Carl Vinson (CVN 70) - Naval Cruise Book

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- Coa e man Cad Vwoh V -.

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USS CARL VINSON is known throughout the world, and particularly in the Middle East region, as one of the most powerful floating fortresses in the world. However, while CARL VINSON is called 95,000 tons of diplomacy; the ship embodies more than a mass of steel plate, cable and pipe. The crew includes dedicated men and women from every state in the Union, possessing all degrees of knowledge: veteran officers and chief petty officers with decades of experience, well-trained mid-level professionals and supervisors and others fresh out of training - teenage Sailors away from home for the first time. Each works in one of 1 7 specialized departments, or in one of the 1 separate squadrons. Leadership, training and a sense of purpose blend these 5,000 individual personalities toward one goal: Being ever-ready to exercise the awes ome power of the Gold Eagle in support of the interests and defense of our country by being ready on arrival. USS CARL VINSON - and CARL VINSON officers and crew - set the standards of excellence and performance for which she is so well known. -

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n ' .1 ' : t : USS CARL VINSON, the third in a series of Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, was constructed at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Virginia and officially commissioned on March 13, 1982. Construction began in October 1975, and with two-thirds of the ship completed, it was christened on March 15, 1980. In attendance that day was CVN-70 ' s namesake, Congressman Carl Vinson, the first man to witness the launching of a U.S. warship named in his honor. The stong willed Georgian spent more than 50 years in the house of Representatives, and served a record 29 years as Chairman of the House Naval Affairs and Armed Services Committee, becoming a powerful champion of military preparedness. Through nine administrations, he fostered the notion that a strong defense was the best way to ensure peace. His leadership and legislative skill helped introduce measures that created the two-ocean Navy, expanded the naval aviation forces, and tremendously increased the number of ships in the Navy. He also guided the establishment of the Air Force Academy and the introduction of nuclear power to the Navy. Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga), Vinson ' s grandnephew and the principal speaker at the launching, called the 1,092-foot ship the mightiest ever constructed and added that his 96-year-old great uncle was too. Carl Vinson died in 1981 at the age of 98. The crew of the GOLD EAGLE continues to proudly serve in the same diligent and committed fashion as a living legacy of Congressman Vinson. 11