Nimitz News - May 11, 2013 by USS NIMITZ (CVN 68)

May 11, 2013

Vol. 39 No. 17

Commanding Officer Capt. Jeff S. Ruth Executive Officer Capt. Buzz Donnelly Command Master Chief Master Chief Teri M. McIntyre Public Affairs Officer Lt. Cmdr. Karin Burzynski Media Division Officer Lt. Jason Scarborough Media LCPO MCC (SW/AW) Mike Jones Media Production Chief MCC (SW) Gregory Roberts Media LPO MC1 (AW/SW) Michael Cole Editor MC2 (SW) Jason Behnke Lead Designer MC3 George J Penney III Media Department MC2 (SW) Jacquelyn Childs MC2 Ashley Berumen MC2 (SW) Robert Winn MC2 (SW) Andrew Jandik MC2 (SW/AW) Glenn Slaughter MC2 (SW) Nichelle Bishop MC3 (SW) Renée L. Candelario MC3 (SW) Ryan Mayes MC3 Shayne Johnson MC3 Jacob Milner MC3 (SW) Devin Wray MC3 Christopher Bartlett MC3 Raul Moreno MC3 (SW) Alexander Ventura II MC3 Linda S. Swearingen MC3 (SW) Jess Lewis MC3 W. J. Cousins MC3 Derek Volland MC3 Phillip Ladouceur MCSN (SW) Sam Souvannason MCSN Kole Carpenter MCSN Derek Harkins MCSN Nathan McDonald MCSN Joshua Haiar MCSA Aiyana Paschal MCSA Kelly Agee MCSA Victoria Ochoa Nimitz News accepts submissions in writing. All submissions must be in by Friday, COB. Submissions are subject to review and screening. “Nimitz News” is an authorized publication for the members of the military services and their families. Its content does not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, or the Marine Corps and does not imply endorsement thereby.

Chaplain’s Corner

Waking THE DEAD Story by Cmdr. Emile Moured

here is a story of Antarctic sea-lore that tells us of a Schooner, JENNY, which sailed in 1823 with seven people aboard. During its journey, JENNY became frozen in an ice-barrier of the Antarctic Circle. The ship was allegedly discovered by the ship HOPE on September 22nd, 1860, after being locked in the ice for 37 years. The party that boarded the ship found the last log entry by the captain, which read: “May 4, 1823. No food for 71 days. I am the only one left alive.” According to this legend, the cold had preserved the ship as one solid frozen monument. Some were in their hammocks; the captain himself was found sitting in a chair with the pen still in his hand. Some of us have experienced churches like that. How many churches are well-preserved monuments to “what was” or “what could be” with no heartbeat and no spiritual life to speak of? For some of us, that experience has turned us away from church or even God completely. In the book of Revelation, Jesus addresses several churches in various states of health. One, the church at Sardis (chapter 3), seems to have become infected by pride, complacency and moral corruption. As the Great Physician – and here as the Divine Coroner -- Jesus warns them that their church is largely dead and that their future will not end well if they do not turn

things around. But He also gives them a divine prescription: wake up, strengthen what remains of your faith, go back to worship and fellowship around the truth of God, and keep on doing it. He also tells them to repent – acknowledge their sin and spiritual decay and intentionally make a different set of choices. You have probably seen churches like Sardis – groups of “believers” who claim to follow God but you sense no evidence of real spiritual life. Regardless, where are you today? Perhaps I think I can keenly see through the hypocrisy and insincerity of those who claim to know God but certainly don’t act like it. But rather than write off the Divine because of the hypocrisy of others or the failure of human beings to accurately reflect God, what are you doing to seek out or grow in a relationship with God? We find some indications from writings about a century later that the church at Sardis did indeed turn it around. They were dying on the operating table, but the heart surgery was successful. That’s good news for those of us who may be struggling or spiritually “bleeding out.” And the prescription to us is the same – wake up, get serious about examining truth and meditating on God’s words, and continue on that path consistently in order to allow God to revive us and change our lives from the inside out!

