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CNO Congratulates Boxer Sailors for Successful Deployment

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS070720-05
Release Date: 7/20/2007 11:49:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Jon Rasmussen, USS Boxer Public Affairs

ABOARD USS BOXER (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen visited USS Boxer (LHD 4) on July 19, as the ship returned from an ammunition offload off the coast of Southern California.

During his visit, Mullen spoke to the crew in the ship’s hangar bay where he congratulated them on completing their recent, twice-extended nine-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf.

“Your hard work, your sacrifice and your accomplishments are all a big deal to me and a big deal to a lot of people, and I am grateful for that,” said Mullen.

Mullen requested to meet with Boxer Sailors while in the San Diego area to personally thank them for their service and dedication during the deployment.

“I’m here to show you my appreciation for what you are doing in general,” said Mullen, “but more specifically for what you did during that really tough deployment you were on.”

Since Boxer’s return from deployment, nearly 100 new Sailors have reported for duty. For many, the CNO’s visit served as great motivation for their new duty assignment aboard Boxer.

“It gives me a lot of pride in Boxer that the highest ranking officer in the Navy came by to show his personal gratitude and appreciation for what this ship has been doing,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class (AW) Jason Callorina, a new Boxer Sailor.

After addressing the crew, Mullen gave Boxer Sailors an opportunity to ask him questions directly. He offered insight into a variety of topics ranging from safety of Navy families in military housing to dealing with individual augmentation deployments in dual-military families.

“I think it’s really cool that he came to talk with us to answer our questions and get input from the fleet on what is important to enlisted Sailors,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuels) 3rd Class (AW/SW) Rahim Panjwani.

Boxer is scheduled to enter an extensive maintenance period this fall, preparing the ship for future operations.