WAVY’s Navy Ship Salute is a feature on WAVY News 10 Today. Each month, in partnership with the U.S. Navy, WAVY-TV 10 will profile a different ship based at the world’s largest Navy base: Naval Station Norfolk. The series aims to better introduce our viewers to some of the largest floating taxpayer assets there are, as well as life aboard a U.S. Navy ship.
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — 10 On Your Side is highlighting the USS Richard M. McCool Jr. for this month’s WAVY Navy Ship Salute. Built in Mississippi and commissioned in Florida, the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship recently arrived at Naval Station Norfolk.
The energy from the crew bounced from wall to wall as they greeted the live television viewers on WAVY News 10 Friday morning. Commanding Officer Capt. Jeff Baker said the crew got this ship ready to go at an incredible pace.
“The crew makes everything happen, we have an amazing crew here,” Capt. Baker said. “It takes a lot of work to bring these ships to life and they did an outstanding job in Mississippi and with bringing her home to Norfolk.”
“Look, we moved on board this ship and they gave us three months to do all our certifications and get ready to sail,” he added. “This ship, by every measurable standard, exceeded every metric over the last 10 years for a pre-comm ship. They beat everybody.”
Celebrating the Navy’s birthday a little early, they cut the cake on board the Richard M. McCool Jr. for the first time while we were there. Upholding tradition, it was sliced by both the oldest and youngest crew members, using the ship’s sword.
Aileen Hernandez is their youngest crew member, so she and Baker, the oldest, held the blade while cutting the cake. She called this “an important day.”
As Baker puts it, they are a “blue and green crew,” using this new vessel to help the Marine Corps transport amphibious vehicles.
Command Master Chief Jerry Gonzales spoke highly of the crew and said, “They make my job easy. They make everybody’s job easy.”
“We’re in charge of ordering all the parts and everything on board. You can’t fly without supply,” explained Sailor of the Quarter LS1 Raynard Tucker.
“You see a ship go from just steel to a full medical department, and to be able to be able to take care of the sailors that are on board that take care of the ships, it’s an honorable job,” said Junior Sailor of the Quarter HM2 Justin Preiser.
Honoring the Richard M. McCool Jr.’s namesake, they keep his uniform and medals on board along with many other artifacts from his past. Some crew members are working on a museum room to honor the Medal of Honor recipient and WWII veteran.
“We pride ourselves in trying to instill his legacy with every single crew member on board,” Baker said.
Before any kind of deployment, its crew will spend a lot of time training and getting the ship ready for whatever is next.