Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, visited naval installations within Navy Region Northwest and its tenant commands, May 2-3.
Haney toured the bases, met with Sailors, spoke at the “Night Before” homecoming party for the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) and conducted several all hands calls.
During the all hands calls Haney discussed the mission of the Pacific Fleet and his current fleet priorities: warfighting readiness, purposeful forward presence, advancing alliances and partnerships, and valuing people and families.
In addition to fielding questions from Sailors at the all hands calls regarding topics from the current budget cuts, enlisted retention board and Perform-to-Serve (PTS) programs, he also thanked Sailors and expressed his appreciation and gratitude for their service.
“I can’t thank you enough for volunteering to wear the Navy uniform and for your service,” said Haney. “No matter how many years you have served in our business, what you do for our country is amazing. I don’t take that for granted.”
Each Sailor who asked a question received a command coin from Haney. Electronics Technician 1st Class (SW) Tracy Rico, assigned to Naval Station Everett (NSE) Operations Department, spoke about why it was good for Sailors to see and speak with Adm. Haney and listen to his vision at the base all hands call.
“I think it gave us a better understanding of our mission and future deployments of the Pacific Fleet,” said Rico. “Our Sailors that attended the all hands call seemed eager to listen and receptive to what Adm. Haney said throughout.”
Haney also toured ships ported pierside at NSE including the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57) and Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60). During his time aboard, Haney met with the ships’ leadership and expressed his appreciation for the Sailors’ work serving aboard the ships.
“The crew of Rodney M. Davis greatly appreciates Adm. Haney’s offering his time to provide Sailors the rare opportunity to hear a fleet commander’s insight and vision for the current course of the U.S. Pacific Fleet,” said Cmdr. Timothy Gibboney, commanding officer of USS Rodney M. Davis.
“We can all take pride in the stellar contributions of the men and women working in the Navy’s third-largest fleet concentration area – the Pacific Northwest Region,” said Haney.
Pacific Fleet headquarters is located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The world’s largest fleet command, it encompasses 100 million square miles, more than half the Earth’s surface, from the West Coast of the United States into the Indian Ocean. The Pacific Fleet consists of approximately 180 ships, nearly 2,000 aircraft and 140,000 Sailors and civilians.
[mappress] Press Release, May 6, 2013; Image: US Navy