OF SAILOR THE

AT3 Samuel S. Duran Story and Photos by MCSN Kole Carpenter

viation Electronics Technician 3rd Class Samuel S. Duran, from San Antonio, Texas, was named Sailor of the Day aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) May 10. Duran’s initiative and technical knowledge were instrumental in the testing, troubleshooting and subsequent repair of an ALQ-126 receiver/transmitter and ALR-67 special receiver. His efforts led to the ready-for-issue of an expeditious repair to support (VMFA) 323’s mission. He has logged more than 200 man-hours on various EA6B, E2-C and F/A-18 avionics components and is the only collateral duty inspector on board to certify a Universal Exciter upgrade ready-for-issue. Duran additionally devoted 77 meticulous maintenance man hours on Consolidated Automated Support System (CASS),

DAY

identifying shortfalls in the test station. This ultimately led to a reconfiguration of CASS allowing for optimal testing and repair while minimizing downtime. “It feels good to be recognized for hard work,” said Duran. He enlisted in June 2012 and plans to make a career of the Navy. “I’m a lifer,” he said. “I’ll stay as long as they let me.” Loving his work, according to Duran, is the secret to success. “Try to pick a job that you like,” he said. “It really makes a difference when you love what you do. I used to be a chef. I even went to culinary school, but this is much better.”

Cousins On Board

Story by MC3 Linda S. Swearingen Photo by MC2 (SW) Jason Behnke Layout by MCSA Andrew Price

t can be difficult to stay in touch with family and friends while on deployment, but for two Sailors currently serving on board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) staying in contact with their family on a regular basis is not a problem. Twenty-one-year-old Logistics Specialist Seaman Seth R. Perrodin and twenty-three-yearold Aviation Technician 3rd Class Jullian W. Perrodin, both from Lake Charles, La., are two cousins currently stationed on board Nimitz. Both cousins were extremely close while they were growing up and are more like brothers than cousins. They even lived together for about a year before Jullian joined the Navy. “I joined the Navy in February 2010 to jumpstart my career,” said Jullian. “I was laid off my job as a bank teller and the job prospects weren’t looking too good at the time so I looked at joining the Navy.” A year after Jullian joined the Navy, his cousin Seth joined in 2011, after he graduated from high school. “I took a year off after high school and then decided to join the Navy to get money for college and to see the world,” said Seth.

Nimitz is Seth’s first command and he originally came into the Navy as an undesignated deck seaman. “I came to the Nimitz first, in January 2012,” said Seth. “I struck as a Logistics Specialist in 2013 because I wanted to try something different.” While Nimitz is Seth’s first command, it is his cousin Jullian’s second command. “My first command was in Norfolk, Virginia,” said Jullian. “Nimitz is my first ship. It’s amazing and a new experience in my Naval career.” Neither of the Perrodin cousins planned on both of them getting orders to Nimitz and they were pleasantly surprised to find themselves stationed at the same command and living together on the ship after being apart for more than two years. “I was very excited to be stationed with him,” said

Jullian. “I knew he was stationed here, but for my NEC 6673 for calibration technician, the Nimitz was the only billet open at the time because it is a critical NEC that has to be filled. [Being stationed with Seth] definitely gave me something to look forward to at this command.” For Seth, the feelings of excitement at having his cousin stationed with him during his time on Nimitz were mutual. “I thought it was going to be boring during deployment, but as soon as I found out my cousin was coming on board I got excited that I would have someone to look up to while I was on board,” said Seth. Even though they are both currently in the Navy, the older-brother role still comes naturally to Jullian.

