“This is the captain…”

U.S. 7TH FLEET AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY

11.08.2020

Story by Canadian Forces PO 2 Cameron Edy    

USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76)   

“This is the captain…”

USS Ronald Reagan Public Affairs

Story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cameron Edy

Command of an aircraft carrier is the defining moment of a naval career for many – combining a wide breadth of technical air and surface knowledge, an ironclad foundation of leadership, and the charisma to guide and mentor more than 3,000 Sailors. When it comes to Capt. Fred Goldhammer, the newest commanding officer (CO) of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), his resume speaks for itself. He has amassed more than 3,000 flight hours, commanded a squadron, excelled in assignments at The Pentagon and completed nuclear-power training. Overcoming challenges is part of his DNA.
“Growing up, I was initially middle class,” said Goldhammer. “[My family] had some financial hardship and I went from having anything I could want to having nothing. At the time, I didn’t understand the change, but being forced to confront it made me [see things from a different perspective]. At eight, I was living with five people in a one-room apartment – that, more than anything, made me learn to live without [a lot].”
In high school, around 14-years-old, Goldhammer knew he was destined for the Navy.
“It was about the opportunities the Navy provided,” said Goldhammer. “No matter what walk of life you come from, there are equal opportunities. It doesn’t matter whether you come from a rich or poor family – everyone gets an equal shot, and it’s entirely up to you what you do with it.”
He took his shot by graduating from one of the most prestigious institutions on Earth – the U.S. Naval Academy. Most junior officers learn the foundations of leadership from their seniors, following in their footsteps and emulating what works. Goldhammer’s road to leadership followed a different path.
“I started out on the east coast flying E-2C Hawkeyes for the Tiger Tails [of Airborne Command & Control Squadron (VAW) 125] on USS Enterprise (CVN 65),” said Goldhammer. “The peer group I found there ended up lasting a lifetime. I became really close with two other junior officers (JOs), one a year ahead of me and another kind-of parallel in my career timeline. Those two, and others like them, became sounding boards for me – we’d talk about what worked, what didn’t, and the right way to deal with situations along the way. I’ve also picked up mentors that were senior to me, but my foundation has always been my peers – the JOs that flew the same type of aircraft, hit the same pipeline commands, and are now COs and air wing staff. We experience a lot of the same challenges, and are a lot stronger for it.”
Rough seas build skilled Sailors, and turbulence builds skilled pilots. While he was the executive officer of an E-2 squadron, Goldhammer experienced one of the greatest professional and personal hurdles of his career.
“My wife was pregnant and due any day, and my skipper was gone on a mobile training team mission,” said Goldhammer. “I was essentially the CO of the squadron while he was gone, and then one of my E-5s, really liked and well-regarded in the command, committed suicide. The next morning, I gather the command in our auditorium to talk through the situation and as I’m about to step in, I get the call that my wife is about to have my child. So, I have two major situations happening at once – professionally, I have to counsel my command, tell them what happened and how we’re following up with the situation. In the meantime, I’m subconsciously counting the seconds until my wife gives birth. There’s no training for those kinds of situations.”
Dealing with a major personal change while trying to counsel his Sailors led to a mixed reaction from his command.
Some thought he regarded the suicide as a distraction from the mission. Really, he was coping with the greatest challenge for most Sailors – separating his personal struggles from his professional environment.
“Looking back, anybody in a senior leadership position needs to think about how they come across to their Sailors,” said Goldhammer. “You may have a perfectly rational explanation for your behavior, but that’s not what people see. Being able to compartmentalize is integral to what we do out here.”
Ronald Reagan and its crew are no stranger to challenges, especially during her 2020 deployment. A global pandemic sidelined many U.S. Navy ships, but Ronald Reagan sailed headlong into the Western Pacific in support of national tasking. Overcoming adversity is the plan of the day for the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, which is why Capt. Fred Goldhammer is the perfect person to bring her home.

