USS George H.W. Bush Redelivered to Fleet, Departs for Flight Deck Certification

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathan A. Bailey, USS George H.W. Bush Public Affairs

USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH, At Sea (NNS) -- USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) departed Naval Station Norfolk, Va., for flight deck certification Feb. 2, three days after successfully completing Sea Trials.

Bush embarked elements of Carrier Air Wing 8 to conduct flight deck certification and carrier qualifications following the ship's redelivery to the fleet. The crew recently completed an intensive seven-month Post Shakedown Availability/Selective Restrictive Availability (PSA/SRA) at Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding, concluding with Sea Trials Jan. 27-29.

"USS George H.W. Bush successfully completed tests that ensured the operability of the ship's navigation, communication and combat systems suites; as well as the ship's propulsion and steering; aircraft launch, recovery and fueling systems; and habitability systems including food preparation and waste processing systems," said Cmdr. Shannon D. Terhune, Bush's chief engineer.

Terhune said it was only through the teamwork and cooperation between ship's force, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Program Manager for Ships (In-Service Aircraft Carriers), Commander Naval Air Forces Atlantic (Maintenance and Material), Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair (Newport News), and more than 20 separate contractor organizations that resulted in an unprecedented level of efficiency in the execution of production work on the ship.

Due to inclement weather, the ship was unable to complete every test on the list, but all required tests to officially complete PSA/SRA were satisfactorily accomplished, said Terhune. Other non-essential tests for the ship's next mission will be rescheduled for future underway and is not expected to impact future operations, he said.