May 19, 2013 Vol. 39 No. 18

4GenerationsPage 4

Public Affairs OfficerLt. Cmdr. Karin BurzynskiMedia Division OfficerLt. Jason Scarborough

Media LCPOMCC (SW/AW) Mike JonesMedia Production Chief

MCC (SW) Gregory RobertsMedia LPO

MC1 (AW/SW) Michael ColeEditor

MC2 (SW) Jason Behnke Lead Designer

MCSA Andrew Price

Nimitz News accepts submissions in writing. All submissions must be in by Friday, COB. Submissions are subject to review and screening. “Nimitz News” is an authorized publication for the members of the military services and their families. Its content does not necessarily reflect the official views of the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy, or the Marine Corps and does not imply endorsement thereby.

Commanding OfficerCapt. Jeff S. RuthExecutive Officer

Capt. Buzz DonnellyCommand Master Chief

Master Chief Teri M. McIntyre

Media DepartmentMC2 (SW) Jacquelyn Childs

MC2 Ashley BerumenMC2 (SW) Robert Winn

MC2 (SW) Andrew JandikMC2 (SW/AW) Glenn Slaughter

MC2 (SW) Nichelle BishopMC3 (SW) Renée L. Candelario

MC3 (SW) Ryan MayesMC3 Shayne Johnson

MC3 Jacob MilnerMC3 (SW) Devin Wray

MC3 Christopher BartlettMC3 George J Penney III

MC3 Raul MorenoMC3 (SW) Alexander Ventura II

MC3 Linda S. SwearingenMC3 (SW) Jess Lewis

MC3 W. J. CousinsMC3 Derek Volland

MC3 Phillip LadouceurMCSN (SW) Sam Souvannason

MCSN Kole CarpenterMCSN Derek Harkins

MCSN Nathan McDonaldMCSN Joshua Haiar

MCSA Aiyana Paschal MCSA Kelly Agee

MCSA Victoria Ochoa

Deck PlatesAround

THE

BMSN Chelsea Smith stands aft lookout.

MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters maneuver over the Pacific Ocean.

AOAN Maurice Ford passes word over a sound powered phone.

Hull Maintenance Technician Seaman Chase W. Olson performs corrective maintenance on a fan cool unit.

Photos ByMCSA Victoria Ochoa (Top)

MCSA Andrew Price (Middle)MC3 (SW) Devin Wray (Bottom Left)MC3 Raul Moreno (Bottom Right)

There are many Sailors currently serving in the Navy who have had a least one member of their family serve in the military. Maybe they had a grandfather who served for a short time during WWII or an uncle who was called to service during Vietnam.

For some families, however, following in the footsteps of their forefathers’ military service has become a family tradition and part of not only their honor, but also their courage and commitment to defending and preserving the American way of life.

Twenty-three-year-old Aviation Maintenance Administrationman 2nd Class Mason Nichols, a Sailor on board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), comes from a long line of family serving in the Navy.

Nichols, a native of Seneca, S.C., is a fourth generation Sailor. His great-grandfather, three grandfathers, father, brother and himself have all served as Sailors in the Navy for the past 69 years, almost continuously since WWII.

“I’ve been in the Navy for three years,” said Nichols. “I joined when I was 20 years old because I didn’t want to continue with college and wanted to start a career. The military was the right route for me. I never thought of joining any other branch except for the Navy. I wanted to travel and have my college paid for. At the time I joined I needed maturity and respect. I thought the Navy could give me that.”

When Nichols was five years old and his brother was seven years old, they were adopted by the Nichols family. Dwayne Nichols, their father, had just finished a ten-year service in Navy as an Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class only a few years prior to adopting the two boys.

“My dad really liked being in the Navy,” said Nichols. “He joined after high school when he was 18 years old and served from 1982 to 1992. While he was in the Navy he got his Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Management and when he got out he continued his education by obtaining a Master’s degree in Business.”

During Dwayne’s time in the Navy, he obtained his wings and as part of an aircrew traveling all over the world performing aviation electronic technician work in H-3 helicopters and P-3 aircraft. His squadron, HS-15, took him to two ships: the USS Independence (CV-62) and the USS Forrestal (CV-59). Dwayne served in VP-45, as well as being designated as a master training specialist during his time in the Navy, training aviation electronics technicians.

In addition to working in the aviation field, Nichols and his father had another thing in common during their time in the Navy.

