Capt. Kevin P. Lenox is the new commanding officer of the USS Nimitz (CVN 68).
The change of command ceremony took place at 10 a.m. Jan. 12 aboard the carrier, in port at Naval Base Kitsap – Bremerton. Lenox succeeds Capt. John C. Ring. Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander Naval Air Forces, was the guest speaker.
Lenox became a naval aviator in October 1990. His tours of duty included two deployments with Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 8, one deployment with Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 4 in support of operation Iraqi Freedom, and a deployment to the Arabian Gulf with HS-7.
Lenox also provided aid and helicopter support for hurricanes Gustav and Ike, as well as Operation Tomodachi in response to the 2011 Japan Earthquake/Tsunami, according to Lt. Jennifer Cunningham, Nimitz assistant PAO.
Over 1,000 attend free movie for military families
BREMERTON — About 1,100 military family members attended a free showing of the animated film “Sing” on Jan. 7 at Seefilm Theater.
The lines stretched all of the way around the corner and down the block, and the theater had to open all 10 of its auditoriums to accommodate the crowds, according to Kendall McDaniel, a junior loan officer for Shane McGraw Team, a military mortgage specialist that co-sponsored the event along with McGraw Farmers Insurance Agency.
Shane McGraw is a retired disabled veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force, McDaniel said.
The event marked the eighth time the Shane McGraw Team has sponsored a free movie for military families; another free movie is planned this summer. McDaniel said the date and movie will be announced on the Shane McGraw Team Facebook page, and on www.kitsapmilitarygroup.com.
Two military teens semifinalists for $10,000 award
PORT ORCHARD — Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit serving America’s military families, reports it has chosen 90 semifinalists out of nearly 400 nominees for the 2017 Military Child of the Year Award. The award is open to military children ages 8 to 18 years.
The six Military Child of the Year Awards go to one military dependent from each of the services — Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard. The awardees will each receive $10,000, according to Aaron Taylor, senior director of media relations for Operation Homefront.
The Navy semifinalists include Akaiah Lovell, 15, of Port Orchard, and Britton Laing, 18, Silverdale.
The winners will be selected based on their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, and extracurricular involvements and will be flown to Washington, D.C., along with a parent or guardian, to receive the award. For more information go to www.military childoftheyear.org.
Cascade Warbirds offers aviation scholarships
SEATTLE — Cascade Warbirds reports that it has teamed with Galvin Flight Service at Boeing Field, Seattle, to provide eight scholarships for Private Pilot Ground School training for young people between the ages of 16 and 21.
Each scholarship, valued at $1,125, will cover tuition, books and supplies, and two introductory instructional flights. According to Cascade Warbirds, the ground school portion consists of about 55 hours divided among classroom lectures, visual presentations, group discussions, practical exercises, and field trips.
Classes generally meet two nights per week for two and one-half hours, and one Saturday per week for four hours, over a period of six weeks. Successful completion of the program will qualify a student to take the FAA Private Pilot Written Exam. The award also includes two instructional flights in a light aircraft.
Interested students, parents, and advisers should visit www.cascadewarbirds.org/scholarship.htm for the scholarship application. The deadline to apply is Feb. 28.
Navy Personnel Command offers live chat online
MILLINGTON, Tenn. — It just got easier for active duty, family members and retired service members to get information from Navy Personnel Command Center Service Center.
On Jan. 3, the center opened a live chat option on its website, www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/Pages/default.aspx. The service is available 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST, Monday through Friday.
Return to Cold War strategy for surface fleet
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy has released a new strategy for surface fleet warfare that reflects a return to Cold War thinking, according to a Jan. 9 article in the U.S. Naval Institute News.
The goal is a return to “the capability and capacity to impose localized control of the sea when and where it is required to enable other objectives and to hold out as long as necessary to accomplish those objectives,” reads the strategy.
Navy officials are reported to have said this reflects a return to an earlier Cold War strategy. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. surface fleet “had control of every square inch of ocean on the face of the earth,” the report said, and the emphasis was projecting U.S. military power whenever and wherever leaders decided it was needed.
Unchallenged power projection is no longer the case, because of the growth of other countries’ surface fleets and weapons capabilities.
“To that end, the strategy recommends four paths for investment — increase firepower of surface warships, support the Navy’s long-range shipbuilding plan and modernization strategy, improve battle space awareness, and improve learning in the surface forces,” the article said.
For other surface warfare news, you can also read the online Surface Warfare Magazine.
75 years ago …
BROWNSVILLE — Mr. and Mrs. Torger Thornton got good news recently in the form of a letter from their 20-year-old son whom they thought had perished in the Dec. 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor bombing. The letter was heavily censored, but enough content remained to determine that he had, indeed, survived the attack. — Jan. 16, 1942 Kitsap County Herald
