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July 6, 2015VOL. 4| ISSUE 12

NIMITZNEWS.WORDPRESS.COM

ULTIMATE FRISBEE,ULTIMATE FRIENDSHIP

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nimitz news

media department

in this issue

Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Rachel Kuebler shares her experi-ence playing the ultimate game: Ultimate Frisbee.

The habitability team has been hard at work taking apart and reconstructing many of the berthings onboard Nimitz.

Game on! Read about how Nimitz’ Tough Mudder Team

is working hard to get ready to compete in the Tough Mudder

race in September.

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Walking along the crowded passageways of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Sailors hear endless noise coming from every which way.

Occasionally, one can find a sort of dead spot on board where no noise of any contractor or Sailor working can be heard. For a moment, he or she may feel all alone on this mighty war ship. But the mo-ment is sure to pass quickly as the pound of a ham-mer or the sound of a power tool eventually beats almost too loudly upon their eardrums.

In certain parts of the ship the work being done to restore the mighty Nimitz can sometimes be not only heard, but felt as well. When walking down the pas-sageway near a berthing filled with Sailors diligently grinding the deck, the vibrations can be felt through a Sailor’s boots.

The Sailors causing this ruckus belong to the hab-itability (hab) team. They can be found throughout the ship as they remodel the 19 berthings assigned to them for the maintenance period.

Sailors from divisions and different rates all across the ship are coming together to completely tear down and rebuild berthings, a job that many of these Sailors were not trained to do.

It is normal for Sailors to be sent on temporarily assigned duty to places like the mess decks and to security. Only during a maintenance period like the one the Nimitz is undergoing do Sailors get split up into teams such as Deck and Tile, Paint or Habitabil-ity teams.

If the remodeling of the berthings is not finished by the time the ship is scheduled to pull of the yards, the ship’s yard period will have to be extended. The hab team is working as quickly and efficiently as possible to ensure they keep the ship on schedule to the best of their ability.

“Here the work is a little different,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Matthew Kelly, the hab team leading petty officer. “There is a timeline and we have a schedule. It’s a little bit more demanding and there is a little more sense of responsibility.”

The Sailors of the hab team are not just working to improve the ship. They are building the skills to work efficiently in a new environment with unfamil-iar people, improving the ‘shipmate’ portion of Nim-itz’ motto “Ship. Shipmate. Self.”

“It builds respect between the Sailors,” said Kel-ly. “It’s a learning process.”

In between the echoing sounds of metal meeting metal as Sailors pound at what is left of the racks Sailors once occupied, laughs can be heard coming from the members of the hab crew.

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AOAN Rebecca Martinez prepares a berthing for remodel.

HABITABILITYTEAMStory and photo by MC3(SW) Holly Herline

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Sailors who have worked together for no more than the last three months have become more than shipmates; they have become friends. It is clear to see by anyone who spends anytime near them.

“I love these guys,” said Ship’s Servicemen Seaman Deandrea Ross. “When I first got here I was by myself for a while. I didn’t really give anyone a chance to get to know me until I came here.”

Ross says that the friends he has made make all the tedious work he does worth it.

He is not only building strong relationships with his peers, he is also doing so with his leaders.

“This is really teaching me about team work and lead-ership,” said Ross. “We have our third and second classes working side by side with us instead of just supervising us.”

Ross said that his upper chain of command is also great. They look out for their Sailors, are very understand-ing of everyone’s needs and push them to get qualifica-tions. They are not only concerned with how their Sailors are working on the ship, but also their self-improvement.

Earning qualifications can become difficult during the time it takes for a Sailor to adjust to a new department and chain of command.

“I came here and found lots of people with warfare pins, and even some that were different than mine,” said Ross. “That really helps to be surrounded by people and get those connections throughout the ship; it’s good for learning and getting qualifications.”

It is hard to tell if the hab team is more beneficial to the ship or its crew. After all, the ship itself is really just a giant piece of metal tied to the pier. It’s the Sailors on-board who bring life to the ship and make it one of the nation’s most valuable defense assets. This maintenance period is giving the ship some much needed upkeep and its Sailors the chance to face some challenges and grow as shipmates and Sailors.

“It’s hard to work with new people and a new chain of command, but that’s life,” said Ross. “It throws you curveballs and you just have to deal with it. You adjust and you change, and eventually you become better be-cause of it.”

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STORY AND PHOTOS BY MC3(SW) LAUREN K. JENNINGS

ULTIMATE FUN,ULTIMATE FRIENDSHIP

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T he game of Ultimate frisbee is all about strategy. If no one’s open, you may be in a pickle. You need to pass the

disc down to your team members to get down to the end of the field, though you only have ten seconds to pass it and just three steps to use them in. Playing offensively and defensively against the opposing team takes teamwork and coordination.

For Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Rachel Kuebler, having a chance to play and compete with others on the international scale became more than playing the sport. It was a chance to build new friendships.

After a chance run in with someone trying to coordinate an Ultimate Frisbee team at the naval hospital where she worked in Guam, Kuebler only had a split second to decide if she wanted to join the team.

“They just happened to ask me if I wanted to be on it,” she said. “I hadn’t thought about doing any sports up to that point but I’m glad I didn’t turn down the opportunity to get in-volved in something big.”

Immediately after saying yes to signing up for the team, Kuebler began having practices. With approximately sixty people coming to the practices, the team organizers had more than enough to supply a team with Frisbee players.

Learning to play at a professional level with the official rules was not the easiest at first. With no experience ever playing the sport of Ultimate Frisbee, she had to build up her playing skills to match the level of the other players.

