... so let the blogging begin. I'm sitting in Miami International Airport awaiting my return flight to the Washington, D.C., area. I spent the past two-plus days on the USS Kearsarge, a Navy ship…
One aspect of Operation Continuing Promise is engineering aid for poor Latin American countries that requested help. Air Force Maj. Tom DeFazio discussed the work that his team will do when the…
Modern-day pirates are a recurring problem in the waters off Africa, and the U.S. Navy has had its share of run-ins with them. Lt. Quinn O'Bannon, now the chaplain of the USS Kearsarge, recalled…
Lt. Quinn O'Bannon, the chaplain of the USS Kearsarge, talked about the role of chaplains in the Navy as both a facilitator of various faiths and as a counselor on everything from finances to…
The Navy really doesn’t know what to do with us bloggers. Apparently we’re a bit nosier than the other people who come aboard. We ask questions that to us seem pretty basic but that apparently…
That’s what the military promises, and that’s what it delivers. OK, the options are limited, but there’s plenty of food, and save for the occasional blandness, it doesn’t taste bad, either. I…
Air Force Maj. Tom DeFazio is heading the engineering team for Operation Continuing Promise. In this interview, he discusses the work the team will do when the USS Kearsarge comes to port in Latin…
Cmdr. David Damstra, head of the medical team for Operation Continuing Promise, recaps the work his people will be doing when the USS Kearsarge comes to port at its various stops in Latin America…
While aboard the USS Kearsarge, bloggers found a passageway that led to an outdoor platform directly below the flight deck. One night, we were treated to helo flight operations occurring not far…
This wasn’t a good day to be on an unfamiliar ship if you drank a lot of liquids, as I did. The crew “secured” for random drug-screening the heads that all of us bloggers had been using , and we…
Man's best friend doesn't typically get to ride along with U.S. sailors, but a mutt named Jenna did for two years aboard a ship stationed in Japan. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew LaPointe was her commanding…
If you spend your life at sea, it's a good idea to plan for the prospect of having to rescue a man overboard. The U.S. Navy has a dummy named "Oscar" for for just that purpose.
There's only one way to practice steering two ships together in the open ocean -- just do it. The U.S. Navy does "underway replenishments," or UNREPs, on a regular basis because that's one…
Training, training, training -- that's what you do in the Navy. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew LaPointe, the training officer aboard the USS Kearsarge, discussed the hours of exercises required to prepare for…
Better health in Latin America is one of the goals of Operation Continuing Promise. But the people delivering it first have to guard their own health. Hence the shield of insecticide being applied…
I won’t name names, but one of the bloggers who was supposed to be on the USS Kearsarge with us isn’t. He thought the ship was leaving this afternoon -- until the ensign in charge of the bloggers…
Navy officers have it much better than the enlisted men when out to sea, at least in terms of comfort.
I’m guessing their meals are…
This has been a good time for a trip at sea. Until today, I couldn’t feel any significant movement of this massive ship. But the waters do seem to be getting a bit rougher as we near Miami, where…
Have you ever wondered where sailors get the necessities of life -- and a few luxuries -- while at sea? Wonder no more. They go to the ship store. We stopped in today. It’s like a 7-Eleven…
As a Christian, one of the things I was curious to see on the USS Kearsarge was the chapel. I was disappointed. I’m not a fan of fancy church buildings. The less money spent on fulfilling the…
Navy men have to get their hair cut about every two weeks. That’s what we learned during our stop at the barbershop on the Kearsarge today. We also learned that there’s a whole black market of…
After lunch today, I joined three other bloggers for some fresh sea air. We walked through a series of three hatches that took us to a deck directly over the ocean and under the flight deck. It…
You wouldn't think that diving for lobsters could lead to bedsores -- but it can if you don't take precautions while diving and end up paralyzed. Navy Commander David Damstra explains how military…
To most Americans, the vet is the doctor who cares for family pets. But in poor countries like those the USS Kearsarge will visit in Latin America, the vet can be key to keeping families fed. Cmdr…
It's no coincidence that the USS Kearsarge deployed to Latin America for Operation Continuing Promise in the heart of the Atlantic hurricane season. Cmdr. David Damstra said the ship wants to be…