John F Kennedy (CV 67) - Naval Cruise Book

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KENNEDY welcomed in 1971 from anchorage in Athens, Greece and was to watch 1971 leave while in Barcelona, Spain. The year in between would prove to be a very trying, yet rewarding year for all. Broken by some very intense periods of at sea activity, the ship spent January 1971 in Greece, Malta, and Barcelona, Spain. Then KENNEDY out-chopped from Rota on the 18th of February and moored at Pier 12 on 1 March. After a well-deserved, yet, as always, too brief rest, the ship conducted two periods of extremely heavy flight operations during April. Then in May KENNEDY participated in Exercise Exotic Dancer IV. On 22 May KENNEDY entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a two month Restricted Availability. It was on 30 July that the ship actually received that first, most coveted Battle ' E ' , along with the Weapons Black W, AIMD Black ' E ' and the Communications Green C On her way to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on 10 August, and most certainly hoping to see Gtmo come over the horizon rather than the Rock of Gibraltar as had been the case the year before, KENNEDY was host to C NR-2. This marked the first time that a reserve air wing had trained on an Atlantic Fleet carrier. Following the training evaluation in Guantanamo Bay, KENNEDY returned to Norfolk and Pier 12, pausing along the way to conduct two days of flight operations off of the Jacksonville, Florida coast. On the 21st day of August the ship was host to nearly 6,000 visitors during a Dependent ' s Day cruise which gave our guests and dependents the opportunity to observe the ship and air wing team in action. October and November brought a constant chain of events to keep everyone busy as the ship prepared to deploy. Besides the normally heavy schedule of flight operations for a carrier, there was a change of command ceremony; both Naval Surface and Naval Air Reviews for Naval War College guests and foreign dignitaries who were aboard; a three day endurance exercise; and the opportunity for Air Wing One to attack and sink the former USS ROBERTS. On 1 December KENNEDY was underway for the Mediterranean and her third major deployment. Turnover was conducted on the 9th at Rota, Spain with the USS AMERICA. KENNEDY entered the Mediterranean Sea on the 10th of December little knowing how long it would really be before she was to return home. Christmas found the ship in Naples, Italy and New Year ' s Eve was spent just outside the harbor at Barcelona, Spain.

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-••■s ••age Av ' .irj ' SB? ' KENNEDY celebrated New Year ' s Day 1970 in port at Pier 12 Norfolk, Virginia. But not one to rest too long in any one spot, the ship was underway on 19 January to conduct fleet carrier qualifications for the air wing off of the Virginia Capes. Adverse weather conditions could have easily sent others home, but while operating with wind chill factors of minus 40 degrees F, KENNEDY completed the CARQUALS and returned to Pier 12. The ship entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a Restricted Availability on 29 January. During the RAV, the decision was made to drydock KENNEDY in order to replace two bad screws. The ship departed the shipyard on 23 May and immediately commenced Post Repair Trials off of the Virginia Capes. 1970 brought major changes to the make-up of CVW-1 as the air wing replaced several squadrons. VA-34, flying A-6A ' s and A-6B ' s, along with VA-46 and VA-72 both flying A-7B ' s, relieved the three A-4 squadrons. VAQ-131 relieved both VAH-10 and VAQ-33 with their KA-3 and EKA-3 ' s, and finally, VAW-125 came aboard bringing with them E-2B ' s. The chance to put in an appearance in the hometown of the ship ' s namesake came when, on 2 August, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY entered Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachu- setts. The ship was host to members of the Kennedy family, the Governor of Massachusetts and other dignitaries, along with over 75,000 visitors during the brief stay in Boston Harbor. On 14 September, while underway from Norfolk enroute to the Caribbean and an Operational Readiness Inspection, KENNEDY received emergency orders to transit to the Mediterranean in response to a Middle East crisis. The carrier operated in a contingency role while in the Eastern Mediterranean and for outstanding service during this major deployment the ship received the Meritorious Unit Commendation. Additionally, KENNEDY was to be awarded the Atlantic Fleet ' s attack carrier Battle Efficiency Award for the period of January 1970 to June 1971, the first of many Battle ' E ' s this great ship was to receive. While at anchor in Soudha Bay, Crete, on 18 December, KENNEDY was host to personnel from seven other ships, along with dependents and other civilian guests, all who were aboard to view the Bob Hope Christmas show. Then on 24 December KENNEDY inaugurated the Navy Sponsored Dependents ' s Charter Flight Program when 323 dependents came out to spend Christmas in Athens and 424 men returned home for a holiday reunion.

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New Year ' s Day 1972 dawned with KENNEDY still at rest outside Barcelona, Spain. That rest, however, was soon over as the ship got underway to complete major fuel and weapons UNREP ' s prior to anchoring in Naples on the 14th of January. The Naples visit was to be a very brief three days as the ship was underway again to participate in more exercises. February began with NATO exercise National Week XII, then closed with the ship at anchor at Athens, Greece where some engineering repair work was conducted prior to departing on 9 March. March, April and May passed quickly with highly active at sea periods spaced by port visits to Greek, French and Spanish ports. On 21 May while underway from Cannes to Barcelona, KENNEDY conducted an offload to USS MILWAUKEE as part of preparations for returning to Norfolk. But, only three days later, on the 24th, the UNREP was conducted again. This time, however, we were receiving everything back from the MILWAUKEE. USS SARATOGA, scheduled to relieve KENNEDY, had been ordered to Vietnam due to an increase in activity in the war. Then in June USS AMERICA, next in line to relieve us, was diverted to the Southeast Asia theater to relieve the USS CONSTELLATION. This was to keep the CONSTELLATION ' S deployment from extending beyond ten months. So KENNEDY bit down, reached back and kept on keeping on. June and July went by filled with LOADEX ' s and National Week XIII. The end of July brought a two week stay in Palma de Mallorca for a Mini-RAV period. In September KENNEDY outchopped from the Med to participate in NATO exercise Strong Express after having been relieved by USS FORRESTAL. During the exercise a British F-4K Phantom II and a Buccaneer S MK-2B from HMS Ark Royal landed on KENNEDY and an F-4B Phantom II and an A-6 Intruder from KENNEDY landed on Ark Royal. The following day six British planes flew to KENNEDY and six KENNEDY planes landed on the Ark Royal. The cross-decking operation was significant in that it opened the door to increased efficiency in combat conditions and strategic concepts. KENNEDY returned at long last to Pier 12 on 6 October after having been gone for over 10 months. Then on 2 November she entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for an eight week RAV.