“He was also stationed in Jacksonville and we were stationed in the same hangar just at different times,” said Nichols.

Dwayne made rank quickly during his time in the Navy going from E-1 to E-6 in six years. He was also awarded the Coast Guard Special Operations ribbon during his service, which is rarely awarded to Navy personnel.

“My dad tells me all the time that he is very proud to have both my brother and I in the Navy,” said Nichols. “I joined first, then my brother joined when I was in DEP [Delayed Entry Program]. Now that I’m in the Navy I feel honored to follow in my family’s naval tradition.”

Mason’s brother, Lt. j.g. Justin Nichols, is currently a helicopter pilot stationed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Mayport, Fla., attached to squadron Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 40, flying MH-60Rs.

“He came in under the BDCP [baccalaureate degree completion program] officer program about three years ago during his junior year in college and he chose [to work in] aviation,” said Nichols. “There were only two applicants selected for the BDCP program in the state of South Carolina that year, and my brother was one of them. I was very proud of him and glad that he was selected once he graduated college. Later he moved to Pensacola, Fla. to do his aviation flight training, while I was stationed at [Fleet Readiness Center Southeast] FRCSE in NAS Jacksonville, Fla., and we were able to see each other.”

According to Nichols, it is a personal goal for him and his brother to be stationed together eventually at the same command or at the very least at the same base so they can see each other more often.

Although Nichols and his brother were adopted, they still kept in contact with members of their biological family, including their biological grandfather, retired Chief Petty Officer Rodney Powers, who is now deceased.

4Generations

Story and photo by MC3 Linda S. Swearingen

“

“My biological grandpa on my biological mother’s side was a chief petty officer,” said Nichols. “Before he made chief he was a gunner’s mate who worked in aviation. He was stationed on the Kittyhawk, the Lexington and the Enterprise and was also a member of the aircrew.”

In addition to his biological grandfather being in the Navy, Nichols’ mother’s father, retired Aviation Structural Mechanic (Handling) 1st Class William E. Bowman, and his father’s step-father, Machinist Mate 3rd Class Roy J. Vehorn, also served in the Navy.

“That man [Bowman] loved the Navy,” said Nichols. “He was enlisted for 24 years and served during both WWII, Korea and Vietnam. At first he came in as a tail gunner on a SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber during WWII. That’s where he was awarded his Purple Heart, after his aircraft returned to the ship with many bullet holes and he and his pilot crashlanded on the deck. Unfortunately the pilot did not survive. After WWII Bowman was honorably discharged from the Navy. However, when the Korean conflict started, he was called back and was designated as an Aviation Structural Mechanic. At that point he chose to stay in and make it a career. He retired in 1968. During his career he served on the USS Essex (CV-9), 83rd Construction Battalion in Pearl Harbor, 96th Construction Battalion in Tykuh, China, USS Hector (AR-7), USS Jason (APH-1), USS Brass Canyon (AF-36) and with squadrons VP-40, VP-31, VF-174, HS-9 and VC-4.

After Bowman retired from the Navy, according to Nichols, he became very religious. He went on to become a church pastor and pastored several churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. Bowman passed away in 2003.

“My grandpa was a great Sailor and a great guy all around,” said Nichols. “He flew not only the American flag, but the Navy flag in his front yard until he died.”

Machinist Mate 3rd Class Roy J. Vehorn, Nichols’ father’s step-father also served in the Navy during WWII and received the WWII Victory Medal for his service from 1944 to 1945. He served on board the USS Wharton (AP-7).

“He [Vehorn] loved the Navy,” said Nichols. “Everything in his house was Navy related and he went to annual get-togethers with his friends that he was stationed with on USS Wharton until he died. Everyone on that ship stayed in contact with one another throughout the years. There was so many letters [my grandfather] had from all the guys he served with on that ship from over the years. He told me countless stories about his port calls, but none of which can be repeated. He had a lot of fun during his time in the Navy.”

In addition to his brother, his father and three grandfathers serving in the Navy, Nichols’ great-grandfather is also a military veteran.

Seaman 1st Class [E-3 today] Eli R. Layne, Nichols’ father’s grandfather, also served in the Navy during WWII from 1944 - 1945 and was awarded the WWII Victory Medal.

Besides Layne and Vehorn, every male in Nichols’ family who has served in the Navy, served in the aviation field and Nichols is proud to continue not only his family’s naval tradition, but their aviation tradition as well.

“There’s a long line of my family being in the Navy, mostly in aviation and there’s a lot of pride,” said Nichols. “We’re all proud of each other and our naval service.”

He flew not only the American flag but the Navy flag in his front yard until he died. “ ”

SoYou’reTAD?

Story and photo by MCSN Nathan R. McDonald

It’s a reality many junior Sailors dread and an eventuality each has to live with: Temporary Assigned Duty (TAD). While it’s easy to dwell on the negative aspects

of being sent TAD, it can offer experiences and possibilities outside of one’s rate.

Aviation Support Equipment Technician Air-man Bo Melendez, of San Antonio, Texas, was sent TAD to Security immediately after the air-craft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) departed San Diego following its Sustainment Training Exer-cise. While he was ambivalent about being sent TAD at first, he has grown to see its benefits.

“My Chief called me into his office and said he had to send me TAD and that was that,” said Melendez. “It was whatever for me. I like my job, but it’s nice to have a change of pace, too.”

Melendez remained philosophical about his new work.

“Security has its ups and downs, like any other

job on board,” he said. “I was just starting to get really into my job, but in security I’m learning stuff outside my job and meeting new people.”

Melendez has taken the pros and cons in stride, find-ing a positive aspect of his work for each hurdle it has presented.

“Meeting new people and doing new things is the best part of the job,” said Melendez. “Being away from my division and falling behind in qualifications is the most challenging part. Even though it’s more difficult to stay on top of my qualifications, it seems easier to work on my ESWS (Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) qualifi-cation.”

Fireman Michelle Jasinski, of Southampton, Mass., and Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Apprentice Caroline Leach, of Denton, Texas, were sent TAD as food service attendants.

“When I found out I was going, I was disappointed and excited at the same time,” said Jasinski. “I was start-ing to get used to my shop, but at the same time it’s kind of like a little vacation from your division.”

Like Melendez, both Leach and Jasinski said they en-joyed the social aspect of their temporary jobs.

“Seeing everyone’s faces and getting to know every-one is nice,” said Leach. “You get to know the entire ship.”

“The people here are really awesome, and I’ve made a couple of good friends,” said Jasinski.

The long hours required in the galley pose a challenge for Jasinski and Leach.

“The hardest part is waking up in the morning because we work such long days, and you never really get a break except to eat,” said Jasinski. “Whenever I wake up in the morning I just want to sleep a little bit longer.”

“The worst part about the job is when you’re scrub-bing dishes at the end of the day, and you look up and see a whole pile of dishes,” said Leach. “They just keep coming.”

The TAD Sailors offered advice for those being sent TAD, as well.

“Don’t complain about it,” said Melendez. “Everyone has to do it. Take it as a new experience and a chance to meet new people and do things outside of your rate.”

Leach stressed the importance of time management and maintaining a positive attitude.

“Work hard at whatever you do,” she said. “Make time to do the things you want like working out. If you work hard good things will come to you.”

Story by MC3Linda S. Swearingen

One Sailor’s journey to Iraq and back

An assignment to Individual Augmentee (IA) usually means big change and requires being able to adapt to challenging environments. One Sailor on board the

aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) stepped out of his comfort zone and recently returned to tell the tale.

Thirty-three-year-old Electrician’s Mate (EM) 1st Class Jovi C. Canoy, of Pearl City, Hawaii, recently returned to Nimitz after being IA in Iraq for one year.

“I volunteered to go IA to Iraq because I wanted to experience something different in my naval career,” said Canoy.

Canoy had been in the Navy for 11 years before he had the opportunity to go IA.

“I joined in April 2001 to get off the island [Hawaii] and to see more of the world,” said Canoy.

His first duty station was in Pearl Harbor on board the USS Salvor where he stayed for five years.

After his first sea duty tour, Canoy was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan for three years of shore duty before he reported on board Nimitz in May 2010.

“I left the Nimitz to go IA in February 2012 to Ft. Jackson, S.C., which is an army base for three weeks of combat training,” said Canoy. “Then I went straight to Kuwait for processing with a group of Navy personnel to be a part of the joint services in Iraq.”

His IA billet in Iraq was for Senior Electronics Electrical Trainer to the Iraqi navy. During his time in Iraq, Canoy helped the Iraqi navy train on various things such as basic seamanship, how to use crew serve weapons, tactical movements, navigation and engineering.

“At first it was a little chaotic because they didn’t have a training program, but we helped them [Iraqi navy] to establish a training program while I was there,” said Canoy. “I think we did a good job helping the Iraqi navy with becoming better at maintaining their equipment and helping them train.”

According to Canoy, while he was IA in Iraq, he participated in helping the Iraqi navy conduct mine warfare exercises with the U.S. Navy, which was the first time the exercises had been conducted since the troops left in Iraq in 2011.

“Some of the Iraqi navy went to the U.S. Navy ships and vice versa to do training exercises on each other’s ship,” said Canoy. “I got to go on the Iraqi ships to do training with their personnel almost daily.”

Being stationed in Iraq also allowed Canoy the opportunity to interact with some of the locals which was a highlight of his time being IA in Iraq.

“We weren’t allowed to go off the base, but we did get to interact with some of the Iraqi nationals that worked on the base,” said Canoy. “There was a language barrier, but we taught each other a bit of each other’s language.”

Canoy returned to Nimitz in February 2013 and says he is adjusting well to being back on board and easing back into the job he did before he went IA.

“I’ve been able to slip back into my sea legs and get back to what I did on board before I left,” said Canoy. “There haven’t been any major differences since I came back. I work with the same people who were here when I left and the command has been very supportive.”

#4Finance

PlanSpending

A FUN AND EASY GUIDE BY CDR. MATTHEW MILLER

N33/N35 SUB OPS/FUTURE PLANS

This article focuses on creating and managing a spending plan.

This is also known as “budgeting,” however, the word budget generally has a negative connotation and sounds restrictive. Planning how you spend your money is actually a really good thing and should reduce stress and make you feel good. It’s also really easy if you decide you want to do it. I’m happy to send an excel spreadsheet that has already done a lot of the hard work. Just use and edit for your own purposes.Before I summarize what you should do, I want to dispel two myths about spending plans / budgeting:

Myth 1 – Everyone needs to have a spending plan

If you are already living within your means (i.e., you do NOT carry a balance month to month on a credit card) AND you are doing the following:• Maximizing your 401(k)or TSP contribution ($17,000) • Maximizing your IRA contributions ($5,000 for Traditional/Roth IRAs) • Have 3-6 months in emergency savings (based on your total monthly income/expenses) • Routinely pay for non-recurring expenses like vacations, semi-annual insurance premiums, Christmas presents, etc. out of your current income or save up for them ahead of time

….then you don’t need to have a spending plan. You can certainly still create one and maybe you’ll be able to increase your non-retirement savings and investments, but you don’t need to create and manage a plan. You are already ‘paying yourself first’ and living within your means which is the ultimate goal of a spending plan.

Myth 2 – You should not blow any of your money on frivolous purchases

You absolutely should allocate a portion of your money to spending on whatever you want – things like grande lattes, extra pairs of shoes, expensive hand bags, video games, etc. If you do not allow yourself room to do this, it will be very difficult to psychologically maintain your spending plan. The key is to stay within whatever amount you end up allocating for these types of purchases.

MYTH 1 – Everyone needs to have a spending plan –

THIS IS NOT TRUE MYTH 2 – You should not blow any of your money on frivolous purchases – THIS IS NOT TRUE

Mathematical Fact

Action

Spending Plan BasicsAll a spending plan really does is help you plan

out ahead of time where you are going to spend your money as opposed to just letting it happen to you. Basically, you just need to do three things:

1. Write down how much money you make each month (Net take home pay, NOT gross income) 2. Write down all your recurring MONTHLY expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, savings, car payment, parking, entertainment, eating out, grocery store, etc.) 3. Write down your non-recurring expenses (insurance premiums, Christmas presents, vacations, estimate for car repairs, etc.) and convert them to a monthly dollar amount (e.g., if you spend $1,200 at Christmas, then you should have a spending line for Christmas that is $100/month)

Something that is generally very eye opening for most people is comparing how you THINK you spend your money each month to how you ACTUALLY spend your money each month. I challenge each of you to take the a month and write down where every dollar goes (may be easier while on deployment, but you get the gist). This is a pain in the butt, but it can be extremely enlightening. I suspect you will be very surprised where the money actually goes.

