US Navy Carrier USS Carl Vinson visits the Philippines: 6000 American Sailors in Manila

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When In Manila, after having been out to sea for days, the Manila Bay port is the perfect place to park your Nimitz Class Supercarrier and escort Destroyer and Cruiser type vessels holding a total of over 6000 sailors and marines… just in case you had one of those…

 

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I just wanted to say thanks to the American Embassy for inviting me and Hannah of FlairCandy.com over for an exclusive tour of this giant in the water! We were invited to visit the nuclear carrier: USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) which was anchored about 30 minutes outside of Manila Bay.

 

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For those of you that didn’t know, I was actually in the military, in the United States Navy. I was an Information Systems Technician Second Class (IT2). I actually joined the United States Military in Los Angeles after dropping out of high school. I wasn’t actually sure what I wanted to do with my life then and I didn’t have much money for college. Coincidentally, some of my buddies from my first ever job, at Burger King, were talking to a US Navy recruiter. One thing led to another, along with promises of money for college and good job training, and I was off to Naval enlisted boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois!

 

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Long story short, after four years in the US Navy, being stationed in San Diego, going through two Western Pacific Deployments (WestPac), witnessing 9/11, traveling to over a dozen different countries and two ships later (the USS Elliot DD-967 and the USS Fletcher DD-992, Destroyer Class Ships) I went back to school at San Diego State University and now, somehow ended up blogging and being a radio DJ in the Philippines!

 

Talk about summarizing a life!

 

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Anyway, it was really nostalgic seeing the metal ship again! From the little things like the steel bulkheads (walls), to the polished decks (floors), the colors flying high (flags) and all the quarterdecks, ports, hulls and all the other navy terms! In short, it was great to see a US Navy ship again!

 

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The USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) came to Manila for a port visit. It’s really convenient now for the sailors on board as the giant Mall of Asia sits right there for them to get some much needed shopping and fun.

 

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We got to meet Admirals, Captains, sailors and the US Ambassador to the Philippines: Harry K. Thomas Jr.

 

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The ship was in tip-top shape and it was really a lot of fun to see this aircraft carrier in all it’s glory! The planes, helos (helicopters) and all the other smaller crafts on this carrier were also laid out for us to see. The Carl Vinson flight deck was also a sight to behold against Manila Bay in the background.

 

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Oh and it was also cool to see Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim who was on the same small boat with us that took us the the Carl Vinson.

 

(Thanks to Karla Redor of https://www.pinoytravelr.com/blog/ for this photo with Mayor Alfredo Lim)

 

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I’m really just nostalgic and homesick while writing this. Being in the Navy was a big part of my life and I really wouldn’t change it for the world.

 

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I’ll just leave it to the pictures we took on the USS Carl Vinson to tell the rest of the story about our visit here in Manila, Philippines.

 

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Again, thanks to the officers and crew of the USS Carl Vinson for giving us this opportunity to come onboard. Thanks to the American Embassy in the Philippines for making this possible as well!

 

To all the sailors out there, When In Manila, check out our site WhenInManila.com to find the coolest things to do in and around Manila, the Philippines and the world!!!

 

Now carry on sailors…. carry on….

 

HOORAH!!!

 

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US Navy Carrier USS Carl Vinson visits the Philippines: 6000 American Sailors in Manila