ROUGH RIDER USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71)
BIRTHDAY EDITION
October 22, 2015
BIG STICK CELEBRATES TR’S BIRTHDAY WITH 5K
Photos by Theodore Roosevelt Media
INDIAN OCEAN (Oct. 20, 2015) – Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) participate in a 5K run on the flight deck. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jennifer Case/Released)
BIG STICK CELEBRATES
BIRTHDAY by MC2 Christopher Liaghat
T
his October, Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN71) will celebrate many birthdays with cake and festivities on the aft mess deck as they have every month since going on deployment in March. However, this month holds a special place for two birthdays that all Sailors aboard the ship celebrate. Oct. 25 will mark the 29th anniversary of the commissioning of the USS Theodore Roosevelt while Oct. 27 is the 157th birthday of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States and the ship’s namesake. “I think it would be nice if people took the time to learn about Theodore Roosevelt because I think most people would find something interesting or relatable about him,” said Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Brian Flood, a Naval Heritage Coordinator for the ship’s enlisted surface warfare program. There are certainly volumes of literature written about Theodore Roosevelt, and while it may seem odd that a Navy ship takes its name from a man famous for fighting in the Army during the Spanish-American War, it was Theodore Roosevelt who wrote a letter urging the Navy to look into purchasing aircraft for use in naval warfare. Shortly after that, the Navy chose to act on Theodore Roosevelt’s advice and naval aviation was born with the purchase of Curtiss Hydroplanes. Sailors aboard TR need only look beneath their feet to see the impact that letter had and the progress that has been made in just a little more than a hundred years. It’s not surprising then that so much of the ship’s character borrows from aspects of Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy ranging from the call sign “Rough Rider,” a name given to Roosevelt’s 1st U.S. Voluntary Cavalry, all the way down to the ship’s seal. “The ships seal was designed based on Theodore Roosevelt and his family,” said Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Dameion Meikl, a Naval Heritage Coordinator for the ship’s enlisted surface and air warfare programs. “The inside blue portion is Alice Blue, his daughter’s favorite color. The mooring line has 58 strands around it, which represents 1858, the year TR was born. The roses are from his family’s name, which means ‘field of roses’ and you have his initials and photograph in the center.” When asked what he’ll remember most about his time on TR, Meikl said he’ll remember becoming a shellback. “I think TR would have had a good time doing that. I think it would have been even more fun and maybe a little scarier,” said Meikl. Roosevelt was a big proponent of what he called “the strenuous life” and was known for saying: “Far and away the source: theodoreroosevelt.org
best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” In contrast to his later years, Roosevelt started his life off as a frail young man with asthma and other health problems, but his father, who never gave up on him, put a gymnasium in their home and told his son that it was up to him to make something of himself. By the time Roosevelt graduated high school, headed for Harvard University, he was not only an experienced hunter and outdoorsman, but he was also a formidable boxer. Much like Theodore Roosevelt, the man, CVN 71 had its share of troubles to overcome before construction even began. Initially President Gerald Ford, namesake of the latest class of aircraft carrier, cancelled the order for the ship in favor of two smaller, conventional aircraft carriers. Three years later President Jimmy Carter vetoed a Department of Defense authorization bill proposing to build CVN 71; however Carter reversed his veto due to trouble brewing in the location the ship is currently operating, the Indian Ocean. Roosevelt eventually graduated from Harvard, but left law school in favor of a lifetime of public service which began with a position as a member of the New York State Assembly. During that time Roosevelt’s primary focus was to fight greed and corruption, which led to Roosevelt making a name for himself as a man of strong principles. The ship’s lifetime of service started on December 30, 1988 with its first deployment patrolling the Mediterranean Sea before returning on June 30, 1989. Soon after the ship received her first of four Battle Efficiency awards. Currently USS Theodore Roosevelt is making its way home from deployment at the age of 29. Theodore Roosevelt was the same age when he had his second child, formed the Boone and Crockett Club and lost more than $40,000 of his investment in cattle ranching. It would still be another 14 years before Roosevelt took the office of Vice President, when he popularized the African proverb, “Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far,” from which the ship got its nickname, ’Big Stick.’ Six months after his election to the vice-presidency, President William McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, and Roosevelt was sworn in for the first time as President of the United States, making him the youngest person to hold that position to this day. Much like Theodore Roosevelt, the man at the age of 29, this ship is far from reaching its prime. With many years ahead, only time will tell what is in store for the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt The Man By the Numbers Born Oct 27, 1858
The 26th President of the U.S. Becoming the youngest President in the From 1901 to 1909 Nation’s history at 42 years of age. Roosevelt Left his Mark by Conserving America’s Natural Resources
Protecting Nearly: 230 Million Acres of Land 5 National Parks
The Coal Strike of 1902 The first time federal government interfered with a labor dispute. President Roosevelt set up to give the
miners a 10% wage increase with less work hours per day, ending the strike.
