The Navy held another information meeting last Wednesday for worried family members of the USS Ronald Reagan crew, and other ships involved in Operation Tomodachi. Today the minutes from that meeting were posted on Facebook.
VADM Myers, Commander Naval Air Forces, held the meeting at NAS Whidbey in Washington state. It was video teleconferenced to Coronado, where family members were able to ask questions to military officials. Here are some of those questions and answers about the future of the USS Ronald Reagan's involvement in Operation Tomodachi.
- Q: What does this mean for their deployment schedules? A: We don't discuss schedule specifics, we are watching that closely. This relief effort remains a very important mission.
- Q: What factors determine when squadrons return to Atsugi, family members return, personnel transfers resume? A: Leadership is working now to determine what the criteria are for all phases of returning our forces from Japan. We'll provide more information as that gets worked out.
- Q: If we continue with a continuing resolution or there is a government shutdown, will the operation stop? A: The short answer is no, operations would continue at the cost of other portions of our Navy. We are very hopeful we will have a budget before the CR expires.
- Q: When will the mail catch up for the REAGAN Battle Group? A. We'll find out and get word back to you. Reagan conducted a replenishment-at-sea (RAS) a few days ago - so hopefully more mail got delivered to the ship. They remain well-supplied. In fact the ship conducted its own donation collection drive on 19 March for items to send ashore with the relief.
It looks like these Wednesday town hall meetings will be a weekly occurrence. VADM Myers is planning to provide another update next Wednesday, March 30 at 7pm in the CNAF Auditorium at Naval Base Coronado.
