Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacob Mattingly | Sailors assigned to the world’s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)...... read more read more
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Sailors assigned to the world’s largest aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 assisted employees of the city of Trieste through a city clean-up of one of Trieste’s parks during Gerald R. Ford’s fifth port visit September 19, 2023.
“We really enjoy having people from the United States Navy here to help give back to our community,” said Trieste City Councilman Michele Babuder. “It helps us promote a healthy and strong relationship between both our nations and makes us stronger together.”
Over 20 Sailors and city employees worked together to clean up trash and leaves from a trail at the Giardini Storici park near the city center, resulting in a clean and ready path for locals of the Trieste community to use.
Projects like this assist in building a strong bond between Gerald R. Ford and the host nation that leaves a lasting impact on the community, long after the anchors are raised and Ford sails into the sunset.
“I think that it is important for us as Sailors to give back to the communities we visit as a way of saying ‘thank you’ to our host countries,” said Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Derek Meyer, from Bright, Indiana assigned to the "Tridents" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 9. “Port calls are a vital part of our morale and well-being while being deployed and Sailors volunteering to help out and just expresses our gratitude.”
Sailors are eager to volunteer at any port Gerald R. Ford pulls into. To date, Gerald R. Ford’s command religious ministry department has arranged community relations events in each foreign port the ship has visited.
“It is a great honor and privilege for our city to host the Ford and its crew for one of its port visits, and we are greatly appreciative of the Sailors who helped with today’s city clean-up,” said Councilman Babuder, “We hope that Sailors enjoyed their time here and they enjoyed experiencing the wonderful city of Trieste.”
The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) is conducting a scheduled deployment in support of interoperability and maritime security. The GRFCSG provides and inherently flexible naval force capable of deploying across combatant commands to meet emerging missions, deter potential adversaries, reassure allies and partners, enhance security and guarantee the free flow of global commerce. In total, the GRFCSG is deployed with more than 6,000 Sailors across all platforms ready to respond globally to combatant commander tasking.
Gerald R. Ford is the U.S. Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier. As the first-in-class ship of Ford-class aircraft carriers, CVN 78 represents a generational leap in the U.S. Navy’s capacity to project power on a global scale. Ford-class aircraft carriers introduce 23 new technologies, including EMALS, AAG and Advanced Weapons Elevators. The new systems incorporated onto Ford-class ships are designed to deliver greater lethality, survivability and joint interoperability with a 20% smaller crew than a Nimitz-class carrier, paving the way forward for naval aviation.
For more information about the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), visit https://www.airlant.usff.navy.mil/cvn78/ and follow along on Facebook: @USSGeraldRFord, Instagram: @cvn78_grford, Twitter: @Warship_78, DVIDS www.dvids.net/CVN78 and LinkedIn at USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.30.2023 11:04 |
| Story ID: | 454773 |
| Location: | TRIESTE, IT |
| Web Views: | 336 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Giving Back to Our Hosts: Ford Sailors Tidy Up Trieste, by PO2 Jacob Mattingly, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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