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Sailors from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) faced teams of Sailors from the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) and Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) in the 7th annual Tembe Carrier Classic Golf Tournament Oct. 12.
Eisenhower hosted this year’s event at the Aeropines Golf Course at Naval Air Station Oceana in honor of Capt. Tushar Tembe. The annual tournament is held in honor of Tembe, who passed away unexpectedly while commanding Nimitz-class aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).
“Each carrier takes turns organizing and hosting the tournament,” said Vicky West, the Eisenhower’s Fun Boss. “We work with all the fun bosses from all the other carriers so it truly is like this all-carrier project. It was our turn this year but it showed how well communication can be between all the ships.”
Capt. J. B. Theriault, the supply officer aboard the Truman in 2011 who served under Tembe at the time of Tembe’s death, spoke about their friendship and how the tournament came to be.
“I quickly learned after [Tembe] checked on board that the thing that he loved more than life aside from his family and being an officer in the Navy was golf,” said Theriault. “He would take a few of us onto the golf course every now and then. One day I’m out there golfing with him and he turns to me and says ‘Suppo, I want to have a tournament. I want to have all the aircraft carriers on the east coast together and we’ll call it something like the East Coast Carrier Invitational or something similar, but I want to do this for the Sailors.’”
Theriault said that they planned for the first tournament to be held on Nov. 11, 2011. At 10 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2011, Tembe collapsed from a heart attack on the Truman’s brow.
“The morning he fell, I was actually on my way down to see him to figure out a name for this tournament because we still hadn’t decided on one,” said Theriault. “Obviously, after the [executive officer] and I decided to continue with the tournament, we came up with the Tembe Cup in his honor. Today, nearly six years later, here we are, and it seems that every year it gets better and better, and it’s just an incredible tribute to Tembe. He would be so incredibly proud and I think he’s looking down on us today and wishing he could tee one off with us.”
Theriault joined Sailors from all the ships in the tournament. Sailors were divided into groups of four, with each Sailor getting a chance to score for their team, and the team used the best Sailors’ score for each hole for the final score.
One Washington Sailor, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Vanessa Green, said she was proud to be in attendance.
“I really wanted to support my command for this,” said Green. “I really enjoy golf and this seemed like a good opportunity to show comradery with my shipmates. It’s a great honor to play with the other carriers. I appreciate the opportunity because the carriers are always in and out of port, so to be able to be with our shipmates from the other carriers who we normally can’t and be able to come together as one united front is amazing.”
The Eisenhower took home the cup, with a score of 336, followed by the Ford with a score of 348 and the Bush with a score of 374. The carriers plan to come together again next year to host the 8th annual tournament.
Join the conversation with GW online at www.facebook.com/USSGW and www.twitter.com/GW_CVN73. For more news from USS George Washington, visit www. Navy.mil/local/cvn73/.
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.30.2017 17:12 |
| Story ID: | 260970 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, George Washington Sailors Tee Off at Tembe Carrier Classic, by CPO Anna Van Nuys, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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