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USS Mesa Verde Arrives at Her New Homeport

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080126-01
Release Date: 1/26/2008 10:31:00 AM

By Journalist 3rd Class John Doe (for example)

NORFOL,K, VA JANUARY 28, 2008 (NNS) -- USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19), the Navy’s newest warship, arrived at her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia on December 21st, after being commissioned less than a week before in Panama City, Florida. A crowd of friends and family braved the cold to welcome the crew to their new home, while the crew “manned the rails” as the ship pulled into the pier at Naval Station Norfolk.

Sailors were excited to reunite with families after being separated for weeks and in some cases months. “We’ve been working hard to get the ship ready for commissioning and homecoming,” said ET3 Raoul Rodriguez, “and now that we’re home I can’t wait to spend some time with my family.”

Mesa Verde is the third ship of the San Antonio Class. She was constructed by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Pascagoula, Mississippi over a period of almost 5 years. While awaiting ship Delivery the crew trained, attended technical schools, and got underway on other warships to prepare to take possession of the ship. Even while in a pre-commissioned status, the ship completed multiple certifications, including Search and Rescue, Flight Deck, Force Protection, and Engineering Light-Off. Mesa Verde is on track to becoming a fully certified and deployable ship within the next few months, a truly remarkable feat and a testament to the work ethic and professionalism of the crew. Mesa Verde was also recognized with four of five CNO Flagship Community Service awards for 2007, and received Honorable mention for the BAINBRIDGE Award for outstanding community service.

Families watched Mesa Verde pull in one pier away from the flight deck of the USS San Antonio. Once the ship was moored families walked over to the ship to greet their loved ones. The brow was lowered, and the first sailor to depart was EMCS(SW) Robert Hill, whose wife was the winner of the “first kiss” raffle, which was conducted by the ship’s Family Readiness Group earlier that week. Families then came on board and were able to see first-hand where their loved ones had worked for the past few years.

Now that Mesa Verde has arrived at her homeport, her crew is continuing to work to increase their readiness and prepare their ship for anything 2nd Fleet may require of them. “Commissioning was a lot of fun and I was very proud of the ship and the crew,” said ENS Corey Johnson, “but now the party is over and it’s time to get down to business.”