Sailors aboard aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) assembled in the ship's hangar bay for an all-hands call by Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander, Naval Air Forces, Jan. 12

Shoemaker, a native of St. Petersburg, Florida, and former John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group commander, met with command leaders before addressing the crew.

"It's really great to be back in Bremerton and back on board what was my flagship a couple deployments ago," said Shoemaker. "I'm swinging through to do some business up on Whidbey [Island] and then the change of command over on [USS] Nimitz (CVN 68) today."

Shoemaker spoke to Sailors about the status of manning, mission readiness, and opened the floor for a question and answer session. He also recognized the outstanding performance of John C. Stennis Sailors.

"Across the board, our Sailors, maintainers, and aviators are some of the best in the world," said Shoemaker. "Thank you for the great work you've done since being back from deployment."

Commander, Naval Air Forces mans, trains, equips and maintains a naval air force which is immediately employable, forward deployed, and engaged.

John C. Stennis is currently in port preparing for a planned incremental availability.

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