Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Newport News Daily Press
April 4, 2008
Pg. 11
By Stephanie Heinatz
The USS George Washington aircraft carrier and its 3,200 sailors will pull away from Naval Station Norfolk for the last time Monday.
After more than a decade of calling Hampton Roads home, the 15-year-old aircraft carrier is heading to Yokosuka, Japan, to replace the aging USS Kitty Hawk as the only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier.
The Washington is scheduled to arrive at its new Pacific post by August, following brief detours near South America where it will participate in training exercises.
The Kitty Hawk will be decommissioned later this year.
"Our sailors, our families and the Navy have put together a tremendous effort to prepare GW for all aspects of this transition, and while it is difficult to leave the Hampton Roads community, which has been so supportive of GW, we are excited about the vital importance of this new mission and the warm welcome we expect from the people of Yokosuka," Navy Capt. Dave Dykhoff, the Washington's commanding officer, said in a press release.
It's not clear now if Norfolk will remain less one aircraft carrier.
The George H.W. Bush, under construction in Newport News, is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy Nov. 11.
The ship, the last of the Nimitz-class of carriers, is set to be commissioned into service in 2009 when it will join the Atlantic Fleet. There's no official word if its home port will be Norfolk or Mayport, Fla.
Also deploying next week is Naval Air Station Oceana-based Carrier Air Wing 17, Destroyer Squadron 40, the USS Kauffman guided-missile frigate and the Florida-based Farragut, a guided-missile destroyer.
From its inception, the Washington has called Hampton Roads home. The Washington's keel was laid at the Newport News shipyard in August 1986. It was christened in July 1990 and commissioned on July 4, 1992.
April 4, 2008
Pg. 11
By Stephanie Heinatz
The USS George Washington aircraft carrier and its 3,200 sailors will pull away from Naval Station Norfolk for the last time Monday.
After more than a decade of calling Hampton Roads home, the 15-year-old aircraft carrier is heading to Yokosuka, Japan, to replace the aging USS Kitty Hawk as the only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier.
The Washington is scheduled to arrive at its new Pacific post by August, following brief detours near South America where it will participate in training exercises.
The Kitty Hawk will be decommissioned later this year.
"Our sailors, our families and the Navy have put together a tremendous effort to prepare GW for all aspects of this transition, and while it is difficult to leave the Hampton Roads community, which has been so supportive of GW, we are excited about the vital importance of this new mission and the warm welcome we expect from the people of Yokosuka," Navy Capt. Dave Dykhoff, the Washington's commanding officer, said in a press release.
It's not clear now if Norfolk will remain less one aircraft carrier.
The George H.W. Bush, under construction in Newport News, is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy Nov. 11.
The ship, the last of the Nimitz-class of carriers, is set to be commissioned into service in 2009 when it will join the Atlantic Fleet. There's no official word if its home port will be Norfolk or Mayport, Fla.
Also deploying next week is Naval Air Station Oceana-based Carrier Air Wing 17, Destroyer Squadron 40, the USS Kauffman guided-missile frigate and the Florida-based Farragut, a guided-missile destroyer.
From its inception, the Washington has called Hampton Roads home. The Washington's keel was laid at the Newport News shipyard in August 1986. It was christened in July 1990 and commissioned on July 4, 1992.