The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), America’s “Big Stick,” departed San Diego on an uncharacteristically rainy day in January 2024.
Supply department, like the rest of the crew, was ready for the advertised seven-month western Pacific deployment. After a successful work-up cycle, including several underway periods in the winter of 2023 for evaluations and certification, the officers, chief petty officers, and enlisted Sailors were ready to support our nation’s interests overseas and experience cultures in foreign ports.
After being joined by destroyer escorts from San Diego and Hawaii to form the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, the first stop was the U.S. territory of Guam. In addition to being some Sailors’ first time outside the continental United States, it was also Supply department’s first opportunity to manage pierside logistics away from home port. The Logistics Specialists from Material, Aviation Stores and Hazardous Materials divisions loaded critical repairables and consumables and offloaded Depot Level Repairable carcasses and excess waste. Concurrently, our Culinary Specialists and Retail Services Specialists loaded frozen and dry stores, fresh fruits and vegetables, and stock for the ship’s store and vending machines – a huge morale boost for the crew after several weeks at sea.
After a successful port visit where all logistical requirements were met, the strike group set out to sea again, pushing farther west until fully established inside the first island-chain, an area of the Pacific region roughly denoted between China, Japan and the Philippines. There, the ship launched aircraft for simulated missions in a sustained battle rhythm known as “cyclic flight operations.” While this process demonstrates the strike group’s proficiency and ability to project power, it also generates daily demands for parts necessary for repairs and hazardous materials such as sealants and grease required for routine flight operations.
The magnitude of logistics challenges in the Pacific came into focus for TR’s Supply department as tasking from Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet necessitated longer periods at sea while outside the range of replenishment opportunities by sea and by air. To replenish at sea, the strike group utilized Military Sealift Command (MSC) Combat Logistics Force (CLF) ships such as the dry cargo/ammunition T-AKE ships and the fleet replenishment oilers, or T-AOs. To replenish faster but in smaller quantities, the strike group utilized C-2A Greyhound carrier onboard delivery (COD) aircraft. The team mitigated the challenge of constantly changing logistical hubs by optimizing loadouts at every port and staging critical parts at logistical centers of gravity such as Guam, Japan and Singapore. If the COD aircraft were unable to support, we had the backup option of including the materiel on CLF ships or utilizing Naval Aviation Logistics Operations (NALO) aircraft to fly our parts en masse from one loadout location to the next.
After six months of operating in the South China Sea, East China Sea and Philippine Sea – leveraging port visits for food, parts, mail, and retrograde offload in Singapore, Thailand, and South Korea – the strike group was directed to respond to world events in the Middle East. This required short-fused top offs of food as well as any critical repair parts and consumables within range of our projected path. The transit took us across the Indian Ocean through the Gulf of Oman and into the Arabian Gulf. The crew quickly learned to adapt to the high temperatures of the region in the July and August time frames. The supply team worked diligently with shore support entities to ensure materiel across the various hubs in the Pacific began flowing to the centralized footprint in Bahrain. Logistics posture began to improve as everything for the strike group began flowing to one consolidated location in the region as opposed to the disaggregated locations required in the vastness of the Indo-Pacific region.
The carrier strike group’s presence in the region was well known to both allies and adversaries. Houthi missile launches targeting civilian commercial shipping as well as strikes between Israel and Hamas were covered well on national news but felt even more real to the crew as we conducted damage control drills and continued to launch and recover aircraft as events unfolded. Supply department stayed busy with the sustainment of operations in the austere environment, conducting routine inventories, issuing high priority material, and providing meals and services regardless of the circumstances.
After being released by Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet to begin the transit home, the mission shifted to acquiring the parts and consumables needed to correct long-term repairs on individual aircraft in order to put each squadron at 100% for the event known as “fly off,” where the ship closes to within range of land for all types of aircraft to launch for the last time before continuing to their squadron’s home air stations.
During the Big Stick’s 2024 deployment, the Supply department facilitated 26 replenishment-at-sea events, through a combination of connected replenishments to “swing” materiel from one ship to another as well as vertical replenishments utilizing civilian and military helicopters. From these events, the ship received 10,320 pallets of food, parts and mail. The total value of high priority parts received by Logistics Specialists for the ship and embarked aircraft was $7.8 million and $158 million, respectively. The food brought aboard enabled our Culinary Specialists to produce and serve 1.1 million meals. Our Retail Services Specialists generated an impressive $3.8 million in sales and processed 250 tons of laundry.
The ship returned to a clear and sunny San Diego in October, having completed nine months overseas. There were a multitude of lessons learned and information passed along to carriers in earlier stages of deployment. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, for example, sailed to the Middle East to take our place and assume the role of a deterrent force in the region, and we were able to share information and lessons learned with their Supply team to make their time there more successful from day one.
The nature of the Navy supply community has always been one of teamwork and collaboration. As the Navy’s mission continues to evolve in regions such as the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East, so too must the Navy Supply Corps. The crews that comprise the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group were very thankful for the experience, the professional growth, and the opportunity to serve our nation’s interests around the globe.
