Through good graces, you’ve been nominated and selected to participate in the Navy’s Distinguished Visitors (DV) Embark Program. You can let out a “woo hoo,” don’t be ashamed. As your departure date nears, you’ll have to pack for this short but dense trip. What do you bring? Embarking on a military aircraft carrier is not […]
During the short, overnight embark on the USS Nimitz, there were a few surprises (to me anyways). Here’s a list in no particular order. COD Landing and Takeoff There’s a lot of attention placed on the catapult launch off the carrier. Truly, it is an exhilarating experience. But there’s not much mentioned about the arrested […]
There are Marine Corps aviators flying jets from the Navy’s supercarrier, the USS Nimitz? Call sign SAS from the VMFA-323 “Death Rattlers” squadron explains this long-standing arrangement. USS Nimitz Death Rattlers from Gee Why on Vimeo. Sorry, I missed the part about the squadron’s history explaining the Death Rattler name, but you can read about […]
I’ve given you pictures and videos from my DV embark on the USS Nimitz. Â How about some of the sounds from the ship? This first one is boring. It’s the continual drone you hear during the COD flight. This is without ear protection. It’s loud. And it’s non-stop. Can you imagine listening to this for […]
Prologue How do I recount my overnight stay onboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz? There was so much in so little time. I won’t run through all the details of my Distinguished Visitors (DV) tour, deferring to the excellent experiences previously captured in the individual stories of the Ambassadors of Aloha. Instead, […]
The view at Hickam is clear and we’re ready to embark!
It began in 2009. Â This was the very first time I had heard of the US Navy’s Distinguished Visitors’ Embark program where a few fortunate, Hawaii-based personalities participated in an unforgetable adventure. Â I dub this Class of 2009 as the Ambassadors of Aloha, paving the way for the rest who followed. Â The Ambassadors of Aloha […]