USS Carl Vinson Sailor Returns to Expanding Family

Surprise! Navy Wife Hides Pregnancy, Saves Reveal for Sailor's Homecoming
After a shocked pause, Chris pokes his wife's pregnant belly and asks, "Is it real?"
NBC San Diego
By Cassia Pollock

"Welcome Home Baby Daddy."

The wife of a U.S. Navy sailor had a big surprise to share with her husband when his aircraft carrier docked in San Diego: a new member of their family, nearly ready to join their ranks.

Petty Officer 1st Class Chris Daugherty, a Navy cryptologic technician, returned to the U.S. on June 23 after a six-month deployment on board the USS Carl Vinson.

Upon disembarking, Daugherty's two daughters and son rushed over to greet their uniformed father. He hugged his little ones, who were clad in mini sailor outfits, while his wife, Natasha Daugherty, hung back, smiling.
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Sequestration Puts Navy at High Risk

Sea Services Officials Detail Sequestration’s Impact
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
By Jim Garamone
Feb. 26, 2015
WASHINGTON

Lightning flashes over the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson as the ship transits the Persian Gulf, Feb. 8, 2015. The carrier is deployed in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class John Philip Wagner, Jr.

Under the president’s fiscal year 2016 budget proposal, the military’s sea services would be able to carry out their worldwide missions, but if sequestration triggers, all bets are off, senior Navy and Marine Corps officials said on Capitol Hill yesterday.

Sean Stackley, the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition; Lt. Gen. Kenneth J. Glueck Jr., the commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command; and Vice Adm. Joseph P. Mulloy, the deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources, testified before the House Armed Services subcommittee on sea power and projection forces on the budget request.

High Risk
The department’s fiscal 2016 budget proposal represents the bare minimum to execute the defense strategy guidance. It still, however, “results in high risk in two of the most challenging missions that depend on adequate numbers of modern, responsive forces,” the joint statement said.

“The principal risk to the department’s ability to meet the [defense strategy guidance] remains the uncertainty in future funding, which affects our planning and the ability to balance near- and long-term readiness and capability,” the statement said. “The fiscal 2014 President’s Budget was the last budget submission to fully meet all of the missions.”

The Navy made difficult, strategy-based choices and shifted funds to higher priority missions, but that is not sustainable, officials said in the statement.
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You know how we keep hearing politicians say they support the troops and value the military? Like they say, talk is cheap and these guys think our defense forces should be too or they would have fixed the budget by now. They aren't even talking about it so as with the picture of lightning off the USS Carl Vinson, Congress struck again.

One pilot missing, one stable after 2 F/A-18 Hornets crash in Pacific

UPDATE
Navy IDs Hornet Pilot Presumed Dead After Crash
Associated Press
Sep 15, 2014

LEMOORE, Calif. -- A Navy fighter pilot presumed dead after two jets crashed in the far western Pacific Ocean was identified Sunday as Lt. Nathan Poloski, a 26-year-old native of Lake Arrowhead, Calif.

Poloski was the subject of a 36-hour search in the waters off the U.S. territory of Wake Island after two F/A-18C Hornets collided in midair Friday. Wake Island is 2,300 miles west of Honolulu.
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One pilot missing, one stable after 2 F/A-18 Hornets crash in Pacific
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 12, 2014

WASHINGTON — The Navy is searching for one pilot and treating the injuries of another after two F/A-18 Hornets crashed after colliding Friday over the western Pacific while operating from an aircraft carrier.

The aircraft, part of Carrier Air Wing 17 on the USS Carl Vinson, belonged to Strike Fighter Squadron 94 and Strike Fighter Squadron 113, according to a Navy release. The Carl Vinson is scheduled to participate in a large exercise off the coast of Guam beginning Monday, and was operating about 250 nautical miles west of Wake Island.

One pilot was pulled quickly from the water after the crash and is in stable condition, according to a spokesman for the Navy’s 7th Fleet. Navy ships and aircraft were still searching for the other pilot.

The rescued pilot was in fair condition in the medical department of the Carl Vinson, Navy Cmdr. Jeannie Groeneveld told The Associated Press from San Diego.
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