Summer Cruise_FINEX

Yesterday morning, GONZALEZ returned to our home port at the Norfolk Naval Base. While we missed our family and friends in Hampton Roads, it was great to be out to sea (including our 4th of July weekend stop at Mayport) for three weeks. And it was an excellent three weeks! I was exceptionally proud of everyone onboard. We worked and trained around the clock, accomplished our objectives, and did a phenomenal job of integrating our new Sailors into our underway routines. I was particularly proud of our 20 USNA Midshipmen and their GONZALEZ running mates. By the end of the three weeks, our Mids were indistinguishable from the crew. The deckplate skills and leadership lessons they learned will serve them well as future naval officers.

Our last 24 hours at sea certainly put our skills and endurance to the test. Following a morning General Quarters training session, we completed a two hour refueling at sea in the late afternoon and then five hours of day/night flight deck operations – finally finishing just after midnight. True to their resilience GONZALEZ Sailors were up early our final morning at sea, fresh water washing the decks in preparation for a flawlessly executed sea and anchor detail before returning to port.

So, we are now in our final preparations for our engineering assessment next week, and then we can settle into change of command preparedness. Only four weeks and two days remaining for me to command the best crew in the Navy. I envy my relief.

Change of command is shaping up to be a very special event though. In addition to the honor of hosting Mrs. Gonzalez and celebrating her birthday with her, we expect to also host her niece, a cousin of Freddy’s, possibly some Marines and a Navy chaplain who served with some of Freddy’s units, and even Freddy’s biographer. We are indeed a fortunate ship. - CO

FC1(SW/AW) Alvelo_Guest Blogger_2

Another guest blog post from FC1 Alvelo...

Last saturday we enjoyed a little relaxation as our Food Service Division prepared a Pizza and Hot Wings night for dinner, followed up with a traditional Ice Cream Social, and MWR sponsored Spades Tournament. While seemingly small, these simple things are important to our morale…just ask a new Sailor like STGSN Cisneros who had Happy Birthday sung to him by the entire messdecks when it was learned last Saturday was also his birthday! The food was phenomenal and the rest of the evening went well as the team of GM1(SW) Johnson and HM3(SW) Martinez won the Spades tourney. Congratulations!

Ice Cream Socials have always been a great treat for the crew of a ship while underway. They are more than a chance to pile up your favorite toppings on your favorite flavor of ice cream though. It’s one of the few times when the entire crew eats together (officers normally dine in the Wardroom, chiefs in the Chief’s Mess, and the crew on the messdecks), and it's a nice reminder that we are “One Ship, One Fight” in more ways than one. Besides, you don’t have too many opportunities to have your Command Master Chief and Senior Chiefs serve you, so you take advantage of that!

The Captain said we did well on our recent evolutions, which is always a relief to see the hard work of so many pay off. The weary faces are evident as I know all of us are ready to be back in homeport, so it’s better to come back knowing we did our jobs well and that we can press on with the many things ahead of us.

Summer Cruise_Day 21

Three weeks away from homeport with a weekend stop at the Naval Base in Mayport Florida over the 4th of July - And what a great three weeks it's been for GONZALEZ Sailors and our 20 USNA Midshipmen! The crew has worked exceptionally hard and performed magnificently. Our new Sailors have received excellent training and our Midshipmen have simply become part of the crew. It is an amazing transformation to watch our newest shipmates and guests integrate as one team. Today was no different than any of our other busy days at sea...more engineering training, a final general quarters drill, a two hour underway replenishment, and finally day and night training with an HSC squadron for deck landing and vertical replenishment qualifications. We improved every day underway and have really honed our skills. As our Chief Boatswain's Mate put it regarding today's refueling at sea, "The best UNREP we've done in some time." That's a nice compliment from the best Deck Department in the business - a team who holds themselves to exceptionally high standards. Enjoy the photographs...can you tell which are Mids and which are GONZALEZ crew members? Not so easy anymore. - CO

Summer Cruise_Day 20

Unlike our last Sunday at Sea, today was a full and busy workday. We started the day with another set of engineering drills and evolutions and have another set of drills and evolutions scheduled this evening. We also took one more opportunity for some more undersea warfare training this afternoon. One of the implicit themes of our Command Every Day philosophy is not taking “no” for an answer. On our departure from Mayport last week, our very first undersea warfare training in junction with one of the Jacksonville Naval Air Station LAMPS Squadrons had to be cancelled because of inclement weather. Knowing that we would be passing back through the same operating area, but on a Sunday, we worked diligently with our Squadron back home and the LAMPS squadrons in Mayport to see if we could make the training opportunity work in everyone’s favor…and we were successful with all the right help. So this afternoon, we had the opportunity to conduct more undersea warfare training with HSL-60. Thanks guys!

As for other events, we also qualified another Engineering Officer of the Watch and another Officer of the Deck underway. As I look back over the last 17 months, it’s great to add up the number of GONZALEZ men and women who have achieved a range of qualifications. Bravo Zulu to FCO and GSEC who added two more significant qualifications to the ship! As for the strange picture at the top of the post...jelly fish. Surrounded by them today!

Summer Cruise_Day 19

A great day for GONZALEZ! After last evening’s events went just past midnight, we had a bit of a slow morning (drills briefs, classroom training, Midshipmen self-defense training, etc) before lunch. We then followed the afternoon meal with an excellent set of engineering drills and evolutions capped off by our best main space fire drill and General Quarters drill during our summer cruise. GONZALEZ Sailors are the most resilient Sailors with whom I have ever had the pleasure to serve. Some of the Sailors in the Repair 5 Damage Control Locker even came up with a few creative ways to motivate the Sailors in their locker with Luchador masks. During the drill we also received a message from the range controller where we conducted our undersea warfare exercises that all of our maneuvers and simulated attacks were evaluated as satisfactory. Following the drill we then hoisted Bravo Zulu CA and Bravo Zulu OI on the starboard and port halyards respectively to recognize the excellent work of GONZALEZ sonar techs and operations specialists.

Finishing off the day in style, our culinary specialists served pizza and chicken wings, our leading culinary specialist senior chief organized an ice cream social, and the MWR committe organized a messdecks spades tournament. - CO

Summer Cruise_Day 18

Just a short blog entry from me today as I spent most of my day on the bridge and in Combat Information Center – a busy day onboard GONZALEZ conducting a whole host of undersea warfare training events and exercises. But check out the shot of the day – Bravo Zulu to the GONZALEZ Sonar Techs on a successful, exercise torpedo shot! - CO

CTT3 Riggleman_GONZALEZ Guest Blogger

NASCAR: First, I would like to thank our MWR Team for putting together such wonderful events. We were lucky to be able to attend the NASCAR event and be so close to the action. The day started with a bus ride down to the very sunny Daytona Beach. It took a while for us to get settled, but after that it was amazing. We first witnessed a Bromus- Porsche race which was intense. The drivers were fighting and whipping around to get to the top spot. There were a couple of accidents but no major damage. After a break and before the NASCAR race, we were able to sign the start and finish line. I jumped at this chance knowing it would be very cool. I had my picture taken on that raceway and it smelt of burnt rubber even then. The Coke Zero 400 started, of course, with famous NASCAR words, “Gentleman, start your engines!” I had never been to a NASCAR race, but had seen them on TV, and I can tell you they are a lot better and louder in person. It was a night to remember, one I will never forget it. The last lap was the best! With the #18 and the #11 car battling for the top spot and a multi-car pile up at the finish line right in front of us - a great ending to an awesome, fantastic day.