• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

JFK To Make Pensacola Port Visit

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS040311-10

Release Date: 3/12/2004 10:02:00 AM

From Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) will make a four-day port visit to Pensacola, Fla., starting March 17.

The ship will be open to the public for general visiting.

"Pensacola is a great Navy city that, over the years, has been central to naval training. We are extremely pleased to be able to have the JFK visit Pensacola," said Vice Adm. Gary Roughead, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet/NATO Striking Fleet Atlantic.

The arrival of John F. Kennedy, commanded by Capt. Ronald H. Henderson Jr., marks the first visit to Pensacola for an aircraft carrier since June 2000, when USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and its crew pulled in for a brief stop during carrier qualifications. This much-deserved port visit will give the more than 5,000 JFK Sailors a chance to relax after taking part in the Carrier Strike Group's (CSG) Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX).

COMPTUEX is an intermediate level exercise designed to forge the strike group into a cohesive fighting team, and is a critical step in pre-deployment training.

"The strike group training we are able to accomplish in the Gulf of Mexico and in Florida is absolutely vital to preparing our naval forces for combat operations in support of the war on terrorism or any other tasking that may come our way," said Roughead.

During COMPTUEX, more than a dozen ships and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 17, embarked aboard John F. Kennedy, conducted war game exercises using training ranges along the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico. The exercise took advantage of existing ranges under the Navy's comprehensive Training Resource Strategy. These ranges offer training facilities and realistic simulations, better preparing U.S. Navy ships and Sailors to participate in the global war on terrorism.

"The global war on terrorism continues, but under the new Fleet Response Plan and with the effective training we provide our men and women, we are ready to carry out any mission assigned," said Roughead.