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SHUTTLE USS Enterprise (CVN 65) - Sunday, May 29 2011
Memorial Day 2011
We Remembe r Rear Adm. Terry B. Kraft, commander of Enterprise Strike Group, addresses the crew during the Memorial Day Commemoration in the hangar bay aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65). Photo by MSN Jared M. King
Sunday, May 29, 2011
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Enterprise News
Enterprise Sailors remember their fallen comrades
By MCSN Gregory A. Pickett II USS Enterprise Public Affairs
USS ENTERPRISE, At sea - The deployed aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) held a Memorial Day commemoration ceremony May 27 to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. Enterprise Sailors specifically paid tribute to those who died in service to Enterprise and the seven ships that shaped the Enterprise legend. “For 230 years, Enterprise has lost shipmates in battles and tragic events, and it is this weekend that we stop to reflect on those that have served Enterprise and our nation’s military forces,” said the ship’s Commanding Officer Capt. Dee L. Mewbourne. Enterprise and her crew paid homage to their fallen brothers and sisters in a wreath-laying service, committing a flowered wreath to sea to symbolize those who are forever entombed in the great depths of the oceans. “We gather here today for one singular purpose, to remember the sacrifices made by men and women in uniform who served before us,” said Cmdr. John B. Owen, the ship’s Protestant chaplain. Enterprise Sailors carried the wreath to the
Photo by MC3 Alex R. Forster
Cmdr. John B. Owen, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise’s command chaplain, invites the crew to join him in prayer at the commencement of the Memorial Day Commemoration in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65).
edge of the hangar bay and dropped it into the ocean, as a Sailor played “Taps” on the trumpet and the choir sang the Navy hymn. “The choir was heartfelt, and the wreath made me think about those who served before me,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) Airman Desian M. Joseph, a division training officer for V-4 division. “I’m very thankful to those who died while serving this country to preserve our freedom and our rights.” The ceremony concluded with a 21-gun salute and a short prayer. While the ceremony
lasted less than an hour, Rear Adm. Terry B. Kraft, commander of Carrier Strike Group 12, said hoped what the Sailors heard and saw during the observance will stay with them for a lifetime. Memorial Day is a national holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May each year. “It is a tribute to the men and women who selflessly donned the cloth of their nation,” said Capt. Jeffrey L. Trent, commander of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1. “When America asked, ‘who will do our work? Who will do the nations bidding?’ They replied just as you did, ‘I will’,” said Trent.
While deployed to the Arabian Sea supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, Kraft hoped this backdrop would provide a visual reminder of the importance of keeping the true meaning of the holiday alive. “Years from now, when you’re out of the Navy, you’ll realize that for many Americans Memorial Day is just a chance for a threeday weekend,” said Kraft. “I want you to remind yourself, your children, and someday your children’s children about a short ceremony you attended on board Enterprise that reminded you about the true meaning of this day.”
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Sunday, May 22, 2011
Memorial Day C
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Commemoration
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Photos by MCSN Jared M. King and MCSN Gregory A. Pickett II
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Navy News
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Gates Offers Leadership Lessons to Naval Academy Grads
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates delivered his last commencement speech as defense secretary May 27, calling on graduates at the U.S. Naval Academy to become the best leaders possible, setting the example and putting their people and organizations above their own interests. Gates thanked the 1,006 graduates assembled on the field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium here for choosing to serve their country and fellow citizens in uniform. “In everything you did here, … you have grown together as a team,” he said. “But there has also been something bigger uniting you: your willingness to take on a difficult and dangerous path in the service of others.” The secretary noted that the midshipmen entered the academy at the height of the Iraq war, when casualties were at an alltime high and “prospects of success uncertain at best.” Meanwhile, the Taliban were making a comeback in Afghanistan, and Osama bin Laden, “history’s most notorious terrorist,” was still at large. “As a result of the skill and sacrifice of countless young warriors and patriots -- many of them graduates of this institution
-- I am proud to say that we face a different set of circumstances today,” he said. “Iraq has a real chance at a peaceful and democratic future. In Afghanistan, the Taliban momentum has been halted and reversed. And Osama bin Laden is finally where he belongs” -- a statement that sent the entire stadium into wild applause. Gates urged the graduates, when called on as leaders to defend the United States in faraway lands, to “hold your values and your honor close to your heart.”
U.S. Navy Photo by MC2 Kevin S. O’Briend
Newly commissioned Navy ensigns and Marine Corps 2nd lieutenants from the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2011 celebrate their graduation with the traditional hat toss at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.
