CVN 71 in Cape Town

[skycam]

Hi all

Just wanted to share some photos with you of CVN 71's visit here in Cape Town

(edited - although I believe the Squadrons on-board are public knowledge here )

The Tridents have been flying; pretty busy doing VERTREP yesterday.

CG 61 is moored in the harbour while CVN 71 is anchored out in Table Bay.

I went on-board CG-64 in a official capacity during her visit here in 1994, very impressive ship.

Great having CVN 71 and CG 61 here....

For those who feel this is an OPSEC issue, all the above information is public knowledge and press releases to this event have been issued by Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs.

If you still feel this post is an issue - P/M me your official credentials and I will verify this with the PAO on-board CVN 71.

 

[Schnugg]

Went to Capetown for a port visit way back in '83. A very beatiful city and countryside...the ladies, too.

When I was there Apartheid was rampant. It was bizarre seeing public toilets, beaches and buses labeled, white or colored. Glad that crap is history.

 

[skycam]

Yup

I was involved in that visit. E-2C's ring a bell?

Glad to see USN ships in SA again, I'm a "retired" soldier not a politician, so I'm just glad to see there is more co-operation between us and the US again.

 

[Flash]

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, with a lot of natural scenery of the regular type and the type Schnugg pointed out. Lucky bastards......

 

[HooverPilot]

No problems with OPSEC on this, the Navy has released the same info.

We get unhappy about this if the info is posted BEFORE the events happen. Thanks for the great pics!

 

[picklesuit]

Great pix, I was the person that asked about OPSEC, I'll go back to fishing...
http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/new_pubs/jp3_13_3.pdf

Pickle

 

[NozeMan]

Thanks for the HS love!

 

[A4sForever]

... It was bizarre seeing public toilets... (drinking fountains, and other things) labeled, white or colored ...

Saw the same thing in several areas on the drive up to Meridian from Pensacola in the ol' days ... friggin' amazing.

 

[skycam]

Thanks for the HS love!

For more pics of Chip Tiny and Shortround go to http://www.skycam.co.za/cvn-71-2008.htm

Their flying rocks! This has been a major historic event in SA...you can imagine for us in aviation circles its been big.

 

[brownshoe]

Saw the same thing in several areas on the drive up to Meridian from Pensacola in the ol' days ... friggin' amazing.

Saw the same down south and around Jacksonville in the 60’s. Nonsense like that ended at the gate, no matter the opinions off base. When we’d hit the beach we’d of course all go together. You can rest assured WE went where we wanted, when we wanted, no matter the color of any of our party.

Only a few times were we confronted. Short hair, clean clothes, shinned shoes and good manners gave us away as members of the service. Those that confronted us were soon persuaded… You’d be surprised at the unsolicited help we’d get from other passing servicemen, even though we might not have known them.

I could tell you a great funny story that happened one early evening in our line shack while waiting for thunderstorms to clear. But I really don’t want to thread jack that much.

Steve

 

[CWJones411]

Saw the same down south and around Jacksonville in the 60’s. Nonsense like that ended at the gate, no matter the opinions off base. When we’d hit the beach we’d of course all go together. You can rest assured WE went where we wanted, when we wanted, no matter the color of any of our party.

Only a few times were we confronted. Short hair, clean clothes, shinned shoes and good manners gave us away as members of the service. Those that confronted us were soon persuaded… You’d be surprised at the unsolicited help we’d get from other passing servicemen, even though we might not have known them.

I could tell you a great funny story that happened one early evening in our line shack while waiting for thunderstorms to clear. But I really don’t want to thread jack that much.

Steve

To not do so would be un-AirWarriors-like!

 

[brownshoe]

To not do so would be un-AirWarriors-like!

Okay… but I warned you!

One early evening, around 4:00 we had to wait for a line of thunderstorms to pass so we could start flight ops. Everyone gathered in the line shack. We were all sitting around yakin’ away, when someone yelled “Okay all the white guys on one side of the room and all the black guys on the other side of the room.” Commotion ensued, everyone laughing and having a good time. We moved to obey.

After the smoke cleared, the black guys were on one side of the room and the white guys were on the other side of the room. Looking around everyone noticed a black guy with the white fellows. Now you had to know this guy, he was a great shipmate, lots of fun, hard working, and always joking around. You also have to picture a guy who was as black as the ace of spades.

Anyway, there he was just standing with the white guys grinning away. One of the black guys said “ Hey, Brunson, get your ass over here you’re as black as the rest of us.” Brunson, said “My mammy is Irish, my pappy is Cherokee. I’se classified as Caucasian.” (Said with a really big grin.)

At any rate, all hell broke loose, O’s and E’s were grab assin’ and havin’ a great time. The commotion had men from other shops sticking their heads out to see what was going on.

Steve

 

[Schnugg]

....If you still feel this post is an issue - P/M me your official credentials and I will verify this with the PAO on-board CVN 71.

Yeah, let me get right on that....

 

[Redux]

Wow, Cape Town, they wouldn't let us in circa 1973. All of us were ripe for liberty after 10 months of PI, line, PI, line, Pi, line Singapore, line, Hong Kong, line pi home in an order close to that.

 

[HeyJoe]

... It was bizarre seeing public toilets... (drinking fountains, and other things) labeled, white or colored ...

Saw the same thing in several areas on the drive up to Meridian from Pensacola in the ol' days ... friggin' amazing.

SO there I was...in Montgomery, Alabama in early sixties after living in Hawaii where everyone got along. I was in a department store and saw two water fountains labeled white and colored. I figured white = clear and colored = Kool-aid so I went for flavor only to have an overweight uniformed, armed guard come and pull me away. I'm thinking "What a rip-off!", this is clear, not colored at all!". Then my normally shy and demur mother comes along and flames on letting guard know what she thought of their segregated water fountains (she later rode a bus in the back because that's where she wanted to sit and bus driver said she had to move because it was the colored section...she wasn't an activist at all, just pissed at prejudice run rampant). Fast forward to High School where I was back on da island and found myself on receiving end as a F'ing Haole. It's pretty stupid from either perspective but you sure see it from new light when you are the subject of bias or discrimmination..