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CVN USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT
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12 months // 52 weeks // 365 days | jan | | | | | | |
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| dec
// We’ve come a long way...
M
ost of us remember the long walk through the yards, hard hats and countless man-hours spent getting the ship ready to rejoin the fleet. The blood, sweat and tears put into the revitalization of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) will forever leave a mark on Naval history. 2013 has proven to be one eventful year for Theodore Roosevelt, even with 27 years of active service under her belt. There is much more to look forward to, but for now, here is a look back...
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J
j an u ar y
anuar y 2013 wa s not only the daw n of a ne w ye a r for T he odore
Roos evelt, it wa s a lso the da wn of a new er a f or the mighty ship. The month ma rke d the be ginning of the end of T R’s four-ye a r re fue ling and complex ove rha ul (RCOH). Ja nuar y w as als o th e be ginning of a shift f r om a pr oduction-ba se d mindse t to an oper ational-ba se d mindse t. D ur ing the month of Ja nua ry, T R hos ted the D eputy Se c re ta ry of Def ens e A s hton Ca rte r. T R a lso he ld the thir d X O Readine ss E xe rc ise (XORE ) to tes t the opera tiona l re a dine ss of the cr ew.
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february
TR
’s change of command highlighted the month of
F ebr uar y as the car r ier continued to move clos er to oper ational s tatus . Capt. D aniel C. G r ieco r elieved Capt. William J . H ar t as TR’s new commanding off icer. The cer emony took place in hangar bay thr ee s hor tly af ter the hangar deck had been layer ed w ith a f r es h coat of non- s kid f or the f ir s t time in near ly f our year s . TR’s cr ew continued to pr es s on w ith tr aining and exer cis es , br inging it one s tep clos er to r ejoining the oper ational f leet.
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P
march
ow er ed by s team f r om The Big S tick’s r eactor s , TR’s cata-
pult s ys tem once again jetted dow n the f light deck as it had f our year s ear lier. Tes ting the catapult s ys tem w as a miles tone f or TR that pr epar ed the s hip to do w hat it does bes t, launch air cr af t. A s the r ehabilitation of s paces continued, TR began to look good as new and r eady to oper ate once again.
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R
april
ear Adm. Ke v i n J . Ko v a c i c h relieved Rear Ad m . Wa l t e r E.
C arter, J r. as Comm a n d e r, Ca r r i e r Strike Group 12 d u r i n g a c h a n g e o f command ceremony. S ailors als o cel e b r a t e d t h e m o n t h of the military chi l d wi t h a c h i l d r e n ’s safari. Onboard TR, S a i l o r s c o m p l e t e d anchor drops and t h e i r f i r s t p h y s i c a l readines s tes t of th e y e a r.
TR
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may
bid farewell to Co m m a n d M a s t e r Chief J ack R. Ca l l i s o n a n d we l c o m e d
aboa rd Command M as ter Ch i e f Bi l l J . Sm a l t s . T he ship continued mak i n g p r o g r e s s wi t h t h e turn s hip event, which a l l o we d f o r c o n t i nu ed w ork and tes ting. Sup p l y d e p a r t m e n t a l s o o pene d The Big S ip for Sa i l o r s t o e n j o y s p e c i a lt y Sta rbucks coffee while a t wo r k . Off t h e s hip, the TR mo t o r c y c l e c l u b s t a r t e d t h eir monthly rides and Sa i l o r s c e l e b r a t e d m i l it ary night at a Norfolk Tid e s b a s e b a l l g a m e .
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TR
june Sa ilors took a da y off to e njoy food, music a nd
activities unde r the sun a t the a nnua l command summe r pic nic . S ailor s upda te d the ship’s ba ttle lanter ns to ma ke the m more e ffic ie nt and continue d tra ining e fforts to ge t under w ay. TR adva nc e d 285 Sa ilors to the next pay- gra de in a froc king c e remony held a t Huntington Ha ll in N ew por t Ne ws, Va .