150 National Forests
Great White Fleet
1st 18 National Monument Sites
Sending 16 battleships around the world from December 1907 to February 1909 to showcase America’s sea power.
1st 55 Federal Wildlife Refuges
In 1898 He became Governor of New York
Alice, Roosevelt’s first wife, passed away on the same day as Roosevelt’s mother in 1884. Roosevelt later married Edith, his second wife.
He negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, becoming the 1st American to recieve the Nobel Peace Prize.
1906
President Roosevelt negotiated with Congress for the Pure Food and Drug Act. The act is responsible for putting safeguards on food, quality controls in manufacturing and drug labeling.
Roosevelt went on an 11-month, 2,500-mile African Safari in 1909 after his time as president. Trapping and shooting more than 11,000 animal, which helped form the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum collection. source: whitehouse.gov
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how
the strong man the doer of deeds could have done them better belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, The credit whose face is marred by dust and sweat stumbles, or where
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 stri v e to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasm
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
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
Excerpt from the speech “Citizenship In A Republic� delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910
Blue
Wings
HOMETOWN HERO
Charwin Carrington
WHAT’S ON underway movie schedule
THURSDAY
OcTOBER 22, 2015
SENIOR CHIEF AVIATION MACHINIST’S MATE
Staff Commanding Officer
Capt. Craig Clapperton
SQUADRON: HS-11
Executive Officer
Capt. Jeff Craig
HOMETOWN: St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands WHY HE CHOSE THE NAVY:
Public Affairs Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Reann Mommsen To see the world.
Media Officer
Lt. j.g. Jack Georges
HIS FAVORITE PART OF THE JOB:
Naval aviation and carrier life.
Senior Editor
MCC Adrian Melendez MC1 R. David Valdez
PROUDEST NAVY MOMENT: When I made chief.
Editor
MC2 Chris Brown MC2 Danica M. Sirmans
SHOUT OUT: Shout out to HS-11 and my family and friends.
rough rider contributers
FUN
FACT
I’m an Ohio State Buckeyes fan.
MOVIE TRIVIA
Q: WHAT COLOR PRECEDES THE APPEARANCE OF A GHOST IN THE PSYCHO-
MC3 Stephane Belcher MC2 Christopher Liaghat Theodore Roosevelt Media command ombudsman
cvn71ombudsman@gmail.com
THRILLER, THE SIXTH SENSE?
Anthony Dewayne CULINARY SPECIALIST 3RD CLASS
SQUADRON:
VAQ-137
HOMETOWN: Dallas, Texas WHY HE CHOSE THE NAVY: To provide for my family.
A: See in the next edition of the Rough Rider. Previous Question: The Judge features which actor who made his on-screen debut in the classic, to kill a mocking bird? Answer: rOBERT DUVALL
HOMETOWN HERO
friday
October 23, 2015
WHAT’S ON underway movie schedule
The Rough Rider is an authorized publication for the crew of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Contents herein are not necessarily the views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, Department of Defense, Department of the Navy or the Commanding Officer of TR. All items for publication in The Rough Rider must be submitted to the editor no later than three days prior to publication. Do you have a story you’d like to see in the Rough Rider? Contact the Media Department at J-dial 5934 or stop by 3-180-0-Q.
HIS FAVORITE PART OF THE JOB:
Traveling and meeting new people.
PROUDEST NAVY MOMENT: Reenlisting. SHOUT OUT: Shout out to my entire squadron, CS3 Dubose and CSSN Jack.
FUN
FACT
I won three high school state championships in basketball.
check us out online!
about.me/ussTheodoreRoosevelt
Sometimes the smallest action
Can have the biggest impact
A little positive peer pressure goes a
long way.