US Navy aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) returned to its homeport of Bremerton on September 22, concluding three-week underway period.
During the underway, the longest since completing a Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard five days ahead of schedule, the crew accomplished important milestones in their return to operations by conducting training, testing systems and equipment, and completing a critical certification.
“The crew performed above all expectations,” said Capt. Greg Huffman, commanding officer of John C. Stennis. “From our engineers keeping our systems running to the vital flight deck certification demonstrating our readiness to carry out the core mission of an aircraft carrier, I saw a professional crew executing their mission. The crew’s performance was extraordinary, particularly after a long period where we focused their expertise on maintenance.”
Representatives from Commander, Naval Air Forces, Pacific observed flight operations to evaluate how well the ship was able to launch, recover and taxi aircraft to complete flight deck certification. Once the deck was certified, naval aviators from Carrier Air Wing 9 and Strike Fighter Squadron 122 practiced launching and recovering on a moving flight deck, during both the day and at night, for carrier qualifications.
Sailors also carried out damage control training with general quarters drills, conducted replenishments-at-sea, tested ship defense equipment and took time to honor deceased sailors during a burial-at-sea.