In the wee-time of 0230 hours, I stood at our window overlooking the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay from the Atlantic.  In the darkness was a huge even-darker moving image!  It was worthy of a scene in any Star Wars movie.  Then, I noticed a very long line of faint blue-white lights that ran along a very long deck.  As it entered the Norfolk channel, passing the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel, the faint blue-white lights merged into the same line as the lights on the Tunnel – lending an eerie appearance to the long line of lights changing colors, as the ship passed in front of the bridge lights.

I stood there a long time and watched.  While I have seen many aircraft carriers come in and out of the ocean over the years, this was the first time in the dark.  Knowing there are about 5,000 crew members on each aircraft carrier, I thought about all those individuals.  While few of them will ever see combat, hopefully, all were protecting us, by projecting American power around-the-clock and around-the-world.

Thank them for their service!