Samuri CICO Goes Site Seein’ in the S. Pacific
Was around March (?) ’92 and CAG 5 was headed for Down Under (on the way to the Gulf for 6 months) thanks to GHWB’s promise to send a CV to help mark the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Choral Sea - tough duty but someone’s gotta do it.
 I was a newly minted mission commander (CICO) and as we were headin’ south I was on for my first at-sea hop as CICO with a full JO crew – you know this means trouble. Launch and the 1st cycle were uneventful. While we were waiting for the second launch we decided to go down and do some site seeing among all the pretty little islands, sand bars, etc. that we were seeing all around. Good, clean fun – in an E2, even!
 So we head down and the water’s crystal clear, the sand’s white, and we happen upon a couple of locals fishing in an atoll. So we drop down low(er) to extend greetings from Uncle Sam. Flew pretty much right over them – waggled the wings, had a good chuckle. Eventually I had to end the fun and get us back up on station to play with the second cycle.
 When we get back I’m walking down the passage towards the Ready Room and I pass the XO, looking rather grim on his way to Ops. He asked if we’d done any “site seeing” today. “Well…maybe a little.” He then said that someone had buzzed a couple of natives and scared the bejesus out of them, and said natives actually had a phone # to the State Department. I believe I mentioned something about it being only one pass and waggling the wings. Our pass certainly couldn’t have shook them up so bad that they felt they had to call Washington. The XO went on to Ops and I sat in the Ready Room wondering how to explain to the Skipper and CAG what I was doing buzzing the locals on my first hop as a mission commander.
Some time later the XO came back and reportedthat the incident involved a Tomcat that pretty much did what we had done, but he’d pulled vertical and popped a couple of flares for show – the natives thought they were being bombed. Whew.
That pretty much put an end to the site seeing.
 But Australia was a great time. Thanks, George.
Posted by Brian
On March 18th, 2007 under Sea Stories.
Comments: 5
Comments
Comment from Skippy-san
Time: March 19, 2007, 4:43 am
Australia….. 
Just treat the women with the manners your mother taught you…….and life was grand!
At least that was the way it used to be……back before it became a sin to have fun…AND you have to have a liberty buddy.
Comment from doorkeeper
Time: March 19, 2007, 7:14 am
great story, thanks!
doorkeeper
Comment from Steeljaw Scribe
Time: March 20, 2007, 3:20 am
Perth — one of the reasons Jimmy Carter and Iran/Iraq will forever remain on my sh*t list. For several months IKE had been parked off the coast of Iran doing – “presence” ops (this was post-Desert One, which we were supposed to have carried out). Other than a 3-day’er in Singapore we had not felt terra firma under our feet since April. Perth was next on the list — a full, glorious week w/our Aussie buds and for a good month prior we had been receiving letters (not email, good old fashioned, perfumed letters) from the young lasses of Perth addressed to “Any Sailor USS EISENHOWER” You get the picture (and some of us got the Kodachromes).
Well, the night before we were to leave station, ol’ Saddam decided to go to war with Iran. Long story short, Perth was cnx’d by Carter (it went that far up the line) and we started Operation Rawhide the next day (future posting).
IKE was offered first Karachi then Mombassa as recompense for Perth (yeah right…). The crew made it plainly known at that point we’d rather skip those two garden spots if it meant we’d be home for Christmas and set the post-WW2 record for most time at sea (subsequently broken by Lincoln, IIRC, during OIF). Total days underway for IKE in 1980: 347…
- SJS
Comment from Skippy-san
Time: March 20, 2007, 9:35 am
Operation Rawhide probably consisted of boring holes in the sky to make the Peanut Farner feel like he had done something………..
Comment from unkawill
Time: March 20, 2007, 7:49 pm
Mombasa, Had a helk of a good time there on WesPac with the Kitty Hawk BG circa 1985. Initiated Shellback two days out from anchoring out in the harbor, went on to hit the roulette wheel in the first casino we hit on liberty for just shy of 4 grand in a space of 30 minutes. Paid for the penthouse suite in the Mombasa Hilton for 10 days. What a PARTY. All my bud’s had a great time. The worst part was trying to drive on the WRONG side of the road/while drunk, had to hire a driver.
Karachi, Quite possibly the nastiest place on EARTH, Spent a week there on the same cruise. Don’t ever want to go back.
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