George Washington (CVN 73) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 How I spent ; by JOI Lee Bosco i How’d I spend my summer , 1 vacation? Well, Uncle Sam sent me i on a Mediterranean cruise with six 1 i thousand strangers. , i Soon after leaving Norfolk, we i stepped into the international spot- light in jolly Old England to host the | i President of the United States. Every, 1 high ranking civilian and military i official with bus fare and a group of 1 i World War II veterans to whom we , i owe our very existence were all there.i 1 During the 50th Anniversary of 1 D-Day, amid the media hoopla and 1 i pomp and circumstance, I watched , | these six thousand strangers spit and i polish, shine and buff and stand and i salute in a way that was breathtaking. , i And in my mind, those strangers i 1 became six thousand patriots. 1 Within a few days of that event, 1 i just as the deployment was becoming , i routine, these patriots responded to a i 1 fire in the night with such tenacity 1 , that a blaze that should have raged | i until dawn was extinguished within i 1 90 minutes. They bravely faced i 1 down an incredibly hot and dangerous 1 i inferno and then stuck around into the , i morning to clean up the mess the fire i 1 has caused. As the sun came up that 1 day it illuminated an undeniable fact 1 i to me — I was at sea with six thou- , i sand heroes. i 1 During brief respites from the 1 1710 GW Spirit j l disciplined actions of tit I sand heroes. I i It was on the last In I from Rhodes that I rcalii I company of six thousanl I Heavy flight opera! I Arabian Gulf, where thd l reaches 110 degrees, sod , fact of life. As I was leis lunch one afternoon a ye a crow and three chevron down across from me. T| the jersey was covered vi 'sweat, and fatigue. J4c wj

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GW Cruisebook Staff Commanding Officer Photographers CAPT Robert G. Sprigg GW Photo Lab Executive Officers LTJG Bruce Wallace CAPT David M. Crocker ENS Thomas Cotton CDR William L. McKee PHC(AW SW) Tom Houser PHI Jeffrey Landenberger Public Affairs Officer PHI Craig McClure LCDR Matthew Brown PHI David Miller PH1(SW)Philip St. Gelais Managing Editor PH2 Mark Avis JOC(SW) Gregg Snaza PH2 James Klein PH2 John Lawrence Editors Layout PH2 James Vidrine PHI Craig McClure PH3 Terry Beall J02 Thomas Gelsanliter PH3 Ray Connors PH3 Shane Hebert Contributing writers staff PH3 Michael Houston LCDR Matthew Brown PH3 David Schoonover JOC(SW) Gregg Snaza PH3 Todd Summerlin JOI(SW) John Barnett PH3 Christopher Vickers JOI Lee Bosco PHAN Ryan Child JOI(SW) Mark Piggott PHAN Anthony Haley J02 Charles Achord AN Joseph Hendricks J02 Kurt Allen PHAA Carlton Zeigler J02 Thomas Gelsanliter J03 Rob Knight JOSN O'Dell Isaac JOSN Thomas Smith AN Joe Ccrnie special thanks to he nearly 100 quadron and hip's company ruisebook repre-tentatives whose lupport made this took possible. Photographic Support CDR 'Liles Lcenhouts LT Stephen Davis LT Jack Liles LT Chuck Red PHI(SW) Bob Lindel ABF2 Eldon Cline OS2 Eric Salsberry yS3 Kenneth Wood RPSN Douglas Peck Sales - MWR Office ENS Todd Pitts MMCS(SW) Jerry Forbus ETI(SW) Michaol Rivers A02 Andrew Sternick FN Galen Clark AR John Mills Jr. k printod by GW's maiden dopl Wnlsworth Publlshin Barry Brown. Sales Mug Shot phOtogf»P' Olan M'Hs photog Chuck PodF«ck. USI

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the roof. A sight that usually drew hundreds of curious Sailors that day offered no attraction. Very few of thc| crew were up on deck pointing ashore and waving to onlookers on the sides of the canal. “Been there, done that... too many times,” said six thousand Sea Salts. Two days out of Norfolk I received my Fleet Reserve papers. • Anyone who knows me, now knows about their arrival. Still everyone , Who I told, smiled and said. Congratulations. I'm happy for you. I were replace® to duty as frVfj Arabian Gplftl the mere pnsjl w as enough to ashore. SeffiS launched, just-mistake - GYV] Hussein was si thousand warri Later, a cj flight deck niaj GW's final tral [Canal I notice ps food and said, “I gotta get back [up to the roof, we've got another event in 45 minutes.” He was just one1 of the six thousand professionals I [worked with each day. I From a dead standstill, within I |shouting distance of liberty in Italy, our ship pulled the 2nd oldest military maneuver -ABOUT FACE! The I ship was underway within an hour, and on station within four days. Grimi faced and determined, the six thousand professionals prepared for the unknown. Horseplay and joshing i