Carrier to stop today at Pearl on way home
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
The last aircraft carrier to take part in the combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom is stopping in Hawai'i today en route to its home port of San Diego.
The USS Nimitz carrier strike group, which includes the Pearl Harbor-based guided missile cruiser Chosin, was deployed for eight months.
That means more than 6,500 sailors and air wing members from the Nimitz, the cruiser Princeton and combat support ship USS Bridge will be descending on Waikiki for some rest and relaxation on their first stop back in the states.
The 567-foot Chosin, with more than 350 crew members, arrives Sunday in Pearl Harbor.
The Nimitz is the latest in a succession of carriers that have stopped in Hawai'i either heading to or back from the Persian Gulf region during operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Chris Colgate, senior general manager of Duke's Canoe Club Waikiki, said the returning sailors are welcome aboard.
"Oh, absolutely," Colgate said. "(There's a high) caliber of individual in the armed services, and they are very professional, well-disciplined. From a business standpoint, we more than welcome them."
Colgate said he'll see a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in business when a carrier is in port, and the Nimitz's arrival for a five-day stay comes at a traditional down time for tourism.
After such a long deployment, family members will fly out from the Mainland to be with crew members. About 1,300 individuals are taking a "Tiger cruise" allowing them to sail back on the carrier to San Diego.
"It's great having 6,000 guys show up, because that kicks up occupancy," Colgate said. "It's a big plus anytime there's a military ship (visiting) Pearl Harbor, and if they do have liberty, we're going to see some percentage of individuals at restaurants."
The 95,000-ton Nimitz, with about 70 combat aircraft aboard, stopped at Pearl Harbor in March before heading to the Gulf. The carrier flew more than 6,500 missions in support of Iraqi Freedom.
One hundred new fathers were on board as of Oct. 13, and the carrier sent and received more than 10 million e-mails during the deployment.
On its way back to Washington State, the USS Abraham Lincoln battle group arrived in Hawai'i in April from the Gulf after spending nearly nine months on deployment — the longest for a carrier since the Vietnam War. President Bush flew to the carrier while it was off the coast of California to declare the end of major combat in Iraq.
The USS Carl Vinson, meanwhile, pulled into Pearl Harbor in late January en route to duty in the Western Pacific.
The Lincoln was in Hawai'i on its way west in August of 2002, and the USS John C. Stennis spent several days here in May of 2002 after launching 287 aircraft sorties into Afghanistan as part of Operation Anaconda.
The carrier USS Enterprise crossed Egypt's Suez Canal Oct. 13 from the Mediterranean Sea on its way to replace the Nimitz.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
