Aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy to be decommissioned
MAYPORT, Fla. (AP) - Sailors hung flags and banners and cleaned and removed equipment as they prepared the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy for its last hurrah: decommissioning after more than 39 years of service.
Navy dignitaries, elected officials and former crew members were expected to attend a ceremony Friday marking the end of "Big John," which has launched aircraft into hot spots around the globe.
"It's going to be bittersweet," said Lt. Cmdr. Vince U. Webster, the ship's administrative officer. "Happy that a lot of sailors on board will have closure so they can move on to their next career, but sad because this great warship will never be under way again."
Webster was born a month before President Kennedy's assassination in 1963. He served two tours on the carrier and asked to come back for the final chapter in the Kennedy's legacy.
The warship's in-port cabin was designed by Jacqueline Kennedy and is the only room on a U.S. Navy ship with wood paneling, officials said. Among it pictures is one showing the president sailing with his daughter.
The cabin will be headed to a Navy museum. The carrier will be towed to Philadelphia, where it will be placed on inactive status.
Chief Petty Officer Aaron Shelenberger, 39, plans to retire shortly after the Kennedy is decommissioned.
A native of Angeles City in the Philippines, Shelenberger became a U.S. citizen earlier this month. He sang the national anthem at a naturalization ceremony aboard the Kennedy when it made its final port call in Boston, the home of the 35th president.
"I'm part of history," Shelenberger said. "With the Kennedy it's special. You are part of the closing of this chapter."
The ship was christened in May 1967 by Kennedy's then 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and entered Navy service the next year.
One of two remaining fossil fuel-powered aircraft carriers in the Navy, the ship supported Operation Desert Shield in Iraq in 1990, and was deployed in February 2002 to the North Arabian Sea during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
It also supported Operation Iraqi Freedom in June 2004, and its airwing dropped more than 54,000 pounds of bombs on Iraq.
Based at Mayport since September 1995, the Kennedy most recently served as a training platform for Navy pilots to obtain carrier landing qualifications. The Navy suspended the ship's flight operations about a year ago, citing faulty landing equipment.
The ship has a crew of about 4,600, is more than 1,050 feet long and can carry 70 combat aircraft.
Navy dignitaries, elected officials and former crew members were expected to attend a ceremony Friday marking the end of "Big John," which has launched aircraft into hot spots around the globe.
"It's going to be bittersweet," said Lt. Cmdr. Vince U. Webster, the ship's administrative officer. "Happy that a lot of sailors on board will have closure so they can move on to their next career, but sad because this great warship will never be under way again."
Webster was born a month before President Kennedy's assassination in 1963. He served two tours on the carrier and asked to come back for the final chapter in the Kennedy's legacy.
The warship's in-port cabin was designed by Jacqueline Kennedy and is the only room on a U.S. Navy ship with wood paneling, officials said. Among it pictures is one showing the president sailing with his daughter.
The cabin will be headed to a Navy museum. The carrier will be towed to Philadelphia, where it will be placed on inactive status.
Chief Petty Officer Aaron Shelenberger, 39, plans to retire shortly after the Kennedy is decommissioned.
A native of Angeles City in the Philippines, Shelenberger became a U.S. citizen earlier this month. He sang the national anthem at a naturalization ceremony aboard the Kennedy when it made its final port call in Boston, the home of the 35th president.
"I'm part of history," Shelenberger said. "With the Kennedy it's special. You are part of the closing of this chapter."
The ship was christened in May 1967 by Kennedy's then 9-year-old daughter, Caroline, and entered Navy service the next year.
One of two remaining fossil fuel-powered aircraft carriers in the Navy, the ship supported Operation Desert Shield in Iraq in 1990, and was deployed in February 2002 to the North Arabian Sea during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
It also supported Operation Iraqi Freedom in June 2004, and its airwing dropped more than 54,000 pounds of bombs on Iraq.
Based at Mayport since September 1995, the Kennedy most recently served as a training platform for Navy pilots to obtain carrier landing qualifications. The Navy suspended the ship's flight operations about a year ago, citing faulty landing equipment.
The ship has a crew of about 4,600, is more than 1,050 feet long and can carry 70 combat aircraft.