Yesterday was the big day. Twenty four years in the making.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9JPNGK9d8WL785BK8

Hopefully you can go to the pictures.

Ok. So the link works on my phone, but I posted them. Are they working for y'all?


After A and C schools this was my home. I was in Newport News and was part of the builders trials. High speed runs and rudder tests. I have a photo of the ship during one of the turns stashed away here somewhere. Commissioning was a cold, rainy day on 1996DEC9 but I was assigned to be a driver for officers and dignitaries so I was warm inside the van.

I stayed on board until my enlistment was up in 1998. I got a helo ride off of the deck in the Persian Gulf into Bahrain.

I never thought I would be back to see her, let alone board her again. Still had the same smells after all these years. I was able to see my old shop as well as some other spaces that I wasn't able to see before. In all a great morning. It is a shame that it wasn't a little longer.

I did get to hang out with two great friends as they came in for it too. There were probably 100 plankowners in attendance some of which I remembered but most of them not. With over 3000 people on board it was tough to know them all.

I can see them at the link. Nice pictures!

Thank you. New phone and I didn't know if things would work right.

How abot an explanation for the civilians among us? What is a "plank owner"? Where based, Norfolk or San Diego?

Very cool. My sister-in-law was stationed on it in 2007. My wife and I had the opportunity to meet the ship in Pearl Harbor and participate in the Tiger Cruise back to San Diego. For me it was 6 days of Christmas, such an amazing experince. I learned so much and gained such an appreciation for all of the sailors stationed abord ships.

A Plank Owner is a member of a ships crew when the ship was comissioned.

quote:

Originally posted by GaryBF:
How abot an explanation for the civilians among us? What is a "plank owner"? Where based, Norfolk or San Diego?

As was said before. A plankowner is someone that was stationed aboard a ship while it was commissioned. In the old days, once the ship is decommissioned a plankowner would get a piece of plank.

She was commissioned in Norfolk and we did a world cruise, well the ship did as I left early, and home ported in Washington. She did another world tour back to Norfolk and will be getting retrofitted and refueled. The reunion was in Norfolk.

What was your rating, if you don’t mind me asking? My best friend and I went into the Navy back at the end of ‘93 under the buddy program. We both qualified for the nuke program. He was an MM and I was an EM. He ended up failing out of power school kinda early on but I made it through. Anyway, after he left the nuke program he went on to the Stennis. Pretty sure he was a plankowner...but not absolutely positive.


Side note...I ended up being a plankowner on the Reagan.

I was an AT, aviation electronics technician. I started out in shop 9 and then moved to shop 5 because of being under staffed there.
Was he at the reunion?


If he did the cruise, he will be in the cruise book I have.

He was a conventional MM so it’s not likely that you knew him...but he was fairly popular so you never know. MM3 J Grant was his name. I just messaged him on Facebook messenger to see if he was a plankowner or not.

I was TAD to the MWR for 9 months and later snagged for galley duty for 3 months. I saw a lot of crew members in my time. I'll have to see if I can find my book. AT3 Reppert

Great pics. Thank you for sharing and your service!

Thank you