Kitty Hawk (CV 63) - Naval Cruise Book

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•WESTPAC 96-97 . This was KITTY HAWK ' s 18th deployment in 36 year ' s of storied naval aviation service. 44,170 nautical miles cruising the high seas with over 5,000 of your closest friends and 77 of the most powerful aircraft on earth. Cruiser Destroyer Group FIVE, Destroyer Squadron THIRTY-ONE, Carrier Air Wing ELEVEN and the crew of KITTY HAWK deploying on WESTPAC 96-97 .... When we set sail on 11 October 1996, the average age of our entire crew was twenty-two and one-half years old. Most of us never had been on a major overseas deployment before and did not know a Polly wog from a Shellback. After fljing and steaming across the Pacific, and after enjoying port visits to Hong Kong and Singapore, we took station in the Arabian Gulf and Hew in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH. We swung on the hook for Christmas near Bahrain and experienced what pier liberty was like (twice!!) in Jebel Ali. United Arab Emirates. We ' ll fondly remember E-mail, Sailor phones and satellite T.V.; crossing the line, steel beach picnics and Golden Shellback ' s; Perth, Australia and Hobart, Tasmania; 858 Tigers in Pearl Harbor and visits by our Chief of Naval Operations and the Secretary of Defense. Most of all, we ' ll remember our spectacular Homecoming on Friday. 11 April 1997. Thousands of our family and friends patiently waiting to greet us in grand style at Naval Air Station North Island. Wliether we are turning the pages through this cruise book in 1998 or 2028, the faces and smiles will never change. The photographs will remind us of deployment challenges when we were on the tip of the spear and the accomplishments we recorded as a crew during our time at sea on board KITTY HAWK. As ambassadors of our country to varied foreign ports of call we proudly represented America ' s resolve to the world and demonstrated to one and all our United States Navy ' s tradition of excellence. As John F. Kennedy said Any person who may be asked in this century what they did to make their life worthwhile, 1 think can respond w ith a good deal of pride and satisfaction, ' I served in the Uniti ride and satisfaction, iniwork characterizing us all. the KITTY H A WK cre« En»ov this volume of blue water memories. And. as always.