“… and this is our endgame”
Ask for a sea story, and a Sailor, more often than not, will lay-out the most difficult, stickiest, success-by-the-seat-of-their-pants story they have. For most, following deployment 2020, the last six months will be a badge of honor, an adversary that USS Ronald Reagan Sailors defeated. We have been at sea for more than six months, connected to the outside world only by the cables of replenishments-at-sea and an intermittent ability to communicate with family and friends. Ronald Reagan’s crew completed exercise after exercise, repaired equipment in record speeds, and executed around-the-clock flight operations in support of national tasking.
While the country we defend faces its own challenges, including a pandemic, social issues and political division, USS Ronald Reagan’s crew has lived in a bubble, relying only on our brothers, sisters and leadership. Though the headline might read that USS Ronald Reagan endured COVID-19 and returned home safely, the true story is what USS Ronald Reagan has accomplished – and her commanding officer, Capt. Fred Goldhammer, couldn’t be prouder.
“It’s no big secret that we’re going through some challenges at home this year,” said Goldhammer. “But we’ve proven, in a city of 4,300 people, we can get along – regardless of our race, background, or creed. We can live together peacefully, and even in a pretty stressful environment, we can get the job done. When we get back on shore, the challenge is going to come externally – we’re going to get pounded by people that have never had to go through what all of us have, trying to convince us that we can’t work as a community. Outside of the mechanics of SRA and the logistics of being on shore, our biggest challenge is going to be reminding people of what we have achieved this year.”
Let’s recap:
1. The team pushed a naval aircraft carrier out to sea with a skeleton crew of COVID-free Sailors, successfully completing all tests and checks during sea trials, all while the main body of personnel underwent sequestration for two or more weeks.
2. Ronald Reagan’s medical department created an entirely new response team, and effectively kept COVID at bay.
3. The Command Equal Opportunities Team tackled race relations head-on, holding discussions and forums for how race-relations have affected Sailors aboard, and how to combat negative relations in their daily lives.
4. Almost every week, Ronald Reagan underwent a replenishment-at-sea, requiring all hands to bring food, fuel, and mail onboard – no easy feat in the heat of the South China Sea.
5. The crew built their own port visit, paying for and providing food, drinks, beer, and beach activities for all-hands.
6. Leadership organized a swim-call (rare on an aircraft carrier), and while most got to eat, drink, and swim, a select few spent the time prowling the weather decks armed and ready for sharks, and the search and rescue swimmers ensured all-hands were safe while in the water.
7. The ship underwent a plethora of exercises and operations – sailing with the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during dual carrier operations, and working with the U.S. Army, U.S. Marines, U.S. Air Force, Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Australian Navy – we even sailed through the Strait of Malaccato conduct flight operations in the Indian Ocean.
8. The crew also experienced a change in commanding officer, from Capt. Pat Hannifin to Capt. Fred Goldhammer – a more subdued ceremony than the usual fanfare, but solemn in its address of the challenges still to come.
And now a return to homeport is in sight, allowing some rest and recuperation for a weary but triumphant crew. However, COVID-19 has changed the game with regard to leave and liberty. These challenges have forced leadership to look at leave differently than before, and has led to a comprehensive review of how an aircraft carrier can be manned in-port. It also takes a more human approach to approving leave, weighing the intention of leave, and the reasons behind the request instead of looking strictly at the numbers. This rethinking of standard practices is seen in other practices as well.
“The fundamental problem is logistics and time [when it comes to leave],” said Goldhammer. “Recharging the crew will be even more challenging this year [due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and restriction-of-movement].”
But we’re not home yet, and until the day we “over all lines” and open up the brow, Ronald Reagan is in deployment 2020’s endgame, and still has a mission to accomplish.
“At the end of deployment, there are certain things you have to do,” said Goldhammer. “Like the air wing fly off, testing firefighting systems on the flight deck, reactor assessments and weapons offload. We cannot go home until these things are complete. And homecoming is going to be different too. The fanfare will be more subdued – no less important, just different. We have a lot of people looking at us, and how we complete this final part of deployment.”
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• Date Taken: 11.08.2020
• Date Posted: 12.30.2020 06:43
• Story ID: 386060
• Location: U.S. 7TH FLEET AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY