USS Hopper Celebrates Mid-Deployment
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS080216-01
Release Date: 2/16/2008 7:04:00 AM
By Ensign Katie Burkhart, Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group Public Affairs
MIDDLE EAST (NNS) -- After three months at sea, guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70), homeported in Pearl Harbor, celebrated its half-way day, symbolically marking the midpoint of their deployment.
"It was a really great opportunity for the crew to have fun and celebrate being half-done with deployment," said Ensign Sarah Mora, Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) officer.
One of the day's festivities included a silent auction, which advertised such prizes as having the executive officer or command master chief clean their spaces, lunch in the captain's cabin or breakfast in the executive officer's chair on the bridge.
The highlight of the holiday was the "pie-in-the-face" auction. Four days prior to the celebration, the crew placed votes for their "favorite" officer or chief to have a pie thrown in their face. Ten members of Hopper's wardroom and chief petty officer mess were selected to get "pied" during the steel beach. The bidding for the pie-thrower was conducted on the spot, with bids reaching as high as $450 for the executive officer.
"We had a great turnout for the voting and the event, and I think everyone really got a kick out of it," said Mora.
Proceeds from the pie-throwing go to the MWR fund, which provides entertainment, competitions, and prizes for Sailors both in port and at sea.
Hopper is currently operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility and is focused on reassuring regional partners of the Coalition's commitment to help set conditions for security and stability. U.S. Forces maintain a naval and air presence in the region that deters destabilizing activities while safeguarding the region's vital links to the global economy.
For more news from the Tarawa Expeditionary Strike Group, visit www.news.navy.mil/local/tarawaesg/.
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