their own ship due to maintenance work being conducted during its planned incremental availability (PIA), but still wanted to give their fellow Sailors the most realistic experience possible.

Enter ex-Kitty Hawk, the Navy's last conventional-powered aircraft carrier, held at Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility Bremerton, and just a quick walk away from John C. Stennis. Though Kitty Hawk was decommissioned in 2009, it remains largely intact and shares many basic similarities to modern Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, making it an ideal location for this type of training.

"To be able to use a retired aircraft carrier, with as much space as there was, affords us the opportunity to keep our Sailors trained while performing the maximum amount of maintenance aboard the ship during the availability," said Cmdr. Ken Holland, John C. Stennis' Chief Engineer, from Littleton, Colorado.

John C. Stennis Sailors responded enthusiastically to the opportunity to train aboard Kitty Hawk.

"This gets people excited," said Lt. Ruth Johns, John C. Stennis' ship's nurse officer, from Flagstaff, Arizona. "This [damage control rodeo] just contributes to making it more real. It gets everybody back into the training mindset and really focusing on the mission."

Sailors received hands on training with damage control equipment at multiple stations set up throughout Kitty Hawk's hangar bay and on the pier, including dressing out and working in firefighting ensembles (FFE), carrying stretchers, setting up wood and steel shoring, using dewatering equipment and handling active fire hoses.

"I love hands on experiences, it helps me learn better," said Ship's Serviceman Seaman Andrew Whitehurst, from Miami. "The fact that we get to touch everything and learn all the parts is pretty cool."

As the end of PIA draws closer, John C. Stennis Sailors will need to shift their focus from maintenance to operations, and the need for damage control training will become more prominent.

Note: You can read about the glory days of the USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/05/look-back-at-aircraft-carrier-uss-kitty.html

Monday, June 15, 2015

American Naval Power Projection: U.S. Navy Photo Of Three Aircraft Carriers in Port

The above U.S. Navy photo shows three Nimitz-class aircraft carriers in port.

The USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) are pier side at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California.

The photo was taken by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel M. Young.

Note: I was aboard the USS Kitty Hawk when that aircraft carrier was docked at North Island in 1971.

You can click on the photo to enlarge.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Cool Photo: Rainbow Forms Over The Bow Of An Aircraft Carrier At Sea

In the above photo a rainbow forms over the bow of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in the Pacific Ocean.

The U.S. Navy photo was taken by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ignacio D. Perez.

Note: You can click on the photo to enlarge.

Paul Davis

Paul Davis is a writer who covers crime. He has written extensively about organized crime, cybercrime, street crime, white collar crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, the military, espionage and terrorism. He is a contributor to the Washington Examiner and Counterterrorism magazine, and he writes the magazine's online 'Threatcon' column. His 'Crime Beat' column, which covers crime news, crime issues and crime prevention in South Philadelphia, appears weekly in the South Philly Review, and his 'On Crime' column, which covers crime in the Greater Philadelphia region, appears weekly at Philly Daily and Broad and Liberty. His crime fiction appears in American Crime Magazine. His work has also appeared in the Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Weekly and other publications. As a writer, he has attended police academy training, gone out on patrol with police officers, accompanied detectives as they worked cases, accompanied narcotics officers on drug raids, observed criminal court proceedings, visited jails and prisons, and covered street riots, mob wars and murder investigations. He has interviewed police commissioners and chiefs, FBI, DEA, HSI and other federal special agents, prosecutors, judges, public officials, WWII UDT frogmen, Navy SEALs, Army Delta operators, Israeli commandos, military intelligence officers, Scotland Yard detectives, CIA officers, former KGB officers, film and TV actors, film writers, directors and producers, journalists, novelists and true crime authors, gamblers, outlaw bikers, and Cosa Nostra organized crime bosses. Paul Davis has been a student of crime since he was a 12-year-old aspiring writer growing up in South Philadelphia. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 17 in 1970. He served aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War and he later served two years aboard the Navy harbor tugboat U.S.S. Saugus at the U.S. floating nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland. He went on to become the civilian administrative officer of a Defense Department command in Philadelphia, where he oversaw security, safety and other programs for the command's military and civilian employees, and served as an investigating officer. He also worked part-time as a newspaper crime reporter and columnist during this time. He retired in 2007 after more than 37 Navy/DOD years of service and became a full-time writer. From 1991 to 2005 he was a producer and on-air host of "Inside Government," a public affairs interview radio program that aired on Sunday mornings on WPEN AM and WMGK FM in the Philadelphia area. You can read Paul Davis' crime columns, crime fiction, book reviews and news and feature articles on this website. You can read his full bio by clicking on the above photo (by Brittany Davis-Pearson). And you can contact Paul Davis at pauldavisoncrime@aol.com.

Paul Davis On Crime