• Take your information from steps 1 to 3 above and put it into Microsoft Excel (you can also use software like Quicken or Microsoft Money), but my personal preference is Excel. I send a template you can use to do this (the dollar amounts are just placeholders, so use whatever is right for you and also change around the categories

to suit your situation). • Keep track of where you spend your money. It will take a couple months to get to where you can predict and more appropriately assign dollar amounts to the categories, but that is normal and O.K. • If you are living beyond your means (i.e., your spending exceeds your income), you need to stop doing this as soon as possible. You are most likely paying exorbitant interest rates on your credit cards and are short changing your own future. If you plan to live beyond your means for an extended period of time, then financial freedom becomes very difficult to attain and you definitely don’t need to read most of these emails (unless they motivate you to change).

I have two good mathematical facts – both related to compounding interest.

1. To approximate how long it will take you to double your money from a one time investment, divide 72 by the annual return (this works for annual returns between 1% and 20%). For example, if you earn 1% per year, it wall take approximately 72 years to double your money (72 divided by 1), 5% per year takes approximately 14 years (72 divided by 5), 10% per year takes approximately 7 years (72 divided by 10), and 20% takes just under 4 years to double your money (72 divided by 20). 2. If you start with 1 cent, and are able to double your money each day, how much will day 31 be worth? Answer - $10.7 million. Holy smokes. It’s not reasonable to think you can find an investment that will double your money every day, but the mathematical truth is the interest you receive over time starts off slowly, then explodes in your favor.

After the StormStory by MC3 Phillip Ladouceur

December 8The Next Day

That morning, many of the assumptions that Americans had about the military capabilities of the Empire of Japan

were gone. For the public, the actions of Japan had seemed far away. For many involved with the Navy, the belief that the battleship ruled the sea was shown to be untrue.Adm. Chester Nimitz had only three carriers in the Pacific. The aircraft carrier USS Lexington had been scheduled to be in Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, but had been delayed because one of the destroyers in her task force had tangled wire in her propeller. The happy accident had prevented her probable destruction and given Nimitz one more piece on the chessboard.Among the Allies, it was decided that Nazi Germany would be the first strategic priority. So in the months before the Battle of Coral Sea, the United States was on the defensive in the Pacific. The plan was simple: hold onto Hawaii, support Allied efforts in Australia and Southeast Asia, and maintain the lines of communication and supply.To carry this out, Nimitz decided to use his three carriers offensively. Instead of stationing them in a static line to defend the area around Australia, he used them to attack Japanese land bases in the Pacific to disrupt their logistics.Lexington, and the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown, attacked Japanese bases in the South Pacific. For some islands, the most recent available charts were from 1840. There was no GPS, no spy satellites. Weather forecasts were primitive. But the Americans did have one technological innovation that the Japanese not only didn’t have, but also didn’t know about.

Path to War

When the Lexington raided Rabaul, New Guinea, the Japanese responded by launching land-based two-engine

bombers. This was an important part of their strategy for the war, creating a defensive perimeter of airfields

There was pressure from both America’s allies and the American public to avenge the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In the early months of 1942, a plan was quietly prepared to do just that. In March the newly built Essex-class carrier Hornet had gone from Norfolk, Va., to San Diego, Calif., where her commanding officer was told that he would be taking several Army B-25 Mitchell bombers,

“Shangri La”

The Doolittle Raid

throughout the Pacific Ocean, using these bombers to attack any American forces moving through.But thanks to radar, the Lexington was able to get 27 planes in the air to confront 17 planes in two separate waves. The first wave consisted of nine bombers, and they were swarmed by the Americans and all shot down. One bomber tried to hit the Lexington as it fell from the sky, an awful omen of the kamikaze attacks that would come later in the war.When the second wave arrived, only one American plane had enough fuel and ammunition left. Lt. Edward “Butch” O’Hare attacked, with as many as 24 gunners on the eight planes shooting at him. He managed to shoot down three planes, cripple two, and was credited with five kills. He was the first American ace of the war, and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is named for him.Carrier attacks in the Pacific in the first few months of the war impacted not only Japanese shipping, but also their decision making. It was decided that there was a need for carrier support in their operations in the South Pacific, which led to the confrontation at Coral Sea.

In the United States, the raid was a morale boost. There was intense speculation as to how the planes had crossed the Pacific, but the true story was kept secret for more than a year. Reporters asked President Franklin Roosevelt where the planes had taken off from.“Shangri-La,” he said, referencing a hidden city in a popular novel. It would later become the name of one of the new Essex-class carriers.