“I take on the role of his mentor even if it’s not on paper, since I have more time and experience in the Navy,” said Jullian. “Having him here is a give and take. While I’m mentoring him for my time in the Navy, he’s mentoring me for shipboard life since I had never been on a ship before.” According to Seth, having his cousin Jullian on board speeds up his learning curve as a new Sailor. “[It’s] an advantage to hear what experiences he’s had in the Navy over some of the other people who were in deck with me and who were also new to the Navy,” said Seth. The cousins see each other daily and are the motivation and support each other needs to make it through their days out to sea. “We find each other every day so we can eat chow together and we get together daily to have conversations about how our day went,” said Jullian. “We also work out together whenever we have time, doing a form of cross fit with a punching bag three times a week.” For Jullian, sharing his first time out to sea with his cousin is something to be cherished. “It definitely makes the time underway more memorable when you have someone you’re close to that you can share it with and have memories with them,” said Jullian.

Courtesy Photo

oing

“Once an Indian, always an Indian”

OME

he year is 1963. Space Capsule Faith Seven splashes into the Pacific Ocean. Soon after, Recovery Swimmer William M. Rucker plunges from a helicopter along with two other swimmers to recover it. The capsule contains Col. Gordon Cooper, the first man to be in space for more than a day, and the last man to be launched solo into Earth orbit. Fast-forward 50 years, and Rucker is back at that same location. This time, there is no one to rescue, nor any spacecraft to recover. His only duty will be to take his final dive into the ocean and join his lost crewmates. Those whom never returned from a helicopter assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 6. When Lt. j.g. Bryan Criger, an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter Pilot assigned to HSC-6, found out he would be piloting a Sea Hawk for a burial at sea, he was more than pleased to help. “When Mr. Rucker’s family asked if it could be done at a specific latitude and longitude, we weren’t sure if

Courtesy Photo

we were going to be able to do it,” said Criger. “But then we learned we weren’t too far from where they had requested, and started making arrangements to launch a helo. It was very exciting that we were going to be able to fulfill his wishes.” The Helicopter skimmed the water on its way to the coordinates 27 degrees 20 minutes north latitude and 176 degrees 26 minutes west longitude, a location where several space missions were recovered including the one Rucker had been a part of. As the helicopter approached the location, it hovered down to 15 feet above the water; a standard height a swimmer is launched from. Then Rescue Swimmer 2nd Class Carlos A. DeOsambela held the urn over the ocean. The crew who are all part of HSC-6, or “The Indians,” that Rucker was once a part of, gave him a proper swimmers’ deployment into the ocean. “Stand by to deploy swimmer. Swimmer ready. Jump jump jump,” was called and DeOsambela dropped the

urn into the ocean. “It was an incredible honor to be able to be a part of this ceremony,” said DeOsambela. “Being the one who gave Mr. Rucker his final deployment in the ocean is something I’ll definitely always remember. Being a rescue swimmer and in the same squadron, I had that much more connection with this man.” The Indians have a saying that seems to be especially true here, “Once an Indian, always an Indian.”

Story by MCSA Aiyana Paschal Photos by MC2 (SW) Robert Winn Layout by MC3 George J. Penney III

The Next Day December 8

hat morning, many of the assumptions that Americans had about the military capabilities of the Empire of Japan were gone. For the public, the actions of Japan had seemed far away. For many involved with the Navy, the belief that the battleship ruled the sea was shown to be untrue. Adm. Chester Nimitz had only three carriers in the Pacific. The aircraft carrier USS Lexington had been scheduled to be in Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, but had been delayed because one of the destroyers in her task force had tangled wire in her propeller. The happy accident had prevented her probable destruction and given Nimitz one more piece on the chessboard. Among the Allies, it was decided that Nazi Germany would be the first strategic priority. So in the months before the Battle of Coral Sea, the United States was on the defensive in the Pacific. The plan was simple: hold onto Hawaii, support Allied efforts in Australia and Southeast Asia, and maintain the lines of communication and supply. To carry this out, Nimitz decided to use his three carriers offensively. Instead of stationing them in a static line to defend the area around Australia, he used them to attack Japanese land bases in the Pacific to disrupt their logistics. Lexington, and the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown, attacked Japanese bases in the South Pacific. For some islands, the most recent available charts were from 1840. There was no GPS, no spy satellites. Weather forecasts were primitive. But the Americans did have one technological innovation that the Japanese not only didn’t have, but also didn’t know about.

