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MEDITERRANEAN SEA (December 25, 2023) — Each year, millions of Americans wake up Christmas morning excited to spend the day surrounded by family and friends. The holiday, above all else, is about gratitude and togetherness.
Thousands of service members, like those aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), are celebrating Christmas in a different way this year.
Gerald R. Ford is in the midst of its maiden deployment, and its crew will be spending the holidays in the Mediterranean Sea. While family separation, however common in the military, is unfortunate, holidays spent at sea can bring a crew like the one aboard Gerald R. Ford closer together.
“In our division, we made a big family tree and then we put our family photos up,” said Senior Chief Air-Traffic Controller Leonor Rust, assigned to Gerald R. Ford’s air department. “It reminds us we’re not alone. We all miss our families. We’re all in this together, but we are with our Navy family.”
Ford was scheduled to return to home port Nov. 4, but was ordered to remain on station after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel. The circumstances surrounding the extension meant morale and togetherness during the holidays were especially important this year, which is why Ford leadership went to great lengths to promote Christmas spirit throughout the ship. The crew made the most of their situation by decorating passageways (halls) and playing Christmas music in their work centers. The embarked squadrons pitched in, too, painting several aircraft with Christmas themes and transporting Santa to each of the ships in the Strike Group. Festivities also included an ugly sweater competition, a holiday door decorating contest, and Christmas socials and giveaways meant to give Sailors a sense of home and tradition.
“Our Sailors are exceptionally resilient,” said Gerald R. Ford’s Command Master Chief (CMDCM) Bryan Davis. “They have done everything asked of them and more over the last eight months, and continue to exceed expectations. There’s no denying how difficult it is to be separated from loved ones, especially during the holidays, which is why it’s so important we celebrate the season as a Navy family at sea.”
The holiday festivities culminated in a Christmas concert in the hangar bay featuring musical performances from several of the ship’s crew members. The event attracted thousands of Sailors from every department who came together to enjoy the show as something more than coworkers.
“We all got extended, we’re all in this together, and we’re taking a situation that is not ideal and making it into something better,” said Rust. “We’re doing something much bigger than ourselves.”
The presence of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) is an important part of deterring the escalation of conflicts in the region, and while most of its Sailors wish they could be home, they’ve found creative ways to spread cheer and express their gratitude for each other, while remaining mission focused and ready.
The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) is conducting a scheduled deployment in U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet area of operations, demonstrating the commitment and power projection capability of the Navy’s globally deployed force. 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 5,000 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 EMALS, AAG 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, Instagram: @cvn78_grford, Twitter: @Warship_78, DVIDS www.dvids.net/CVN78 and LinkedIn at USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
| Date Taken: | 12.25.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 01.05.2024 17:21 |
| Story ID: | 461291 |
| Location: | MEDITERRANEAN SEA |
| Web Views: | 132 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Ford’s First Christmas at Sea, by SN Alexander Casco, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
