26 January 2012 Vinson Voice

Vol 03 No 12 | January 26, 2012

VINSON ONLINE TORY BY

KEEPING YOU IN THE LOOP

MC2 (SW/AW) Stephen G. Hale | Carl Vinson Staff Writer

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“ usually get the chance to update my Facebook page once or twice a week,” said Fire Controlman 2nd Class (SW/AW) Christopher Campbell, assigned to Combat Systems Department’s CS-6 Division. “But my wife is on the ship’s Facebook page every day, and she even got to see my photos of my reenlistment last deployment.”

Despite Campbell’s limited time on the Internet, Vinson is online – all over social media sites. It was for exactly that reason Vinson Online was created.

The graphic-intensive new addition to “The 70” biweekly newscast first aired Jan. 23 to provide Sailors a condensed view of what their families are seeing on the ship’s Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube pages.

Family and friends who visit Vinson’s Tumblr page have access to podcasts of crew members and air wing Sailors, portrait photos of the same, and posts by bloggers known only to the Media Department staff.

The first Vinson Online featured a paragraph from a blog by “RadioHead” who talked about her decision to join the Navy.

“I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. The choices we make, the things that happen to us that are out of our control, and the way we react to them, all take us to where we need to be when we need to be there,” RadioHead wrote. “Whether it’s a lesson you need to learn, a skill you need to acquire, or a person you need to meet, life will take you there.”

Sailors also heard a portion of a podcast from Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Illustration by: MC3 Phoenix Levin | Carl Vinson Staff Graphic Designer

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VINSON VOICE

FROM ‘VINSON ONLINE’ ON PAGE 1

(Handling) 3rd Class (AW) Alexsis LaBrake of Air Department’s V-1 Division, who shared the chaos of parking a multimillion-dollar aircraft with Vinson fans.

Facebook is the site most visited by Vinson family members, and Vinson Online boasted the carrier’s claim to fame as the first carrier to pass 40,000 fans.

By comparison, Sailors learned that USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) was coming in second with 36,081 fans, USS Enterprise (CVN 65) had 30,789, and the next closest carrier, USS George Washington (CVN 73), had 21,627 fans.

Sailors watching Vinson Online saw Chaplain Lt. Gregg Hazlett showcasing the life of a seagoing chaplain in the second edition of “Vinson 101”, a webisode demonstrating a specific aspect of shipboard life in a short amount of time. “Vinson 101” and “The 70” newscast are both viewed by thousands on the ship’s Facebook page each week.

“I think the information put out on the social media sites is awesome because sometimes I don’t always know what is and isn’t operational security,” Campbell said. “So it’s good to know I can let the command cover a lot of that for me.”

Still, for the nearly four thousand Sailors whose internet hours vary from one day to the next, Vinson Online’s true appeal is the insight it provides the crew into what their families are seeing and reading about them every day.

“My wife knows more about what’s going on than I do sometimes,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 1st Class (AW) Juan Pantoja, assigned to Air Department ‘s V-2 Division, whose wife is a fan of Vinson’s Facebook page. “I know sometimes my family gets worried and I’m glad the command keeps them informed. My wife got to see pictures of me on Facebook from the December birthday meal and of me working on the flight deck.”

“It gave us a chance to see what our families are seeing back home. It’s important because we don’t always have Internet and it’s nice to know that our families get to see real Vinson Sailors doing their jobs out here,” added Culinary Specialist 1st Class (SW/AW) Linda Colter, assigned to Supply Department S-2 Division.

Friends and families also have access to the ship’s Ombudsman page, a resource for families

interested in what happens at sea and at home.

They can be found at www.vinsonombudsman.org.

The Ombudsman also host a podcast contest where families can enter their Sailor’s name into a drawing to be selected for a podcast.

Families can follow Vinson on Twitter @CVN70.

As of Jan. 24, Vinson has 8,026 followers, more than any other carrier. USS Nimitz (CVN 68) is the closest competition with 3,948 followers, then USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) at 2,299 and USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) at 2,215. Media Department’s Social Media Division has tweeted 1, 263 times for people back home to see. @cvn70 – “Thanks to USNS Bridge for a replenishment at sea. Kudos to Deck, Nav and Supply department and the 200 man working party.” @cvn70 – “Happy New Year! After an awesome party in the hangar bay it’s time to get 2012 rolling with normal flight ops.

Vinson is frequently featured on www.navy.mil, the Navy’s flagship website for photos, print stories and videos. As of Jan 14th, the department had 330 photos from around Vinson published and 20 have been showcased as the top photos from around the fleet.

For those Sailors intrigued by Vinson Online and the products their families are seeing, all of Vinson’s social media content can be found on the Media SharePoint page.

January 26, 2012

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Vinson Vignette

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Who Was Carl Vinson?

arl Vinson was a man of humble beginnings who, like many of us, paved a path to what we consider success. At age 25, you might be the work center supervisor, leading petty officer or divisional officer in your department. At 25, Vinson was elected for a seat in the Georgia General Assembly. After serving two terms, he was not elected for a third and this went down in history as his only political defeat, losing by only five votes.

Undeterred, Vinson fell back on his early years of experience working as junior partner for the county judge and accepted the job as Baldwin County Court judge. But his chance to re-enter the political arena

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f I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any actions which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

Informing, or any other action that harms a fellow prisoner, is shameful. Prisoners of war must not help the enemy identify fellow prisoners who may have knowledge of value to the enemy, and who may therefore be interrogated and/or tortured.

Strong leadership is essential to discipline, and being in a POW situation does not lessen this.

Without discipline, camp organization, resistance, and even survival may be impossible. Personal

came when the senior senator from Georgia died on Feb. 14, 1914. Rep. Thomas W. Hardwick, the house representative at the time, announced his candidacy for the Senate, leaving his House seat open. Vinson took the opportunity to announce his candidacy for a seat in Congress.

Vinson hired three individuals to head up his campaign and rented a Model T Ford to travel around to the 12 districts. With a meager budget, Vinson and his three-man team spent 20 hours a day speaking in schoolhouses and anywhere he was guaranteed to entertain a crowd. After months of campaigning, heavily in debt, Vinson was rewarded with a win and was elected to the 63rd Congress to serve the unexpired term left after Hardwick’s resignation, and to a full term in the 64th Congress.

On November 3, 1914, Vinson was sworn in as the youngest man in Congress at the age of 30.

hygiene, camp sanitation, and care of the sick and wounded are imperative, and it is up to the leaders to ensure these things are accomplished to the best of everyone’s ability.

Officers and petty officers (known as noncommissioned officers in the Army, Air Force, and Marines) will continue to carry out their responsibilities and exercise their authority after capture. The senior line officer, petty officer, or noncommissioned officer within the POW camp or group will assume command according to rank (or precedence), without regard to branch of service. Responsibility and accountability may not be evaded. If the senior officer or noncommissioned officer is incapacitated or unable to act for any reason, the next senior takes over.

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VINSON VOICE

A Day in t he L if e Of

ELEVATOR OPERATORS TORY BY

Maintenance Officer, and the PLAT Camera Room as they’re informed of all updates, movements, or changes to an aircraft. light operations. Two words describing the Every time an aircraft is in the air, next or second in result of thousands of Sailors from different line to launch, in need of fuel, being transported from departments working to launch and recover aircraft. the flight deck to the hangar bay, spreading its wings, Part of that organized chaos is a group of Sailors receiving or unloading ordnance, or undergoing any working in flight deck control type of maintenance, a certain type of and the hangar bay. They wear pin or tack will be added to the aircraft blue jerseys with the letters “EO” templates to represent the changes. All stenciled on their chests to identify the different pinology helps anyone them as elevator operators. understand what is happening on EOs work hand-in-hand deck, said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate with the aircraft handling officer (Handling) Airman Quinn Miller.

(AHO), ensuring he stays “If an aircraft is airborne, they won’t informed on an aircraft’s status be on the board but out to the side,” from the hangar bay, on an aircraft he said. “We also have EOs from the elevator and on the flight deck hangar bay who will come up to flight during departure and landing. deck control to update the hangar bay They are also responsible for Ouija Board about three times a day.” operating Vinson’s four aircraft But an EO’s job means much more elevators (ACE), and visually than just updating that Ouija Board. verifying all aircraft movement to On a normal April afternoon during the flight deck from below decks Vinson’s last deployment, an F/A-18C AN Michael Young, in the hangar bay. But updating Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter to Air the “Ouija Board”, a small wooden assigned Squadron (VFA) 113 experienced Department’s V-1 flight deck replica with toy-sized an engine fire during touch-and-go Division, speaks to Sailors on the flight airplanes, tacks, pins, pennies exercises. The EOs jumped into action deck using a sound and buttons is their pride and joy, along with their Shipmates out on deck. powered telephone explained Aviation Boatswain’s “When the aircraft caught on while standing watch in the Integrated Mate (Handling) Airman fire, the AHO had to be in constant Launch and Recovery Christopher Browne, equipment communication with the messengers Television System operating petty officer assigned to from the flight deck, the hose leader, (ILARTS) island camera space aboard Vinson.

