MEDITERRANEAN SEA (July 19, 2025) – The United States’ newest and world’s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) and USS Bainbridge (DDG 96), all assigned to Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG), transited the Strait of Gibraltar with Spanish Navy Santa Maria-class ESPS Canarias (F86), and fast combat support ship USNS Supply (T-AOE-6), July 19, 2025.
A credible and capable naval presence like this combined force increases maritime security, and highlights our shared commitment to fostering regional security and stability among partnered and allied nation naval militaries.
“This operational activity in the Strait of...
Destroyer Squadron Two Commodore, Capt. Mark Lawrence, left, speaks with Italian Navy Lt. Gabriel Petri, second from the right, a liaison officer from ITS Spartaco Schergat (F598), and other members of the DESRON-2 staff while in USS Gerald R. Ford's (CVN 78) Surface Undersea Combat Center, July 23, 2025. DESRON-2, a part of Carrier Strike Group Twelve, is currently deployed in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations to support the warfighting effectiveness, lethality and readiness of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, and defend U.S., Allied and partner interests in the region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mariano Lopez)
Sailors assigned to the world's largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), man the rails as the ship gets underway for deployment, June 24, 2025. Gerald R. Ford, a first-in-class nuclear aircraft carrier and flagship of Carrier Strike Group Twelve, incorporates modern technology, innovative shipbuilding designs, and best practices from legacy aircraft carriers to increase the U.S. Navy’s capacity to underpin American security and economic prosperity, deter adversaries, and project power on a global scale through sustained operations at sea. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Mike Dimestico)
CAPT Rick Burgess, a native of Bellevue, WA, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and was designated a Naval Flight Officer in 1998.
Operational assignments include tours with Fighter Squadron (VF) 31, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72); Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 102, USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63); and two tours with VFA-103, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and USS George Washington (CVN 73).
Shore assignments include service as Action Officer in the House Liaison Office, Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA); TOPGUN Instructor with Navy Fighter Weapons School; Strike Fighter Placement Officer (PERS-433B) with Navy Personnel Command (NPC); Branch Chief, Global Missile Defense...
Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States, was born July 14, 1913, in Omaha, NE. The future President grew up in a close-knit family, excelled scholastically and athletically at South High School in Grand Rapids, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in November 1927.
Ford attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where he majored in economics and political science. An extremely gifted athlete, FORD was voted the Wolverine’s most valuable player in 1934, with opportunities to play professional football.
Ford chose the legal profession over a professional football career, graduating with a law degree from Yale in 1941. After the United States entered the war during World War II, Ford received a commission...
