The Navy’s PAO network has really done a good job of putting out great images in the past week. Check these out, taken in three different parts of the world across just three days.
From the ancient waters of the Adriatic:
220606-N-AO868-1147 ADRIATIC SEA (June 6, 2022) Ensign Stephen Hess uses a telescopic alidade in the pilot house of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG 56), as it transits behind the Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) in the Adriatic Sea, June 6, 2022. Truman is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by the U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S., Allied, and Partner interests. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Conner Foy/Released)
220606-N-AO868-1167 ADRIATIC SEA (June 6, 2022) The Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transits the Adriatic Sea on June 6, 2022. Truman is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by the U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S., Allied, and Partner interests. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Conner Foy/Released)
To the Atlantic
220605-N-YD731-1271 ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 5, 2022) Sailors assigned to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) prepare to shoot line during a replenishment-at-sea with the Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Leroy Grumman (T-AO 195), June 5, 2022. The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group (CSG) is underway completing a certification exercise to increase the U.S. and allied interoperability and warfighting capability before a future deployment. The George H.W. Bush CSG is an integrated combat weapons system that delivers superior combat capability to deter, and if necessary, defeat America’s adversaries in support of national security. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Novalee Manzella)
USS Leyte Gulf CG-55 conducts a replenishment-at-sea with USNS Leroy Grumman (TAO-195), on June 5, 2022. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Novalee Manzella)
USS Leyte Gulf CG-55 conducts a replenishment-at-sea with USNS Leroy Grumman (TAO-195), on June 5 2022. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Novalee Manzella)
And to the Pacific
PACIFIC OCEAN (June 7, 2022) An F/A-18F assigned to the “Fighting Redcocks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 22 makes an arrested gear landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz is underway in the U.S. 3rd fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Lorenzo Fekieta-Martinez)
PACIFIC OCEAN (June 7, 2022) An aircraft makes an arrested gear landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). Nimitz is underway in the U.S. 3rd fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Lorenzo Fekieta-Martinez)
Between stuff like this, and Maverick, the recruiters just have to sit back and show where to sign.
Of course, a lot of the platforms shown are high-mileage, with Nimitz– the oldest operational aircraft carrier in the world– laid down in 1968 and is planned to be removed from the battle force in fiscal year (FY) 2025, when the ship’s Terminal Off-load Program begins. Meanwhile, Leyte Gulf, the Navy’s 9th Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser and one of its most veteran of the type still in service, had her first steel cut at Pascagoula in 1985 and has a planned decommissioning in 2024 alongside sister San Jacinto, from whom’s bridge the top two images were captured. The oiler Grumman was laid down in 1987 while Nimitz’s sister Truman was ordered the year after. In short, most of the rank and file working on these ships are younger than the compartments they work, eat, and sleep in.
To them, they are serving in the “Old Navy” of which they will one day regale these new recruits.