Path to War

hen the Lexington raided Rabaul, New Guinea, the Japanese responded by launching land-based two-engine bombers. This was an important part of their strategy for the war, creating a defensive perimeter of airfields

After the Storm Story by MC3 Phillip Ladouceur

A Plane throughout the Pacific Ocean, using these bombers to attack any American forces moving through. But thanks to radar, the Lexington was able to get 27 planes in the air to confront 17 planes in two separate waves. The first wave consisted of nine bombers, and they were swarmed by the Americans and all shot down. One bomber tried to hit the Lexington as it fell from the sky, an awful omen of the kamikaze attacks that would come later in the war. When the second wave arrived, only one American plane had enough fuel and ammunition left. Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare attacked, with as many as 24 gunners on the eight planes shooting at him. He managed to shoot down three planes, cripple two, and was credited with five kills. He was the first American ace of the war, and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is named for him. Carrier attacks in the Pacific in the first few months of the war impacted not only Japanese shipping, but also their decision making. It was decided that there was a need for carrier support in their operations in the South Pacific, which led to the confrontation at Coral Sea.

“Shangri La”

here was pressure from both America’s allies and the American public to avenge the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the early months of 1942, a plan was quietly prepared to do just that. In March the newly built Essex-class carrier Hornet had gone from Norfolk, Va., to San Diego, Calif., where her commanding officer was told that he would be taking several Army B-25 Mitchell bombers,

Part 4 in a Series

planes that had never been intended to be flown from a flight deck, across the Pacific to attack Tokyo. Led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle, a former flight instructor and stunt pilot who also had a Ph.D. from MIT, the 17th Bomb Group had received training from a Navy instructor on how to fly their bombers from a very short runway. But it wasn’t until March 20, when 16 B-25s were loaded by crane onto the Hornet at Alameda, that the pilot’s suspicions regarding their mission were confirmed. Meeting up with the Enterprise, the two ships came under the command of Adm. William Halsey and were designated Task Force 16. Maintaining radio silence, they made their way toward Tokyo. Early on the morning of April 18, Enterprise’s radar detected a surface contact. As close as they were to Japan, it could only be an unfriendly ship. When planes were sent up at first light, they soon came back, dropping a message around a beanbag onto the deck of the Enterprise, maintaining radio silence. “Believed seen by enemy,” it said.

he ship was a picket boat, ordered out by Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto to provide early warning. One of the task force’s destroyers sank it and another picket boat, but not before they had sent several messages back to Japan. There was only one thing to do. “Launch planes. To Col. Doolittle and his gallant command, good luck and God bless you,” Halsey said through a blinkered message. Seas were rough and the carriers were well outside of the range they had hoped for, but all the bombers made it up safely. Task Force 16 turned around back to Hawaii. The planes made their way all the way to Tokyo without resistance. Ignored by the military and waved at by civilians who mistook them for Japanese planes, they dropped their bombs and flew off toward China, where they planned on landing. None of the planes made it to the airfields in China. Most of the aircrews bailed out. Of the 80 raiders, seventythree eventually made it home. Some were killed in crashes, and others executed by the Japanese. Four survived internment in a POW camp for the remainder of the war.

In the United States, the raid was a morale boost. There was intense speculation as to how the planes had crossed the Pacific, but the true story was kept secret for more than a year. Reporters asked President Franklin Roosevelt where the planes had taken off from. “Shangri-La,” he said, referencing a hidden city in a popular novel. It would later become the name of one of the new Essex-class carriers.

Consequences

he Doolittle Raid did nothing to hinder Japan’s ability to wage war. The damage was minimal. But though the Japanese publicly played down the significance of the raid, the fact the Americans had been able to strike Tokyo had alarmed them. Combined with the way the American carriers were disrupting Japanese shipping, it helped create strong backing for Yamamoto’s daring plan to destroy America’s remaining carriers. And just as radar was helping the carriers spot the enemy through greater distance than the eye could see, the code breakers at Station Hypo in Hawaii were helping Nimitz spot the enemy’s moves in the future. In the days after the Battle of Coral Sea, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Rochefort began putting together the fragments and clues that let him guess the location of the final showdown.

Adm. Chester Nimitz

#3 Finance

Emergency&

Short Term

Savings A fun and easy guide by Cdr. Matthew Miller N33/N35 Sub Ops/Future Plans Emergency Savings

Bottom line is everyone should have an emergency savings account for unexpected ‘emergencies’. Emergencies may include a car breaking down, loss of a job, a medical issue, or some other unplanned expense. Going on vacation is generally NOT an emergency and should be saved for as a Short Term Savings goal. You should have 3-6 months living expenses in your emergency account. If you are single or a one income family, you should have six months. If you are part of a two income household, you only need 3 months (although having six months is not necessarily a bad thing).

Short Term Savings Short Term Savings is saving for expenses that you expect to have within the next 2 to 3 years. This includes things like saving for a big vacation, saving for graduate school tuition, saving for a down payment on a house, saving for a down payment on a car, and other things like that. This is money that you do not want to put at risk in the stock market (the stock market could very well be significantly lower 2 to 3 years from now than where it is now).

The goal for Emergency Savings and Short Term Savings is to preserve your investment (i.e., your principal) and maximize the amount of interest you earn. You generally will NOT maximize your interest in a regular checking account or even a bank savings. It can start at just $25 or $50 per month. You

will be surprised by two things: 1) how fast the money grows and 2) how you will really miss that amount of money. If you do not yet have 3-6 months living expenses in your Emergency Savings Account, that is O.K. During my lean college years, I was living on rice, top ramen, and hot dogs with very little savings. You should start adding money each month depending on what you can afford. Many people ask, “Should I fund my Emergency Savings Account or fund my retirement account?” My response is “you should fund both”. You may get different points of view on this, but I would do the following:

Action 1. Ensure you are putting enough into your 401(k) to get your company match – remember this is free money. Again this applies more towards a working spouse or when you leave the Navy. 2. Remaining available savings should be split 50/50 between funding a Roth IRA and funding an Emergency Savings Account (if you are not eligible for a Roth, then split 50/50 between your 401(k) and Emergency Savings).

Mathematical Fact Compounding interest is so important I want to focus on the “Magic Point” of retirement savings. The “Magic Point” is when you are earning more in returns than you are putting in each year. This is when you know you are really going to be set for retirement. For example, if you are saving $19,500 per year, then how long will it take before you are earning $19,500 in returns each year? That is the “Magic Point” and also the point when your account balance really starts to skyrocket. It completely depends on your rate of return. Below shows how long it takes depending on your annual rate of return: 5% ~ 26 years to the “Magic Point” 6% ~ 22 years to the “Magic Point” 7% ~ 19 years to the “Magic Point” 8% ~ 17 years to the “Magic Point” 9% ~ 15 years to the “Magic Point” 10% ~ 14 years to the “Magic Point” 11% ~ 13 years to the “Magic Point” 12% ~ 12 years to the “Magic Point” 13% ~ 11 years to the “Magic Point” 14% ~ 10.5 years to the “Magic Point” 15% ~ 10 years to the “Magic Point”

Note that the time frames are the same for a

given rate of return regardless of how much money you are saving – just as long as you are saving a constant amount (it’s a mathematical fact based on a constant amount saved and a given rate of return). Individual Bonds If you buy an individual bond (generally through a brokerage account or direct from the U.S. Government) it is very straightforward in what your return is going to be. Say you buy a $10,000 bond with an annual interest rate of 8% (I will assume you are paid annually for ease of discussion as opposed to monthly or quarterly) and a maturity of 10 years. This means you will receive $800 each year for 10 years and then get your $10,000 back. Keep in mind that inflation “eats away” at the value of your money over time, so $10,000 ten years from now won’t be able to buy as much as it does today. I’m also leaving taxes out of this discussion to just illustrate the point.