Air Department’s V-1 Division. on-scene leader, Air Boss in Primary Photo by MCSA Andrew “I can go in flight deck control Fly, the CO and the XO,” Miller said.

K. Haller. and know the statuses of all aircraft “We were able to facilitate his job by without a pass-down,” said Lt. practicing what we always train for in Cmdr. Tommy Edgeworth, Vinson’s AHO. “All I case of these scenarios. We made sure we thoroughly have to do is look at that Ouija Board.” understand the message we are relayed while being loud The Ouija Board is operated by an EO, who stands and clear so the AHO could hear us. If we were not part watch in flight deck control assisting and providing of that communication chain then we went to the flight information to the AHO. The elevator operator will deck to help put out that fire.” be in constant communication with the AHO, the CONTINUE ‘EO’ ON PAGE 5

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MC3 (SW/AW) Rosa A. Arzola | Carl Vinson Staff Writer

January 26, 2012 FROM ‘EO’ ON PAGE 4

It was a frenzy as numerous people were trying to communicate and obtain information from flight deck control. The EOs did exactly what they had trained for, to be loud and clear with relaying the messages and help ensure the fire was quickly under control, Edgeworth emphasized.

“These guys keep me going,” he said. “They eliminate a lot of stress and are part of the success in flight deck control.”

But EOs don’t just implement their hard work in flight deck control during flight operations. Another critical aspect of their job is to run the elevators, which impacts many shipboard evolutions.

The elevators don’t just move aircraft from the deck to the hangar or vice versa. Every time there is replenishment at sea (RAS), mail call, or burial at sea, EOs will be manned up and ready to operate the elevators, Browne explained.

“During a RAS, ACE 4 will be mainly used to bring in whatever supplies are being transferred,” Miller said.

“ACE 4 has also been used for the two burials-at-sea we have had. If something doesn’t fit through a hatch, an elevator will be used.”

The EOs work has made the success of several events onboard possible, Browne revealed.

All materials used to build the basketball court for the inaugural Quicken Loans Carrier Classic had to be

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transported on the elevators up to the flight deck. The EOs were working early morning until late at night from the day the first plank was laid to game day to tear-down.

“I ran Elevator No. 2 when the President, Secretary of the Navy, and other important celebrities came onboard. There is no greater feeling that to be part of such a significant event,” Browne said.

Whether participating in nationally-televised events or performing daily routines, the EO position is a crucial step for ABHs to attain the highest qualification in their rate - wearing the bright yellow jersey of an aircraft director.

“This is just a part of a process so we can get be part of all the action on the flight deck,” Browne explained.

The path starts with chaining and chocking, and progresses to elevator operator. The third step is being a tractor driver, and then the road to an aircraft director is complete, with the tasking to handle aircraft as they are transported.

“As a blue shirt, you have to prove to your chain of command you are ready to go on to the next level,” Miller said. “There is not a certain time or level you have to complete to advance.”

“I am proud of my EOs,” Edgeworth said. “They are tasked with a lot, and are held to the highest standards.

It’s hard to see any one of them go, but it is part of their growth pattern.”

VINSON VOICE

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Self-Service Laundry New Hours of Operation TORY BY

MC3 (SW) Luke B. Meineke | Carl Vinson Staff Writer

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ith Vinson’s arrival into U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR) Jan. 9 and the subsequent change to the ship’s weekly operational schedule, self-service laundry has adjusted its schedule to maximize service to the crew.

For the duration of 5th Fleet operations, selfservice laundry will be secured from 0730 to 1200 every Saturday for watch turnover, cleaning and maintenance.

Prior to operating in 5th Fleet, self-service laundry secured Friday mornings from cleaning stations at 0730 until 1200. During this time, the oncoming and off-going duty departments responsible for selfservice laundry’s watch conducted turnover.

Throughout turnover, the off-going watch passes down which machines are inoperable, and the status of the laundry space, said Chief Aviation Electronics Technician (SW/AW) Michael McQuay, MWR’s leading chief petty officer.

With the heavy use self-service laundry receives, the space also requires a deep clean at least once a week, said Therese Guinane, Vinson’s Funboss.

During turnover, watchstanders get a chance to ready the space for the next watch and the next week.

The ship’s current schedule includes being open on no-fly-day-Fridays, which generally allow the ship to throttle back a little bit on the workload. Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) hopes more people can take advantage of the no-fly days’ slower tempo to utilize self-service laundry to take care of personal laundry. By moving the departmental turnover to Saturdays, MWR is able to minimize the amount of time self-service laundry is shut down.

