Palo Alto, CA – The US Navy Commander – Naval Air Forces – Pacific based at Naval Air Station North Island, near San Diego, California hosted a mix of 16 authors, bloggers and podcasters, including Guy Kawasaki, for 24-hour Distinguished Visitors embarkations to the USS Chester W. Nimitz (CVN-68) during May 29-30, and June 1-2, 2009.
The purpose of the Distinguished Visitors embarkations was to have these popular bloggers and podcasters explore and expand awareness of internet Navy Social Media usage such as blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, and specific social media websites such as Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Facebook-MySpace. They also gained exposure to daily news captured aboard ship via an onboard Navy television crew, and the editorial staff and reporters publishing and disseminating the Nimitz News magazine.
Participating authors, bloggers, and podcasters are the following: Guy Kawasaki, venture capitalist with Garage Technology Ventures and author of the book Reality Check; Bill Reichert, venture capitalist with Garage Technology Ventures, author, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations; Dennis Hall, blogger, author and founder of Avere Group; Carroll LeFon, retired Navy Captain, fighter pilot, and military blogger; Robert Scoble, blogger, journalist, and photographer;
Writes Guy Kawasaki, “All of us want to thank the crew of the Nimitz not only for the tour, but for how they are serving our country.” Explains Beth Blecherman “We heard about the interest that the Navy has in bridging the needs of those on the ship to communicate with the outside world.” Jennifer Jones podcast her interview of F-18 fighter pilot Lieutenant Luis Delgado regarding his career and the dynamics of Navy aviation, including landing his fighter jet at night on the aircraft carrier underway. Expresses Bill Reichert, “We all came away with a feeling of awe and respect for what the men and women on that ship do every day, not to mention what they must go through when they are deployed in a war zone. I think we all got bowled over by the humanity of the experience — as cool as the jets, the catapults, the wires, the guns were, the amazing part was the people.” Regarding her observations of Navy transparency Charlene Li writes, “This was the biggest take-away for me, the tremendous openness of the Navy. Open to us asking any question, engaging us in debates, and at the same time, steadfast in their belief of their mission, goals, and responsibilities. With that openness also came exceptional transparency, such as fighter pilots sharing their joy of flying, but also their naked, raw fear about night landings on a carrier deck.”
They flew to and from the USS Nimitz out of Naval Air Station North Island near San Diego, California. The embarkation required each participant to endure immense physical forces due to the abrupt landing they all endured together upon the flightdeck of the USS Nimitz aboard a Navy C-2 Greyhound twin-turboprop transport. All participants wore helmets and survival vests while restrained snugly with four-point harnesses in their seats to absorb and distribute the immense energy transfers. The C-2’s lowered tailhook snared the flightdeck’s arresting cable decelerating the group from about 180 nautical miles of airspeed to zero in about one second. Says Dennis Hall regarding the ‘trap’ or landing, “You feel like a pufferfish!” A day later, they braced in their seats as rapid acceleration from the ship’s steam catapult thrust them aboard a C-2 Greyhound down a short track. The accelerated from zero to about 140 nautical miles per hour in two seconds to attain flying airspeed for their forty minute flight back to Naval Air Station North Island.
Commanding Officer Captain Mike Manazir warmly and enthusiastically greeted and briefed the group following their landing and posed for a picture with each one. He invited them to join him after their lunch up on the ship’s bridge. There he explained operations from that vantage point high over the flightdeck while they observed crewmembers conducting underway operations such as steering and navigation.
Later at night, Rear Admiral John Miller, Commander of the Carrier Strike Group 11, met with and briefed the group on a variety of Navy Carrier Air Group matters ranging from national defense, humanitarian relief, and defending shipping lanes against pirates.
USS Nimitz Public Affairs Officers Lieutenant Commander Jason Salata and Lieutenant Junior Grade David Bennett and their support staff provided tours giving each participant a sensory glimpse into the world of Navy life and work at sea where women and men representing diversity of race, culture, and backgrounds serve together aboard ship and as flight crews. Among many other things the distinguished visitors witnessed and experienced was the following: coordinated, multiple-ship grouping, including submarines, for air and sea operations; several aircraft catapult launches from the waist and bow areas of the flightdeck; aircraft landings or ‘traps’ using their tailhooks at the stern’s arresting cables; up-close flightdeck operations; plus underway replenishment via another ship and using transfer lines and/or helicopters to ferry supplies from the supply ship to the aircraft carrier; and, the ship’s brig, or jail. The participants berthed for the night in two-occupant rooms.
The key on-line search words for the blogs and podcasts postings are Bloggers Embark.
