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Comment by Paymaster on January 25, 2009 at 1:01pm

Mary....This article was in the Long Beach paper (presstelegram.com), At the end of the article there are about 25 pictures, I don't know if your son is one of them, but worth taking a look at.

LONG BEACH - "Man the ship and bring her to life!" shouted USS Green Bay sponsor Rose Magnus.

About 360 crew members scurried across the dock, climbed the stairs and stood at attention along the ship's railing.

The USS Green Bay had officially come to life.

"The crew will be the lifeblood of the ship," said Cmdr. Joseph Olsen, the ship's commanding officer.

As the sponsor, Magnus, wife of retired Marine Corps Gen. Robert Magnus, was given the honor of christening the Naval vessel.

Hundreds gathered at the Long Beach harbor on Saturday morning for the commissioning ceremony of the USS Green Bay, a Navy transport ship named for the city in Wisconsin.

It is the first Navy ship commissioned in Long Beach since the destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur in 1994. The USS Green Bay, which will be based in San Diego, was commissioned here in homage to the city's rich Naval history, military officials said.

In a ceremony on the former Long Beach Naval Station site, officials including Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England commended the Navy's fight against global terror.

"The USS Green Bay is greatly anticipated and she will be busy quickly," said Vice Admiral Barry McCullough.

The USS Green Bay was built to deploy 800 Marines by air


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and sea for combat or humanitarian missions. It can cruise at up to 22 knots, spans 684 feet in length and can store two aircraft in its hangar.
Officials said the initial cost of the ship, which was built in New Orleans, grew from $715million to more than $1billion after design changes and minor damage from Hurricane Katrina.

The massive vessel is large enough to cover the famous football stadium bowl in its namesake Wisconsin city, officials said. But it can never visit Green Bay because the ship is too big to fit through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The spirit of Green Bay and its legendary Packers team are found throughout the ship with football memorabilia, touches of green and yellow and three replica Super Bowl trophies.

The landing platform dock has been playful dubbed "Lambeau Field" after the city's stadium, said Navy spokesman David Hostetler. This is the second Navy vessel named Green Bay; the first, a patrol gunboat, served in the 1970s.

Saturday's morning rainfall cleared in time for the ceremony. The sunny skies peeking through puffy, white clouds provided a brilliant backdrop for the red, white and blue streamers lined around the ship.

Many attendees at the ceremony were from Green Bay.

Wendel McLester, who attended with a veterans group from the Oneida Indian Reservation near Green Bay, read a prayer in his native language.

"I served in the Navy and Marine Corps and I know exactly how great these people are," he said.

Harriet Porch, a retired naval officer, happened to be celebrating her 84th birthday. The Lake Forest senior is a member of the Long Beach Navy League and served her country for more than 30 years.

She also attended the last commissioning in 1994.

"Today is a special day," she said. "It's good to see the Navy come back to Long Beach."

The ship will sail to San Diego on Monday.

kelly.puente@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1305

Comment by Paymaster on January 24, 2009 at 12:25pm

Mary....I know that Kim is in Long Beach for the commissioning. This was in the Navy Times this morning:
Navy to Commission Amphibious Transport Dock Ship Green Bay
Story Number: NNS090122-19
Release Date: 1/22/2009 9:32:00 PM


From Department of Defense

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy will commission the newest San Antonio class amphibious transport dock ship Green Bay during a 10 a.m. PST ceremony Jan. 24 in Long Beach, Calif.

The ship is named Green Bay to honor the nation's Midwest "city by the bay." The city of about 100,000 residents was founded in 1634 by French explorer
Jean Nicolet, and is the oldest community in Wisconsin.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England will deliver the ceremony's principal address. Rose Magnus, wife of the former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Robert Magnus (ret.), is serving as the ship's
sponsor. In a time-honored Navy tradition, she will give the order to "man our ship and bring her to life!"

Designated as LPD 20, Green Bay is the fourth amphibious transport dock ship in the San Antonio class. As a critical element in future expeditionary
strike groups, the ship will support the Marine Corps' "mobility triad," which consists of the landing craft air cushion (LCAC), the expeditionary fighting vehicle (EFV) and the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft (MV-22). The ship will provide improved warfighting capabilities including an advanced command-and-control suite, increased lift-capability in vehicle and
cargo-carrying capacity and advanced ship-survivability features.

