Iraqi Freedom Units Receive a Warm Welcome Home

By RICHARD R. BURGESS
Managing Editor

Sea-service forces deployed overseas in support of Iraqi Freedom have been drawn down to prewar levels as the Navy carrier strike groups and Navy/Marine Corps amphibious ready groups began returning to their homeports. Only one carrier strike group--centered on the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz--remained deployed in the Middle East as of the middle of May.

USS Abraham Lincoln was the first carrier to return; her homecoming was marked by an overnight visit on 1 May by President George W. Bush, who flew to the carrier as copilot of "Navy 1," an S-3B Viking (shown in photo) assigned to Sea Control Squadron 35. Bush--who flew F-102 Delta Dagger interceptors when he served in the Texas Air National Guard--addressed the ship's crew, and the nation, the day before the carrier docked at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., to off-load her air wing prior to returning to her homeport in Everett, Wash., on 6 May.

The aircraft carriers USS Kitty Hawk, USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Harry S. Truman and their escorts all returned to their homeports by the end of May, as did the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau, with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked. The aircraft carrier USS Constellation is scheduled to return home in June--and is scheduled to be decommissioned in August. Two squadrons assigned to Constellation's Carrier Air Wing Two--Fighter Squadron Two and Strike Fighter Squadron 137--have begun their belated transitions to the F/A-18F and F/A-18E Super Hornet, respectively.

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson remained deployed in the Western Pacific in place of the Kitty Hawk, which entered a shipyard for a five-month upkeep period after returning from the Persian Gulf. The Carl Vinson may remain deployed for approximately 10 months as the Navy adjusts its deployment schedules in the wake of the Iraq War.

The amphibious assault ships USS Kearsarge, USS Bataan, and USS Saipan and the other amphibious warfare ships in Amphibious Task Force East have taken aboard the Marines assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade--who participated in the Iraq War--and their equipment for return to the United States.

The hospital ship USNS Comfort has departed the Persian Gulf and headed for homeport. The command ship USS Mount Whitney--which normally serves as the flagship for the U.S. Second Fleet--departed the waters off Djibouti and headed for the end of a seven-month deployment as headquarters of Commander Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Most of the Marine Corps' fighter-attack squadrons and aerial refueling/transport squadrons deployed to the Persian Gulf area have returned to their home bases. Some Coast Guard units--including some port-security units and the seagoing buoy tender USCGC Walnut--have returned to their homeports.

In a related development, the Navy has withdrawn its EA-6B Prowler electronic attack squadron from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. EA-6B squadrons on rotation to Incirlik had for many years supported Operation Northern Watch, the enforcement of the no-fly zone over northern Iraq. Northern Watch officially ended on 1 May 2003.

The number of sea-service reservists activated for operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Liberty Guard as of 7 May included 12,037 Navy, 21,255 Marine Corps, and 4,416 Coast Guard reservists.

DDG USS Mason Commissioned In Port Canaveral Ceremonies

The Navy's 37th and newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer has been commissioned in Port Canaveral, Fla. The USS Mason (DDG 87)--the 21st Burke DDG built by General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine--is homeported in Norfolk, Va., under the command of Cdr. David Gale.

Dionel M. Aviles, assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller, was the principal speaker at the 12 April 2003 commissioning ceremonies. The ship's sponsor, Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), gave the order to "man our ship and bring her to life."

The commissioning festivities--chaired by John Porter--were sponsored by the Cape Canaveral Council of the Navy League, led by Council President Fred D. Carl.

The name Mason honors John Young Mason--secretary of the Navy under Presidents John Tyler and James K. Polk--and Ens. Newton Henry Mason, a naval aviator who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his combat heroics during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942.

The name Mason also honors the crew of an earlier USS Mason (DE 529), the first and only Navy ship to be manned by an all-African American crew, which served with distinction during World War II. *