A
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july
f ter ye a rs of pre pa ra tion, T R and he r c re w c omple te d Cre w
Cer tif ication III. T he proc e ss tha t evaluated the a irc ra ft c a rrie r ’s sta te of r eadiness to go to se a with a qua lif ied cr ew. S ailors took a bre a k to c ool off at an ice c re a m soc ia l onboa rd the s hip dur in g a n XORE . S ailors on duty for the Fourth of J uly als o got a n a ma z ing front row s eat f or the Ne wport Ne ws fire works.
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TR
august s et s ail and r etur ned to its homepor t at N aval S tation N or-
f olk af ter f our year s in ( RCO H ) . TR s hif ted color s w hile boats w ain’s mates put their pr actice into play and unmoor ed the lines f r om the N ew por t N ew s S hipbuilding P ier. A f ter f our days at s ea, S ailor s in their dr es s w hites lined TR’s f light deck as the s hip pulled into N or f olk.
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september
TR
headed back out to s ea and completed its f ir s t launch
and ar r es ted landing in mor e than f our year s dur ing f light deck cer tif ication and car r ier qualif ications . M or ale Welf ar e and Recr eation ( M WR) held events r anging f r om kar aoke to video gaming competition. A ls o w hile under w ay, new ly- s elected chief s w er e advanced dur ing a pinning cer emony, and the cr ew completed gener al quar ter s exer cis es at s ea f or the f ir s t time in f our year s . TR als o completed its under w ay r eplenis hment cer tif ication tes t.
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o c t o b e r
A
s Fal l cr ep t i n , T R ’s cr ew w as a t sea o n ce ag ai n . T h e m o n t h o f
Oc t o b e r saw sev er al ev en t s t h at w er e n e w t o m a n y o f t h e S ai l o r s ab o ar d . Tr a i n in g A i r Wi n g 1 em b ar k ed o n TR a n d c o n d u ct ed i t s f i r st ai r cr af t c a r r i e r l a u n ch es an d l an d i n g s. T h i s e v o l u t i o n t est ed t h e sk i l l s o f n ew p i l o t s a n d t h ei r ab i l i t y t o l au n ch an d l a n d o n a n ai r cr af t car r i er f o r t h e first time. Th e s h i p al so co n d u ct ed a b u r i al a t s e a f o r t h e f i r st t i m e i n f o u r y ear s. Du r i n g t h e so l em n cer em o n y, S ai l o r s a b o a r d TR l ai d t o r est f i v e f o r m er s e r v i c e mem b er s an d o n e sp o u se.
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n o v e m b e r
TR
w elcomed aboar d th e X - 47B U nmanned Comba t
A ir S ys tem D emons tr ator ( U CAS-D) and completed tw o under w ays this month. D ur ing the under w ays , S a ilor s competed in D amage Control O lympics and continued w ith flight oper ations . The s hip als o kicked off the holiday s eas on w ith the command holida y par ty and celebr ated a Thanksgiving meal onboar d f or thos e S ailors on duty.
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T
d e c e m b e r heodore Ro o s e v e l t m a d e i t s wa y t o Florida to c o n d u c t f l i g h t o p e r a t i o n s
and carrier qual i f i c a t i o n s f o r t h e n e w pilots in Training Ai r Wi n g 1 a n d 2 . Two hundred a n d f o r t y - n i n e Sa i lors were frocked t o t h e n e x t p a y - g r a d e during a mas s ce r e m o n y i n t h e s h i p ’s hangar bay durin g t h e f i r s t we e k o f underway. TR als o held a c e r e m o n y i n t h e hangar bay to ho n o r t h o s e wh o l o s t t h e i r lives during the a t t a c k s o n Pe a r l Ha r b o r. The Blue J acket o f t h e y e a r, I n t e r i o r Communication s El e c t r i c i a n 3 r d Cl a s s Alexius Rus s ell , j o i n e d t h e o ff i c i a l p a r t y to commend a co m m e m o r a t i v e wr e a t h t o the s ea.
// s e e
A
y ou
n e x t
y e a r //
s TR e n t e r s a n ew y ear, t h e sh i p a n d h e r c r ew p r ess f o r w ar d w i t h
t r a i n i n g , c a r r i e r q u al i f i cat i o n s an d wo r k - u p s i n p r e p ar at i o n f o r f u t u r e deployments.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.�
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year in photos
-Theodore Roosevelt