The San Diego-based USS Carl Vinson will be off-line for the next seven months as it undergoes scheduled maintenance, according to the Navy.
The Vinson is entering what's known in the Navy as a planned incremental availability, or PIA, period until Feb. 1, 2013.
PIA manager Cmdr. Dan Lannamann says the Vinson will undergo deep maintenance:
"Deep maintenance means tearing into equipment or taking apart systems that are not going to be restored in a short period of time. It is a period where the ship is temporarily not available for war-time operations."
Roughly $110 million worth of repairs are planned for the Vinson. The aircraft carrier will be docked at Naval Air Station North Island for its PIA, while Sailors who normally live on the ship will move to Barracks Ship (APL-65).
The Vinson crew is in charge of making the repairs, with some outside help, according to Lannamann:
"We are going to come close to doubling the ship's population with the amount of outside assistance we are getting during PIA. We will have upwards of 1,500 non-ship's force personnel assisting with PIA in some way, shape or form."
