NAVAL AIR STATION LEMOORE (KMJ) – Families waited for their loved ones – some 900 sailors from four strike fighter squadrons and Fleet Readiness Center’s Sea Operations Detachment returned to Naval Air Station Lemoore on August 9th.
The Naval crew were on a seven-month deployment as part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 onboard the USS John C. Stennis, participating in a number of exercises; training, integrating and building capacity with allies in the Indo-Asia Pacific region.
The CVW-9 pilots, naval flight officers, and F/A-18 Super Hornets from the “Tophatters” of Strike Fighter Squadron 14, “Black Aces” of VFA-41, “Warhawks” of VFA-97, and “Vigilantes” of VFA-151 return to the air station to meet with their families, anticipating their arrival.
Commander Marcos Jasso (seen above left) arrived back to meet with his wife and son, saying that one this day he was celebrating 27 years of service in the Navy
Over the course of the deployment, The Stennis underwent 30 replenishments at sea, received 700,000 lbs. of mail and served 3,780,00 meals; while CVW-9 successfully flew 10,295 sorties.
Stennis participated in Rim of the Pacific 2016 where twenty-six nations, 40 ships and submarines, 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel engaged from June 30 to August 4th, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.
The world’s largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s oceans.
RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971.