Kuebler realized this was a sport that any-one could learn to play on a competitive level.

“You don’t have to be a serious player al-ready,” she said. “Many people there weren’t to start off. Any team you join will help you out.”

The veteran players, she said, will definite-ly teach you if you’re doing it wrong.

Everyone Kuebler played with, and against, had their own style or technique in the way in which they would throw the Frisbee. Having noticed, she began to take advantage of this.

“I wanted to watch and learn for myself what techniques I wanted to take hold of,” she said. “Some people put their thumb on the side and two fingers underneath to hold on it. That’s what I do. Others use different techniques.”

Kuebler describes the sport as similar to soccer because of its intensive running factor. It’s about the flick of the wrist, too, she said;

that’s the key to how you want to throw.She recommends trying out Ultimate Fris-

bee or any similar activity, especially if sta-tioned overseas.

“You’d be surprised how many teams com-pete over there,” she said. “When I saw how they play on a global scale that blew my mind even more.”

As an international sport, her team was comprised of people from countries all over Asia, as well as locals and naval personnel.

“Getting the chance to spend time with them all, you get to know them and their cul-ture,” Kuebler said. “That’s the best part of playing with others.”

Surprisingly, language was not a barrier. With so many players who couldn’t speak En-glish, they had a system worked out of hand signals in which they could communicate throughout the games.

“We were teammates, and we had a cama-raderie that carried us towards our goal of fin-ishing well each game, but we were more than that,” said Kuebler. “We had become close outside the sport as well.”

Sticking together, the lot became a team playing and competing in tournaments all around Asia. As a B-pool level team, they weren’t as skilled as the A-pool teams. Yet, nevertheless, when Kuebler traveled back overseas in March to compete with her for-mer teammates in the Malaysia Worlds tour-nament, they went up against an A-pool team, the most highly skilled around and managed to finish in the top three teams, an amazing feat not seen too often.

Drawn back to play with her former team-mates, Kuebler continues to travel back to Asia whenever she can afford, in order to at-tend more tournaments like these.

“I don’t want to lose my connections over in Guam,” she said. “I’ll never meet players who respect the sport of Ultimate Frisbee as much as they do. I want to make sure I don’t lose their love for it.”

Now that she’s back in the states, Kuebler still practices just as much in order to not lose all the techniques and skills she picked up at her command in Asia.

“It’s important to me to do this, and to stay as active as I can in other sports as well,” she said. “If it weren’t for Guam, I might not be involved in the sport of Ultimate Frisbee. It’s surprising how much you can pick up and learn at a command from others.”

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FINISH TOGETHERNIMITZ TOUGH MUDDER TEAM

story and photos by mCsr Cody deCCio

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T hat’s the phrase reiterated over and over by members of the newly formed Nimitz Tough Mudder team. Since February, Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier

USS Nimitz (CVN 68) have met once a week to train as a team for mud run races and the “Tough Mudder.”

Every Tuesday from 1530 to 1700 you can find the mem-bers of the Nimitz Tough Mudder Team on Naval Base Kit-sap-Bremerton’s gym basketball courts training for their next run.

Once a month, the Nimitz Tough Mudder Team partic-ipates in a mud run race. In June, the team showed up to Seattle’s Survivor Run in force with 27 Sailors. The next race scheduled is the Warrior Dash, which will take place in the Tacoma area on July 18th, said Ashley Alford, the afloat fitness specialist aboard Nimitz.

Intelligence Technician 2nd Class Andrew Wilcox and Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Tom Perillat approached Alford about starting a team when she first ar-rived on Nimitz in March 2014.

“They were very adamant about starting a team,” said Alford. “However, with everything going on it was kind of tough to get a team going, so I promised them that once we arrived in Bremerton that it would be the first thing we worked on. In February they approached me about it again and we started the team.”

Now Wilcox and Perillat both serve as team captains, encouraging their shipmates and empowering the values of teamwork and devotion to one another.

“Camaraderie was the biggest reason for pushing for a tough mudder team,” said Wilcox. “You can only push yourself so far when you are alone. In a team environment though, everyone can pull from one another and help to

build each other up.”Wilcox added, Nimitz’ Tough Mudder team is all about

helping each other achieve more physically and learning what it means to really be there for those around you.

“I think it’s a great teambuilding exercise,” said Opera-tions Specialist 2nd Class Danielle Krieger. “Whether you’re in the best shape or not, you always know the team has your back if you start to struggle.”

Being part of the Nimitz Tough Mudder team not only provides a great opportunity to exercise in a group envi-ronment, it also gives Sailors an opportunity to save money while having fun.

“Personally, I’m a fan of mud runs, but it can get expen-sive,” said Krieger. “Going to the practices and being a part of the team provides great incentives, like helping pay for tickets to events.”

To help curve the expensive entry fees of mud runs and the Tough Mudder, Nimitz’ Moral, Welfare and Recreation is offering discounted tickets. However, due to limited avail-ability, you must join the Nimitz Tough Mudder Team to receive first dibs on the tickets. The team is currently still accepting anyone who wants to join.

According to Alford, committing to the team gives Sail-ors a great opportunity to get off base, get connected to their shipmates and provides great benefits.

“There’s no better time to become a part of something and play for a bigger cause,” she said.

Any Sailor up for a challenge and who wants to see what the Nimitz Tough Mudder Team is all about is welcomed to Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton’s gym basketball court on Tuesdays at 1530.

“Start aS a team, finiSh aS a team.”

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