Bond Mutual Funds A bond mutual fund accepts money from many different investors and pools that money to go and buy large numbers of bonds. The mutual fund may buy bonds with different maturities, different interest rates and so on. As an investor you own a small piece of all the bonds. The mutual fund will pay you interest based on how much interest the bonds generate. The big difference here is the value of your investment will fluctuate based on what happens to interest rates. This is because the mutual fund will be buying and selling bonds all throughout the life of the bonds. What this means is that if they have a 10 year, 8% bond, they may sell that bond before 10 years is up. There is a whole secondary bond market where institutions buy and sell bonds before they mature. Individual investors don’t normally do this, but you can through a broker. The reason the value of your investment can change is as follows (using $10,000, 10 year, 8% as the base case). Say interest rates drop from 8% to 5% (this would be a huge drop, but it illustrates the point). A brand new $10,000 bond would now pay $500 (5%) per year instead of $800 (8%) per year. Since the going rate is 5% and you have an existing bond that pays $800 per year, someone would be willing to pay you $16,000 for your $10,000 bond (5% of $16,000 is $800). Your original $10,000 investment is now worth $16,000. The same works in reverse. If interest rates go up from 8% to 10%, a brand new $10,000 bond pays $1,000 (10%) per year. Since the going rate is 10% and your existing bond pays $800 per year, someone would be willing to pay you $8,000 for your $10,000 bond (10% of $8,000 is $800). Your original $10,000 investment is now worth $8,000. This is why you often hear that bond prices move

inversely to interest rates. Higher rates make your bond worth less and lower rates make your bond worth more. Remember, if you just buy an individual bond and hold it to maturity, the fluctuations in interest rates don’t matter. You will get your $800 per year and your $10,000 back at the end of 10 years regardless of what interest rates do. If you buy a bond mutual fund, the value of your investment will move in the opposite direction that interest rates move and go up or down over time as interest rates move.

Yield Curve The last thing on interest rates is historically, the longer the maturity, the higher the interest rate (to compensate you for tying up your money longer when inflation over the long run is uncertain). The years between 20052007saw an “inverted yield curve” which means shorter term maturities are actually paying more interest than longer term maturities. This has happened less than 10 times since World War II and has generally been a precursor to a recession. There are many people who say this inverted yield curve is different now due to global economic factors such as the huge trade deficit we have with China (China is using a lot of their cash to buy U.S. Government bonds), the huge amount of money we’re sending to middle eastern countries for oil (Saudi Arabia is using a lot of their ‘oil money’ to buy U.S. Government bonds), and the fact that the Federal Reserve has a lot of credibility as an inflation fighter (both Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke have demonstrated their willingness to keep inflation low). Only time will tell. To answer the original question about which bonds to buy as part of your retirement portfolio, the answer is simple. Buy a Bond Market Index Fund. The funds usually buy all maturities (average maturity is 6.8 years), with yields around a respectable 5.1%, and normally have extremely low expenses (0.2%). I have left taxes out of this discussion because you will not pay any taxes now on interest in your retirement accounts. I will take my recommendation to you one step further and suggest that instead of you taking the time to buy a separate domestic stock fund, international stock fund, and a bond fund, that I would put all of your retirement funds into a Target Retirement Fund. These funds automatically change the asset allocation (stocks, bonds, and cash) over time and you don’t have to do anything, but add money each year.

SPORTS