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    Midshipmen experience Navy operations, train aboard GW

    USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, TIMOR SEA

    07.12.2015

    Courtesy Story

    USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73)

    By Mass Communication Specialist Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric S. Brann


    TIMOR SEA – Twenty midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps completed their Phase II training aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), July 12.

    Phase II of training is designed to give midshipmen a better understanding of shipboard life and operations to enhance their professional development.

    “This training gave us a better understanding of what officers and enlisted go through on a day-to-day basis, and what is required in the fleet,” said Midshipman 3rd Class Austin Armand, a New Orleans native attending the Naval Academy. “This was an awesome way to get hands-on experience, and a better idea of what I want to do when I graduate and what community I want to belong to. ”

    Third-class Midshipmen were paired with enlisted Sailors as running mates while first-class midshipmen were assigned with officers.

    “We shadowed our running mates and followed them to learn what their daily routine consisted of and what their job on the ship is,” said Armand. “It was good for us to gain the understanding of what enlisted life is like and what officer life will be like. Working with our running mate will help make us better officers.”

    Midshipmen experienced conning the ship alongside during a replenishment-at-sea, security training, flight operations, a crossing the line ceremony and many other events aboard George Washington.

    “One of my favorite parts of the training was working with Security Department. They had firearms training set up for us and a training simulator,” said Armand. “We were able to experience several different types of scenarios where we had to think on our feet and figure out what to do in certain situations. It was a fun experience and I enjoyed everything they had set up for us.”

    Working alongside junior officers is the last experience midshipmen first class will have before commissioning.

    “This was an opportunity for the midshipmen to see what their Sailors will be doing when they become division officers. They received hands-on experience of what it means to be on the deck plates, to do maintenance and run a work center,” said Lt. j.g. Tiffany Pearson, George Washington’s electrical division officer and assistant midshipmen training officer. “They learned what their priorities and duties will be, and what qualifications they will need prior to actually getting to the fleet. All of the midshipmen adapted fast. They constantly asked questions and were an absolutely exceptional group of individuals”

    George Washington and its embarked air wing, Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, are on patrol in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. George Washington will conduct a hull-swap with the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) later this year after serving seven years as the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 07.12.2015
    Date Posted: 07.15.2015 20:57
    Story ID: 169844
    Location: USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, TIMOR SEA
    Hometown: NEW ORLEANS, LA, US

    Web Views: 1,387
    Downloads: 0

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