Underway on Father’s Day

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

06.18.2023

Courtesy Story

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)           

Military service and sacrifice: for some, these two concepts go hand-in-hand, but what does sacrificing for military service actually entail? For many Sailors serving aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), sacrifice means being away from family. On Father’s Day, this means fathers being apart from their children, and children from their fathers.
For Electronics Technician 3rd Class Matthew Kauffman, assigned to Gerald R. Ford’s combat systems department, being there for his two kids while he’s underway is important. One of the biggest things helping him get through deployment is the moments he gets to spend with his children utilizing Gerald R. Ford’s email and Starlink-enabled WiFi systems.
“It’s pretty hard,” Kauffman said. “I check on them. I email my wife, I have pictures of them. Whenever I’m on the phone, I hear them in the background laughing. The WiFi really helps. I get pictures and updates. They’re my motivation to keep on keeping on.”
Kauffman faces the challenge of being away while his children are still very young. He still remains optimistic about the situation, saying it was one of the better periods of their lives he could have been away, while they still do not fully understand that he is gone.
“One of them is about to turn three, the other one is about to turn two,” he said. “So they’re young. They don’t really understand anything yet. My wife says they notice that I’m not there and they shout my name and look for me every day. Saying bye was hard, but it’s just something that I have to do.”
Kauffman sees deployment as an opportunity to create a better future for himself and his kids.
“In my mind, I’m doing this for them,” he said. “It’s hard being away, but I feel like doing this is bettering myself, to better their quality of life and set them up for the future.”
Kauffman related his experience of being away on Father’s Day with his own father, who also was in the military.
“He was in the Army,” Kauffman said. “He was deployed for 18 months, so he was gone for two Father’s Days at one time. He was kind of worried [for me], but he knows the kind of person I am, that I’ve got a good head on my shoulders. He knows that I’ll be fine. He’s more proud than worried.”
Kauffman has found that while it is difficult to be away from his kids, it also allowed him to develop the right attitude to work hard, get through deployment and reunite with his family.
“It’s hard being away from your kids,” he said. “Some days are harder than others, but if you get in the right mindset, and every day you think, ‘I’m doing this for them,’ it’s going to go by a whole lot faster. Keep your mind occupied, stay busy. Deployment’s going to fly by.”
The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) is conducting a scheduled deployment in the Atlantic Ocean in support of interoperability and maritime security. The GRFCSG provides an inherently flexible naval force capable of deploying across combatant commands to meet emerging missions, deter potential adversaries, reassure allies and partners, enhance security and guarantee the free flow of global commerce. In total, the GRFCSG is deployed with more than 6,000 Sailors across all platforms ready to respond globally to combatant commander tasking.
Gerald R. Ford is the U.S. Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier. As the first-in-class ship of Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy’s capacity to project power on a global scale. Ford-class aircraft carriers introduce 23 new technologies, including Electromagnetic Aircraft Launching System, Advanced Arresting Gear and Advanced Weapons Elevators. The new systems incorporated onto Ford-class ships are designed to deliver greater lethality, survivability and joint interoperability with a 20% smaller crew than a Nimitz-class carrier, paving the way forward for naval aviation.
For more information about the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), visit https://www.airlant.usff.navy.mil/cvn78/ and follow along on Facebook: @USSGeraldRFord, Twitter: @Warship_78, DVIDS: www.dvids.net/CVN78 and LinkedIn at USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).

• Date Taken: 06.18.2023
• Date Posted: 06.18.2023 02:34
• Story ID: 447474
• Location: MEDITERRANEAN SEA