GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
SAILORS SAY ALOHA -- The USS Fletcher crew arrived at Kaneohe yesterday after spending five months in the Persian Gulf. Petty Officer Jeremy Thomasson, an electronics technician on the Fletcher, received a kiss from his wife, Colette, at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.
Sailors prepare for While 350 sailors from the Pearl Harbor-based destroyer USS Fletcher returned home yesterday after months in the Persian Gulf, about 8,000 belonging to the carrier battle group USS Carl Vinson were preparing to go to sea, possibly to another global hot spot.
possible Korean post
By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comFifteen months ago, the Vinson spent 72 days striking targets in Afghanistan in the war on terrorism. With about 60 percent of its crew intact and about three warships from the Afghanistan campaign, the 1,092-foot-long carrier is ready to head back out. The New York Times reported that the battle group may be sent to the Korean peninsula.
Vinson's skipper, Capt. Rick Wren, would not say yesterday where the battle group will go when it leaves Pearl Harbor. But, he noted, "We're ready to go anywhere."
The Vinson battle group, which includes 75 combat warplanes, pulled into Pearl Harbor yesterday.
Wren said his job now is to develop "a battle rhythm -- a big battle rhythm -- where we are going to fly 10-hour or 12-hour days."
"We are going to ramp this ship and air wing up to a point that we are launching the same number of sorties that we might anticipate doing during a real war," he said.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson docked yesterday at Hotel Pier at Pearl Harbor.
While Wren would not say how long the Vinson will be in Hawaiian waters, he did mention the 7th Fleet area of operations, adding to speculation that the group could be headed near the Korean peninsula.
Seaman Bernadette Agustin, a mess specialist, said her mother told her to be careful when she told her parents that the Vinson was being sent to sea.
"She's going to pray for me," said Agustin, a 1997 Castle High graduate who left the Kapiolani Community College nursing program shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
On the other side of the island, where the Fletcher arrived at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base, Petty Officer Zorahn-Dawn Tampon said her last deployment with the Fletcher was "very, very long."
"That was because we had to do our primary mission, which was maritime interdiction, while at the same time preparing the ship for its new crew," said Tampon, 24, a 1996 Hilo High School graduate.
She was referring to the Navy's newest experiment, called "Sea Swap." Normally, the Fletcher would return to Pearl Harbor, where the crew would go on liberty and the ship would undergo repairs before its next deployment. But the Pentagon is experimenting with keeping ships at sea longer by flying fresh crews to the vessel every six months.
The Fletcher arrived in Australia nearly three weeks ago after five months in the Persian Gulf, enforcing U.N. economic sanctions against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Its crew was flown back to Hawaii after being replaced by sailors from the USS Kinkaid, which was recently decommissioned. In six months the Fletcher will dock at another foreign port and get another fresh crew, from the San Diego-based destroyer Oldendorf. That crew will sail the Fletcher back to San Diego 12 months from now and decommission it.
Cmdr. Tom Neal, the Fletcher's captain for the past nine months, said the "swap" went "amazingly well." Despite the challenges, Neal said he told his crew "to leave the ship the way you would like to get it."
GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Petty Officer Zorahn-Dawn Tampon, of Hilo, greeted her 17-month-old son, Zyrus, while her mom, Charmaine, looked on. Tampon was among the more than 300 sailors from the USS Fletcher who returned home yesterday.
