(August 2012 photo by Nick Adams for WSB)
Eight months ago, the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis sailed past West Seattle. This Friday, we’ll see it again, since that’s the date announced for its return to its homeport, Bremerton, according to the Kitsap Sun.
Very cool. This past Wednesday I was visiting the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii during a vacation last week, and just as we arrived at the harbor the Stennis was pulling out of port there. Now I know where it was headed!
It stopped at San Diego to drop off some of the crews on board, and then headed up the coast.
Was this authorized for press release via the Navy? Generally speaking, publishing the whereabouts of a ship in advance is considered a violation of OPSEC.
Yes, if you follow the link, that’s who the Kitsap Sun cites. I’ve been working in Navy towns for the past 25 years and they generally announce the final legs of the deployment home. It was announced when the Stennis arrived in Hawaii, then when it arrived in San Diego, and now that it’s on the way back to Bremerton. I don’t have time to go re-find all the links but here are a couple:
.
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=73729
.
http://homeportnorthwest.com/2013/04/30/stennis-returning-home-from-eight-month-deployment/
Seriously the Stennis has its own Facebook page that continues to update their where abouts. Pretty sure the guy taking all the pictures & making status updates would have been masted or in the brigg if it was an issue to opsec.
Way to be defensive everyone! I was JUST asking. I said GENERALLY sharing whereabouts of a ship in advance is a violation of OPSEC. As a military spouse and family member I take my family’s safety seriously.
I recall this coming up recently with the same concern. I understand being alarmed but yeah, it was properly cited. Of course, it will come up again and again. I don’t recall that OPSEC was mentioned then but I’ll go look it up to understand more. :)
After San Diego they sometimes allow a Tiger Cruise where family can go aboard for the final leg to the Puget Sound. Would that not change the OPSEC SOP?
They’ve actually had a Tiger Cruise on this one since Hawaii – per the Stennis’s Facebook page. (I’ve been tracking this return a while)
@Philosurfy: By winging around lingo like “violation of OPSEC”, readers went on the defensive because of *you*. Clearly the other commenters here replied to assure us that they had their facts straight.
And in my case, as the site’s editor, having the facts straight is my business, and any error is very serious business, so on the occasions when someone asks if we’re sure something is correct or otherwise OK, we do our best to show the supporting evidence to assure them it is. (Or, if we screw up, which does happen on occasion, we admit it and fix it!) – Tracy
Actually, I read no ‘defensive’ in the responses following the opsec query. They were only responding to your insight.
We are actually at Bremerton Naval Base, in the BQ overlooking the slip where Stennis is scheduled to land this afternoon. I may not leave the window!
Sorry, comment time is over.
| 13 COMMENTS