The Doolittle Raid did nothing to hinder Japan’s ability to wage war. The damage was minimal. But though

the Japanese publicly played down the significance of the raid, the fact the Americans had been able to strike Tokyo had alarmed them. Combined with the way the American carriers were disrupting Japanese shipping, it helped create strong backing for Yamamoto’s daring plan to destroy America’s remaining carriers.And just as radar was helping the carriers spot the enemy through greater distance than the eye could see, the code breakers at Station Hypo in Hawaii were helping Nimitz spot the enemy’s moves in the future. In the days after the Battle of Coral Sea, Lt. Cmdr. Joe Rochefort began putting together the fragments and clues that let him guess the location of the final showdown.

Consequences

planes that had never been intended to be flown from a flight deck, across the Pacific to attack Tokyo. Led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle, a former flight instructor and stunt pilot who also had a Ph.D. from MIT, the 17th Bomb Group had received training from a Navy instructor on how to fly their bombers from a very short runway. But it wasn’t until March 20, when 16 B-25s were loaded by crane onto the Hornet at Alameda, that the pilot’s suspicions regarding their mission were confirmed. Meeting up with the Enterprise, the two ships came under the command of Adm. William Halsey and were designated Task Force 16. Maintaining radio silence, they made their way toward Tokyo.Early on the morning of April 18, Enterprise’s radar detected a surface contact. As close as they were to Japan, it could only be an unfriendly ship. When planes were sent up at first light, they soon came back, dropping a message around a beanbag onto the deck of the Enterprise, maintaining radio silence. “Believed seen by enemy,” it said.

The ship was a picket boat, ordered out by Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto to provide early warning. One of the

task force’s destroyers sank it and another picket boat, but not before they had sent several messages back to Japan. There was only one thing to do.“Launch planes. To Col. Doolittle and his gallant command, good luck and God bless you,” Halsey said through a blinkered message.Seas were rough and the carriers were well outside of the range they had hoped for, but all the bombers made it up safely. Task Force 16 turned around back to Hawaii.The planes made their way all the way to Tokyo without resistance. Ignored by the military and waved at by civilians who mistook them for Japanese planes, they dropped their bombs and flew off toward China, where they planned on landing. None of the planes made it to the airfields in China. Most of the aircrews bailed out. Of the 80 raiders, seventy-three eventually made it home. Some were killed in crashes, and others executed by the Japanese. Four survived internment in a POW camp for the remainder of the war.

Adm. Chester Nimitz

A+Dentistry

Story and photo by MC3 Linda S. Swearingen

The Dental Department on board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) received a 96.75 percent score on a recent Dental Readiness

Inspection (DRI).DRI’s are conducted once every 18 months or

90 – 120 days prior to any major deployment. It provides a command with information on how to improve dental care, increase dental readiness and better the health of the crew.

“It was supposed to be a two day inspection, but it was completed in one day due to how well prepared we were for the inspection,” said Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Felix Q. Arca, of Virginia Beach, Va., Nimitz’ Dental Department leading petty officer.

The inspection consisted of verifying dental records that were chosen at random by the inspectors against the computer system used in the Dental Department called Dental Common Access System (DENCAS), checking the proper protective equipment (PPE) throughout the department, Material Maintenance Management (3M), the overall cleanliness of the Dental Department spaces, dental equipment and verifying the expiration dates on all the dental supplies.

“The inspectors also test the Sailors [on their] level of knowledge by asking them questions about the areas of their expertise and they have to go through a step-by-step process on the part

of their job that they specialize in,” said Chief Hospital Corpsman Marvin T. Ramos, of San Diego, Nimitz’ Dental Department leading chief petty officer.

According to Ramos, Nimitz’ Dental Department only had a three week notice before the inspection was supposed to take place, but despite the short notice they were able to still score high on the inspection due to the proficiency of the Sailors that work in his department.

“There were some recommendations made from the last DRI that we had to work on and we had already addressed those issues, so we were already ready for the inspection,” said Ramos.

These words of praise for the Sailors who work in Nimitz’ Dental Department were echoed by Arca.

“It was a team effort,” said Arca. “Everyone worked hard to make sure everything was ready for the inspection. Our goal was to get a flying colors score and we got it. The junior Sailors worked hard to make sure that everything was clean. We have a great team in dental. We didn’t do anything different than we normally do. All the junior Sailors spearheaded our passing this inspection with flying colors. They always work hard every day. I never have to tell them to do something, they just do it.”

Cover Photo by MC3 Linda S. Swearingen