USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) pulled into its homeport at Naval Air Station North Island Dec. 18 after a 21-day underway period and a score of outstanding on the Tailored Ship's Training Availability and Final Evaluation Problem (TSTA/FEP).
This was the first opportunity for Ronald Reagan to operate with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 since the ship returned from a three-month surge deployment in April. Prior to getting underway for the compressed TSTA/FEP schedule, the ship completed a six-month planned incremental availability period ahead of schedule.
TSTA and FEP were conducted by Afloat Training Group (ATG) Pacific, and were designed to test a ship's ability to conduct multiple simultaneous combat missions and survive complex casualty situations under stressful conditions.
"I am extremely proud of the teamwork displayed by the Ronald Reagan crew to earn the grade of outstanding during TSTA/FEP," said Capt. Terry B. Kraft, Ronald Reagan's commanding officer. "The attitude and teamwork displayed by this crew was amazing."
Both TSTA and FEP focused on basic command and control, weapons employment, mobility (navigation, seamanship, damage control, engineering and flight operations) and warfare specialty.
The requirement to significantly challenge Ronald Reagan's damage control organization drove a large part of FEP scenario.
"Hands-on training, technical support and realistic drill scenarios contribute to Ronald Reagan's high state of warfighting readiness," said Senior Chief Damage Controlman (SW/AW) Brian Wilcox, who leads Ronald Reagan's damage control division.
Wilcox said he has confidence in the crew of Ronald Regan and that it was no surprise that the Sailors performed well for the team of evaluators.
During TSTA/FEP, Ronald Reagan conducted operations with other surface assets from the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group including USS Chancellorsville (CG 62), USS Howard (DDG 83), USS Gridley (DDG 101) and USS Thach (FFG 43).
While underway for the training the crew of Ronald Reagan and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 4 also conducted the emergency rescue of a 14-year old suffering from a ruptured appendix aboard the cruise ship "Princess Dawn."