the way. “From this I learned that real leadership is a rare and precious commodity,” he said, sharing some of the “Leadership has to be qualities he said make true earned day after hard day. Go earn it. Earn the leaders. Gates urged the graduates respect of your sailors and Marines. Earn it by to exercise what he called a true measure of leadership: leading from the front. common decency in Earn it by the way you treating others, regardless treat those you lead of their station. and the way you treat He challenged them to their families. Earn it by listening and not just to threat others with fairness and respect, and to use those above you. Earn their authority to protect it.” and champion those under Hon. Raymond Mabus, their charge and their United States Secretary families. “Common decency of the Navy builds respect and, in a democratic society, respect Gates cited his own public is what prompts people to give their all for a leader, service experience in the even at great personal Air Force, CIA, White sacrifice,” he said. House and Pentagon, The qualities of and said he’s had the leadership don’t emerge opportunity to observe overnight or after assuming many great leaders along
important responsibilities, Gates told the graduates. “These qualities have their roots in the small decisions you have made here at the academy and will make early in your career,” he said. “And [they] must be strengthened all along the way to allow you to resist the temptation of self before service.” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus joined Gates in congratulating the new graduates and welcoming them to military service. Citing the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ busy operational tempos, Mabus told the class, “you will need all the training you have gotten here.” Mabus called on the graduates to take their academy lessons with them as they continue growing as leaders in the fleet and Corps.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
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U.S. News
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Red Cross Eases Access to Emergency Communication Services From an American Red Cross News Release
WASHINGTON – As part of an ongoing effort to better serve the military community, the American Red Cross will move to a single telephone number for its emergency communication services next month. Beginning June 13 at 8 a.m. Eastern time (EDT), service members and their families can use one toll-free number -- 877-272-7337 -- to send an urgent message to a service member. “The Red Cross has always been there for us,” Robert L. Gordon III, deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, said. “It’s critically important to our men and women serving away from home that their families
know whom to call in the event of an emergency. The Red Cross is now making it even easier to make that call.” In the past, military families living outside an installation needed to remember the phone number for their local Red Cross chapters for emergency communications, while those living on a military installation used the 877-2727337 number. Now, military members and their families can use this single number to initiate an emergency communication, regardless of where they live. For those stationed overseas, the three options for calling will remain the same: calling 877-272-7337 direct, accessing the number through a military operator or calling their local Red Cross station. “An emergency situation
can be a very stressful time for a military family, and having just one common telephone number to remember can make a difficult situation a little easier,” said Sherri Brown, senior vice president for service to the Armed Forces. “U.S. military personnel and their families can remain confident that the Red Cross will be there to keep them connected when there is a crisis at home.”
Through this number, Red Cross emergency communications services can put military personnel in touch with their families following the death or serious illness of an immediate family member, the birth of a service member’s child or grandchild or when a family faces other emergencies. Additional Red Cross services such as case management and emergency financial assistance also are available.
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Sailors of the Day
Information Systems Technician Seaman
Seth Andrew Piper- Greensboro, NC
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Aviation Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class
Charles White- Harlingen, TX
AD2 (AW) White, an aviation machinist’s mate for ITSN Piper, a tech control operator for Enterprise’s Carrier Airbourne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 123, Combat Systems Department, joined the Navy one year joined the Navy four years ago to “work on aircraft and one month ago to better himself, serve his country engines and support my wife.” White says the most and see the world. Piper says the most rewarding aspect rewarding aspect of his job is trouble-shooting a difficult of his job is making sure communications systems are problem on an aircraft, then “watching it fly off and come operations, which helps provide tactical information for back “successfully. White wants to continue to work hard the ship and improves quality of life through working in the Navy and earn the licenses neccesary for him to phone lines and internet. Piper wants to earn both his be successful outside of it, so he can later retire to Texas. enlisted aviation and surface warfare pins and aspires to When he returns from deployment, White wants to surf, become a third class petty officer. Piper is also working ride motorcycles and spend time with his family. toward earning a collge degree. In his spare time, Piper enjoys listening to music. Photos by MCSN Gregory A. Pickett II
FUN ZONE!
Answers can be found on Big ‘E’ Net at S:\Public\MEDIA\GM\Crossword and Sudoku answers
Down 1 Diminishes 2 German number 3 Encircle 4 Join together 5 Guilt-ridden 6 Kid in Kilmarnock 7 Blackguard 8 1973 Woody Allen film 9 Elves 10 Management skill 11 “As You Like It” exile site 12 Exact moment 13 Agitated mood 18 Extent 22 Franchise 24 Little troublemaker 25 “Vamoose!” 26 “All The Way” lyricist 27 Litter’s smallest 28 Hawaii 32 Flaky rock 33 Places of refuge 34 Egg holder 38 Inveigled 39 Laura or Bruce of film 40 Paper pastime 41 Chinese “way” 42 Cambridge college 43 Summary 46 Wears 47 Lacking sense 48 Where Durban is 49 Candle component 51 Guzzler’s sound 52 Eastern royal 53 Faulkner’s “Requiem for ___” 54 NYC culture site 57 Conducted
Across 20 Brandy cocktail 1 Jittery 21 Clear 5 Grade-school basics 23 All-powerful 9 Smacks 25 Abrasion 14 Verve 29 Taxi ticker 15 Biblical king 30 Dragged 16 Onetime Argentine leader31 Newspaper employee 17 English county 35 “It can’t be!” 19 Math measurements 36 Engage
37 Punctually 42 Deceptions 44 “It’s the end of ___!” 45 Meal 46 Theatrical 49 Absent 50 Rues, for sure 55 Biblical patriarch
56 South American plateau region 58 Italian noble 59 Butcher’s wares 60 US motto word 61 Injured sneakily 62 Sans purpose 63 Lollobrigida of film