CARR Families and Friends,
Our Family Readiness Group (FRG) would like to pass along a note – The FRG is holding a “Night Before Party”; this is an opportunity for families and friends to gather as the excitement builds for homecoming. It will be a chance to socialize, eat, purchase FRG merchandise, and a chance to participate in a drawing for prizes.
The FRG will also be selling First Hug and First Kiss tickets for the first hour and a half of the evening – the winners will be drawn that night. Shirts and cookbooks for sale – hope to see you there!
Where: Navy Lodge Norfolk, 7811 Hampton Blvd, Norfolk, VA 23505
When: Sunday, December 2 from 2:30-5pm
RSVP by: Monday, November 26
The Navy Lodge needs an accurate head count, so please be sure to RSVP by email (usscarrfrg@gmail.com) no later than Monday, November 26 with the number of adults and children attending.
Day 171 – Sunday, November 18th (Panama Canal Transit, Northbound)
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This morning we conducted our final refueling in Vasco Nunez de Balboa, taking on 28,330 gallons of Diesel Fuel Marine. The evolution was completed safely under the supervision of GSE1 Peter Meissner who ensured that all operations were run professionally.
This morning our Sonar Technicians discovered a fault while conducting pre-underway checks on our torpedo countermeasure system. STG3 Matthew Baker, STG2 David Botel, STGC William Colmenares, STG3 Larry Whitehead, and LT Jon Goodson did a great job troubleshooting the fault and quickly making repairs to restore the system to full operation prior to our Panama Canal transit.
Just after sunset our pilot arrived and we got underway to commence our transit back to the Caribbean.
Day 172 – Monday, November 19th (Panama Canal Transit, Northbound)
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At about 0500 this morning we finally completed our transit and arrived in the Caribbean. It is good to be back on the right coast, but we are not home yet – we still have lots of work to do before returning to Norfolk next month.
Day 173 – Tuesday, November 20th
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Great job today by GMSN William Carpenter, GMSN John Hodges, GMSN Stephen Joyce, and FC1 Cody Koch as they continued to work to get CARR ready for our upcoming ammunition offload; this time by organizing our sonobuoy storerooms. They also removed an old locker and conducted preservation in the armory passageway in preparation for CARR’s decommissioning.
BZ to ITSN Christopher Noonan and IT3 Edward Szwarc for assisting USS CURTS and USS GARY with troubleshooting to restore their UHF Satellite Communications circuit.
Great news for everyone anxiously awaiting advancement results – today they arrived. Congratulations to all of our Sailors selected for promotion:
CS1 Timothy Faulkner FC1 Gary Freas
GSE1 Boubaker Fofana FC1 Justin Gunderson
BM2 Edem Atohoun STG2 Matthew Baker
BM2 Melvin Cooks ET2 Matthew Darby
BM2 Joshua Fidler BM2 Eric Jones
EN2 Elvin Lugo CS2 Willie Martinez
GSM2 Tyler Smith DC2 Andrew Webb
STG2 John Wilkinson EN2 Joshua Young
GSM3 Kadeem Anderson LS3 Bilal Barnes
CTT3 Sean Booker GM3 William Carpenter
YN3 Christopher Himes GSM3 Tyler Manning
BM3 Joshua Mebane IT3 Christopher Noonan
GM3 Joshua Quail YN3 Brett Sapp
SH3 Rashad Simpson YN3 Shawn Smith
Day 174 – Wednesday, November 21st
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Today we held an end of deployment Safety Stand down to ensure we remain focused on safely executing our mission while at sea as well as being safe when we return to Norfolk. We focused on winter driving and fire safety, drinking & driving, and safe driving habits. Great job by IT1 LaMarcus Brown, DCC Justin Jones, FC1 Cody Koch, FCC Brian Runningen, and EM1 Patrick Sharp for volunteering to deliver these important messages to the crew.
BZ to our team of FC2 Justin Campbell, FC2 Jacob Gonzales, and FC2 Stephen Stout who spent the week correcting lagging and painting discrepancies throughout their spaces – every bit we fix now is one less correction we have to make in Norfolk.
Great job to FC1 Adam Lemons who completed his qualification as Anti-Terrorism Watch Officer (ATTWO) today. Our ATTWO is responsible for coordinating our Force Protection watchstanders and keeping us safe while pierside.
Awesome job by ET3 Matthew Darby for his efforts to restore our COGENT (Common Geospatial Navigation Toolkit) system. COGENT is used as a situational awareness tool while we are transiting – it receives GPS updates and displays our position on an electronic chart. After failure of one of our computers, our IT’s and ET3 Darby spent two days loading the navigation software to restore the system to full operation.
Day 175 – Thursday, November 22nd (Happy Thanksgiving)
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Today we had holiday routine as we celebrate Thanksgiving with football and what was supposed to be our final Captain’s cup event – hockey.
Each division supplied two people to shoot 5 pucks towards a net tended by a mannequin goalie. It was close, but the OD team of SN James Cameron and SN Joshua Quail squeaked out the victory over PS1 James Hannah and YN3 Scott Hunt from Admin. CE Division beat out S1 to take third place.
The current standings are:
1st place (tie): S2 Division and Nav/Admin
3rd place (tie): OD and CE Divisions
We will hold a tie breaker event to determine the final standings. First place is $400, $200 second place prize, and $100 third place prize. The divisions will be presented gift cards to be used to benefit the entire division – such as a division party.