The Galley Maintenance shop of Engineering Department’s A-Division is responsible for maintaining the washer and dryer units. They have

A sailor uses a self-service laundry washing machine aboard Vinson. Photo by MC3 (SW) Luke B. Meineke.

changed the time they conduct their maintenance to Saturday mornings as well.

“We do smaller jobs throughout the week, but Saturdays will be the day we do the maintenance that requires more work and more time, “said Machinist’s Mate 1st Class (SW) Brett Moore, leading petty officer of Galley Maintenance. “We repair anything that’s broken, whether it’s a broken or slipped belt, a dryer drum that’s off its alignment or a bad heating element. We use the time to keep as many units running as possible.”

Self-service laundry cannot remain open to the crew while the maintenance necessary for the upkeep and operation of all washer and dryer units is being conducted, Guinane said.

“Since we also have the extended cleaning stations on Saturday, we thought, ‘Why not try to do everything on the same day?’” Guinane continued.

“We hope this facilitates a chance to do everything we need to do in one fell swoop and keep self-service laundry open to the crew as much as possible.”

Self-service laundry will return to its original schedule, securing Friday mornings from 0730 until 1200, upon Vinson’s exit from 5th Fleet AOR.

January 26, 2012

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Navy Reminds Sailors of MemberDesignated Benefits TORY BY

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he Navy is reminding Sailors of several benefits and programs where members may designate beneficiaries of their choosing, as outlined in NAVADMIN 028/12, released Jan. 24.

Recipients for these benefits may include anyone designated by the service member, including a dependent, friend, significant other, fiancée or fiancé, co-worker, or a family member who is not a military dependent.

Sailors may designate any individual as beneficiary to a total of 15 benefits and programs, including: • Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI); • Post Vietnam-era Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP);

• Basic Educational Assistance Death Benefit; • Death Gratuity Benefit; • Final Settlement of Accounts; • Wounded Warrior Act Designated Caregiver; • Thrift Savings Plan (TSP); • Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP); • Casualty Notification; • Escorts for Dependents of Deceased or Missing Members; • Designation of Persons Having Interest in Status of a Missing Member; • Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI); • Person Eligible to Receive Effects (PERE) of Deceased Persons • Travel and Transportation Allowance for attendance at Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program events; and • Person Authorized To Direct Disposition (PADD) of the Remains of a Decedent.

NAVADMIN 028/12 explains how Sailors can update or verify beneficiaries for each of these benefits. The NAVADMIN also outlines conditions and limitations for appointing beneficiaries.

“I can think of few things more important for our Sailors than ensuring their loved ones are provided for in case of an emergency,” said Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Scott Van Buskirk. “Ensuring this information is accurate and upto-date is the responsibility of every Sailor.”

A comprehensive listing of all benefits can be found in the Navy Pay and Benefits Guide, located online on the Navy Personnel Command webpage at http://www. public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/career/ payandbenefits/pages/default2.aspx.

For more information on memberdesignated benefits, contact your local personnel office or visit NPC’s website at www.npc.navy.mil Photo by: MC2 Benjamin Stevens | Carl Vinson Staff Photographer

Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs

| What is your favorite pick-me up drink? |

STAFF |PUBLISHER|

STAFF

CAPT. KENT D. WHALEN COMMANDING OFFICER

|EXECUTIVE EDITORS| LT. CMDR. ERIK REYNOLDS PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER

LT. ERIK SCHNEIDER

ASSISTANT PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER

|EDITOR IN CHIEF|

MCC (AW) MONICA R. NELSON MEDIA ALCPO

ESWS||EAWS .50 Caliber mounts: Heavy small arms used for point defense against swimmers and small boats

E-2C Hawkeye: perform allweather airborne early warning and command and control functions for the carrier battle group.

|MANAGING EDITOR|

MC2 (SW/AW) LORI D. BENT

|PHOTO EDITOR|

MC2 (SW) JAMES R. EVANS

|GRAPHICS/LAYOUT|

MC3 (SW) MEGAN L. CATELLIER MC3 PHOENIX LEVIN

|STAFF WRITERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS| MC2 (SW/AW) STEPHEN G. HALE MC2 (SW) BYRON C. LINDER MC3 (SW/AW) ROSA A. ARZOLA MC3 (SW) LUKE B. MEINEKE MCSA ANDREW K. HALLER ABH3 (AW) RYAN M. LITTLE