Kearsarge (LHD 3) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 6 text:

Captain Hhlientz is a native United States Naval Academy. He resin le in Virginia Beach with their States Naval War College in 1997, Designated a Naval Fliglit Officer staff and connnand billets. Captain Steven C. Schlientz United States Navy Conirnanding Officer , ,.,,., Q f- r ff 'W Y 7 - f - 1 ,,,- B54 A fi OAL -ul ii' i 't 'S A if ' 1 ,MW f if V 4 1 1 -by +.,,,m' -w Y iff- rj,-,L XZ of Tucumcari, New Mexico and a 1977 distinguished graduate of the is inarried to the forlner Brenda Jones of Beltsville, M2l1'j'lklI1Cl and their sons, Ryan and Ihvid. He graduated with dietinction f.1'O1T1 the United? earning a lVIasters Degree in National Security and Strategic Stumlieal in 15378, Captain Hhlientz has served in a broad range of operati0nzi1,2 Operational tours at include an Indian Ocean deployment and a Mediterranean deploy- 'ww J 1IIXINIRNIIIIIIIIILILII I II ment with VF-1-12. flying the F-14 Tomcat 1 onboard USS EISENHOWER CCVN 6933 a West- 1 ern Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment onboard 5 . Amp 1 p USS KYFFY HAWK CCV 635 as flag Lieutenant .ref ' V M71 for Cknnmander, Carrier Group a Red , Sea deploynfient as fJ1JC1'2lt10l1S Officer vvith VF- 'Q A1 O A 102-I on board USS SAHATOGA CCV 607 flying the F-14 in coinbat during' Operations DeS91'f Shield and Desert Storm: forward deployed op elations in the Western Pacific and a Persian Gulf deploynient while serving' as Executive OffiC'91' of USS IN I JICPEN DICNCIC CCV 623: and a Medi- terranean flUlJlOyl11CI1t including' coinbat OIJGIYI' tions in Kosovo while serving' as Iikecutive Of' ficer of USS KHAHSAI-if QE CI ,HD ISD.

Page 5 text:

X On April 25, ZJ01, through the efforts of every Sailor Off' . . , lcer and family rnember, USS E set sail on 1t,S fourth deploynient A rainy, dreary day, the weather mafchedthemoodasweallsaidgoodbyetoourfarniliesandfriendsandbeganour Voyage- F 01' the ma.l01'ity Of the Crew, this was their first deployment. Up until the horrible terrorist attacks on New York Ci ty a.nd the Pentagon on September 11, 2101, our deployment was as routine as a deployment pomibly could be. Unfortunate th ly, e attacks on our homeland Shocked not only those in New York a.nd Washington,butalsoeverySailora.ndMarineaboardUSS E.We watdiedinhorrorasthebroadmnstsbroughtusnefwsofaterribletragedysocloseto home. Fortunately, those events cemented our resolve and we put the bow into the vvind and embarked u ' ' ' pon a V1g'OI'0US t1'8.l.hJ.Hg' plan to prepare for a very different Norfolk upon hornecoming on October 15, ZJ01. Thiscruise book depicts the story of six months of accomplishrnentsandunselfish servicetoourcountrybyacrewsecondtonone. Therearedtwordstoproperly describe how proud I am of every Sailor and Marine who helped make USS Eso grwt. Theintense dedication, coupled with incredible pride, allowed ourcreWtomeeteveryexe11:isea.ndoperationl'1eadon. Additionally,thenumberof Sailo1sandoffice1sWhoquaHf1edESWS,EAWSandSWOWasrecordsetting. Those numbers a.re testament to a crew who completely the need to be well trained and more capable than every before For those who joined the Navy to see the world, I have to say this deployment will most likely prove unique to most of the crew. Having visited 12 ports in seven countries, those who made the entire deployrnent saw 56 days of in port tirne in sorne very fun a.nd exciting places. That's more than I have seen in 10 deployments! As We sailed back into Norfolk on October 15, ZJ01, we returned home a little more grateful for the country we serve, a little more proud of being Sailors in the greatest Navyintheworldgalittle more thankfulforourlovingfaxniliesandfriendsganda little more salty from six months at sea. Thisbookpresentsarecordofsixmonthsofsacrificeandservice. Ithasbeena privilege' ' tosailWithyouasyourCommanding Officer. You should takeagreatdeal of pride' in lmovving you performed extremely well, served as superb arnbassadors of your country ovemeas, a.nd met every rnission with dedication and enthusiasrn. I thankallofyouforhavingdoneyourbest Fairwindsandfollowingseas... Qciddwfe gmpsm,,,g0Uf:Nw

Page 7 text:

Shore and staff assigninents include a tour at thc US. Naval Acad- cm ' as a Coin Jan ' Officer and as Iilwccutivc Assistant tn thc Com- 5 I 3 niandant: instructor duty flying the F-14 Tomcat at VF-101: a tour as F-14 Readiness Officer for C kmiinandcr Naval Air Force, U S. At- lantic Fleet, and an assigninent as a student at the Naval War Col- lege. I I I fl I n 1 .ily -X ix x,,.1'bjL ,., ,2 :tzt - . - I ff! 31, '- C ,GY 'M ii' .4 , 'Q ' r Ca Jtain Schlientz was Executive Officer and later the last Cornmanding Officer of VF before its 1 disestablishinent. He deployed to the Persian Gulf in USS AMERICA CCV 663 during this tour. Subse- quently, he was assigned as Iflxecutive Officer and later as Cornmanding Officer of VF-103 where he made a deployment to the Mediterranean and Adriatic Sams onboard USS Sf-XRATOGA CCV 609 participating in Operation Deny Flight in Bosnia. During his coininand tour, VF-103 incorporated night vision devices and the LANTIRN FLIR!Laser Precision Targeting System, firsts for any F-14 squadron. During his career, Captain Schlientz has flown over 3800 flight hoLu's, including more than 3600 flight hotufs and over 1000 arrested landings in the F-14 Tomcat on 11 different carriers. He has been awarded the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with combat V C individual and two strikeffhght awardsJ, Navy Cornniendation Medal vvith combat V Csix awardsj, Navy Achieveinent Medal, and various unit and service awards. 11lNlNlXNlllN-Illlllll I R,