Following the Captains Cup event on the flight deck, our Sailors enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving meal of turkey, ham, prime rib, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn, cranberries, rolls and 4 kinds of pies for dessert. Our Culinary Specialist worked hard in the days leading up to thanksgiving. Special thanks to CS3 Jonathan Brown for making Cornucopias and to our Mess Decks Food Service attendant Logistics Specialist Seaman Brandon Vasser for decorating and setting up the tables.
Day 176 – Friday, November 23rd (Arrive Guantanamo Bay, Cuba)
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Congratulations to CARR’s Food Service Attendant of the Month, FC3 Darwin Stinson – well done!
Today we arrived in Guantanamo Bay; we last visited GTMO back on 9 November, 2011. For those who weren’t with us last year, here’s some info on GTMO:
The bay was called Guantánamo by its original inhabitants, the Taínos; however, when Cristóbal Colón (aka Christopher Columbus) landed in 1494 he renamed it Puerto Grande (big port…very innovative name). When Spanish settlers took control of Cuba, the bay became a vital harbor on the south side of the island. The bay was briefly known as Cumberland Bay when the British seized it in 1741.
The naval base, nicknamed “GTMO”, covers about 45 square miles on the western and eastern banks of the bay. It was established in 1898, when the United States took control of Cuba from Spain following the Spanish-American War. A perpetual lease for the area around Guantánamo Bay was offered February 23, 1903, from Tomás Estrada Palma, the first President of Cuba. The newly formed American protectorate incorporated the Platt Amendment (Mr. Hand mad a reference to this in Fast Times at Ridgemont High) in the Cuban Constitution. The Cuban-American Treaty held, among other things, that the United States, for the purposes of operating coaling and naval stations, has “complete jurisdiction and control” of the Guantánamo Bay while the Republic of Cuba is recognized to retain ultimate sovereignty.
In 1934 the Avery Porko treaty reaffirmed the lease and granted Cuba and its trading partners free access through the bay, modified the lease payment from $2,000 in U.S. gold coins per year to the 1934 equivalent value of $4,085 in U.S. dollars, and made the lease permanent unless both governments agreed to break it or until the U.S. abandoned the property. After the Cuban Revolution, President Dwight Eisenhower insisted the status of the base remained unchanged, despite Fidel Castro’s objections. Since then, the Cuban government has cashed only one of the checks from the U.S. government, and even then only because of “confusion” in the early days of the leftist revolution, according to Castro. The remaining uncashed checks made out to “Treasurer General of the Republic” (a title that ceased to exist after the revolution) are allegedly kept in Castro’s office stuffed into a desk drawer. The United States argues that the cashing of the single check shoed that Havana recognized the lease – and that ratification by the new government renders moot any questions about violations of sovereignty and illegal military occupation
Day 177 – Saturday, November 24th (Guantanamo Bay, Cuba)
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Today EM1 Patrick Sharp took advantage of the nice weather and gathered his team of Electricians to conduct an inspection and do some maintenance of our Shore Power connection box in preparation for our return to home port – we have not had the opportunity to hook up to shore power since we departed on 1 June.
Today we completed our semiannual Physical Fitness Assessment while in port. Our physical fitness coordinators have put in a lot of work over the past few weeks cycling everyone through. Great Job by CSC Renrick Adams, IT2 Tuan Gross, IC1 Derek Hotop, MA1 James Lighty, ET2 Michael McCullick, HM1 Randy McLain, GMC Anthony Scott, and GM2 Jacob Scyoc for administering the test.
Many divisions have used the final weeks of deployment to get a jump-start on decommissioning. HM1 McLain was proactive in scheduling our decommissioning sanitation while in port GTMO. Every bit helps to try to maximize our Sailors time with their families when we return.
Many other activities were also available to the crew while in Guantanamo Bay such as paintball, a softball tournament, basketball, golf, bowling and many restaurants to choose from. Many Sailors utilized the Navy Exchange to buy uniform items and get a head start on some Christmas shopping.
Great job to all the personnel who were involved with hosting tours this afternoon. Navy ships do not pull in to GTMO much anymore, so service members stationed here (many of them from other services) were very interested in coming to take a look at a Navy ship. We had about 100 people tour CARR. Special thanks to STG3 Matthew Baker, OS2 Caleb Bryant, YN1 Anthony Contino, ET3 Matthew Darby, FC2 Jacob Gonzales, FC2 Cliff Jensen, GSM2 Robert Kirkman, and LTJG Andrew McIver for taking time out of their day to give tours.
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Jessica Meissner OMBUDSMAN
April Linton Co-OMBUDSMAN
Jackie Lease FRG President
Please join CARR along with our OMBUDSMAN and Family Readiness Group:
CARR
https://www.facebook.com/FFG52
OMBUDSMAN
http://www.facebook.com/pages/USS-CARR-
ombudsman/219688138070847?sk=wall
CARR Family Readiness Group
www.facebook.com/USSCARRFRG
Sailors Name
Department/Division
USS CARR (FFG 52)
FPO AE 09566-1506
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Until next Sunday (which will be our last weekly email), stay safe CARR
Family and Friends!
CDR Patrick Kulakowski
Commanding Officer
USS CARR (FFG 52)
“Courage, Will, Determination!”
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