THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040427
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Call her the ``John C. Stennis,'' or even ``JCS'' for short. But don't reduce her name to just ``Stennis.''
That's not fitting to her namesake, the retired Mississippi senator and Armed Services Committee chairman who served in Congress from 1947 to 1989, during which the Navy acquired 16 aircraft carriers.
``The name on the fantail is John C. Stennis, and that's what we call her,'' said Capt. Robert C. Klosterman, the prospective commanding officer of the nation's budding aircraft carrier.
Under construction since March 13, 1991, when its keel was laid, the carrier is less than a year from being commissioned And Klosterman and his growing crew are entering 1995 on the run.
``It's going to be a busy year,'' Klosterman said as he rattled off the milestones facing his new $3.5 billion ship, now 88 percent complete.
It was moved Dec. 29 from the outfitting pier to Pier 2 at Newport News Shipbuilding, where it will receive its finishing touches and systems checks.
In March it will begin lobbing 50-ton sleds into the James River to test its steam-driven catapults.
The 3,000-member crew, which numbers less than 1,200 today and includes 241 women, is scheduled to move aboard in June.
A major test of all systems is scheduled for Oct. 2.
On Oct. 24 it will face its first builder's trials, steaming on its own out of Chesapeake Bay and into the Atlantic.
Then, in a Veterans Day ceremony Nov. 11, the ship will be formally turned over to the Navy. It was christenedNov. 11, 1993.
Commissioning is set for Dec. 2 at Norfolk Naval Station.
``Like I said, 1995 is going to be a busy year,'' said Klosterman.
``As we keep saying all year, we'll never be this small again,'' added Command Master Chief Rick Tick, the senior enlisted service member aboard.
One of Tick's responsibilities is to keep track of his growing crew and he is looking forward to the day when they are all in one spot.
For now, the 1,150 or so are attending training schools as far away as Colorado and California. Some are at St. Juliens Creek in Portsmouth, at Cheatham Annex near Williamsburg, Norfolk Naval Station and Newport News.
Forty-five served aboard the carrier George Washington during the last phase of its six-month overseas deployments. Other crew members have served with their counterparts on carriers throughout the fleet.
Two mess cooks currently are aboard a submarine, learning their trade.
``We heard submariners have pretty good food, so we wanted to give it a look,'' Klosterman said.
For possibly the first time in modern naval history, a significant number of the crew is being housed at an Army base.
``It has never been done before,'' said Tick, noting that a barracks at Fort Eustis was turned over to the crew earlier in the year and another is about to be dedicated.
Single crew members also are living in a former high school in Newport News called Huntington Hall. ILLUSTRATION: U.S. NAVY
The aircraft carrier John C. Stennis is moved from the outfitting
pier to Pier 2 at Newport News Shipbuilding, where it will receive
its finishing touches and systems checks.
by CNB