I had the privilege to visit CVN-75 in the summer 2000. As I was writing about the carrier battle in Reap the Whirlwind at the time, this was extremely helpful visit. CVN-75 was the newest Nimitz class carrier (the Ronald Reagan would not be christened until March 2001). I am thankful to my hosts for allowing access to Norfolk Naval Base, and for a private tour of the flag bridge.

These ships displace 93,000 tons, carry an average crew of 5500 sailors and have a flight deck a bit larger than 5 acres. These are very impressive ships. CVN-75 has been blooded as the crew participated on raid into Iraq shortly after George W. Bush became president.

You will notice additional photos (as they come available) of our Navy sailing to engage the cowards who killed men, women and children on the Terrible Tuesday, September 11, 2001. As Americans, we should not fear those who have brought battle to our shores. Instead, they should fear us, for we are coming and our wrath is terrible.

The normal air compliment is as follows:

14 x F-14A Fighters  (Tomcat)

36 x F/A-18 Fighter/Bombers (Hornet)

4 x EA-6B Electronic Warfare (Prowler)

4 x E-2C AWACS (Hawkeye)

8 x S-3B Anti-Submarine Warfare (Viking)

2 x C2-A Cargo/transport (Greyhound)

4 x SH-60F ASW (Skyhawk)

2 x HH-60H ASW (Skyhawk)