Cmdr. Joseph Olson, a native of Madison, Wis., will be the first commanding officer of the ship. Olson graduated from the University of Wisconsin in
1991 and received his commission from the Naval Reserve Office Training Corps. He will lead a crew of approximately 360 officers and enlisted personnel and three Marines. Upon commissioning, the ship will be homeported in San Diego.

Built by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding - Avondale Operations in Louisiana, Green Bay is 684 feet in length, has an overall beam of 105 feet, a
navigational draft of 23 feet, displaces about 24,900 tons and is capable of embarking a landing force of about 800 Marines. Four turbo-charged diesel
engines power the ship to sustained speeds of 24 knots.


I think they will have good weather, no rain today for the ceremony.

Have you hear anything lately?

Jody

Comment by Paymaster on January 12, 2009 at 1:55pm

Kim.....If they are handing out flyers or programs the day of the commissioning and you have an extra, I would love to have one.

Jody

Comment by Paymaster on January 11, 2009 at 12:06pm

Kim and Mary....After reading about the USS George HW Bush being commissioned, I have a question, who is the sponsor of the Green Bay is it one person or is it the City of Green Bay?

Jody

Comment by Paymaster on January 2, 2009 at 5:32pm

Kim and Mary....Saw this article in the Navy times this morning.
Jody

Sailors Get Green Bay Underway for Maiden Voyage

By Program Executive Office Ships Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The future USS Green Bay "sailed away" from Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Avondale Operations Dec. 1 on its maiden voyage, manned for the first time by the ship's crew.

This milestone marks the government-industry team's production completion of LPD 20, which is the fourth of LPD 17-class of amphibious transport dock ships to progress from keel laying to delivery at the Northrop Grumman shipyards along the Gulf Coast.

Green Bay will first sail to its homeport of San Diego before sailing to Long Beach, Calif., for commissioning in January.

Once commissioned, Green Bay and its crew will begin a succession of sea trials to thoroughly test the ship's systems and to complete crucial certifications. USS Green Bay will conduct missile and gun combat systems ship qualification trials (CSSQT), during which the crew will fire the ship's rolling air frame missiles and MK 46 Mod 2 30mm guns as well as exercising the ship's comprehensive detect-to-engage capability. Well-deck certification and underway replenishment qualification will also be part of the steady progression toward mission readiness.

Green Bay will join three sister ships of the same class already in the fleet. USS San Antonio (LPD 17) and USS New Orleans (LPD 18) are currently operating with the fleet. Meanwhile, USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) is completing its post shakedown availability in its homeport of Norfolk, Va.

Comment by Paymaster on December 23, 2008 at 4:22pm

Kim....Thanks for the information. I will check it out. Jody

Comment by Paymaster on December 23, 2008 at 3:12pm

Our son has now deployed to Afghanistan on Early Friday morning. You would think that this being his third deployment to the middle east I would just breeze through this, HA. He called when he was on the bus heading to the plane to depart. He sounded so postive, I wish I could have sounded as good. My voice cracked and I was fighting back tears. All I can focus on is there is only 253 days until he joins the Green Bay!

So what is the date of the commisioning?

Glad to hear that you will have your sailors home for portions of the holiday.

Merry Christmas to all of you and your families!

Jody

Comment by Paymaster on December 12, 2008 at 7:39pm

Kim and Mary.....Congrats to both of you on having your son's home!

Have either of you thought of trying to get a family picture while they are home? As they get older the group pictures get harder and harder to coorditate.

The best to both of your families over the holidays!
Jody

Comment by Paymaster on December 6, 2008 at 9:59pm

Kim and Mary....Its been pretty quite on your end. So what have you heard from your sailors? Jody

Comment by Paymaster on November 26, 2008 at 9:59am

Kim....We are back from our stay with our son. It was a bitter sweet visit ,had a great time with the granddaughters, but it was hard knowing the time was ticking away with our visit.

I did find out that he will be the Air Boss on the Green Bay when he returns from Afhganistan.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday. I am cooking for our gang here. Our daughter who lives in town will be with us along with several friends.

Jody

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