USS Nimitz sailors prepare for 2017 deployment

Sailors assigned to USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the U.S. Navy’s lead ship in the class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, have completed their tailored ship’s training availability and final evaluation problem (TSTA/FEP) on December 8.

By doing so, sailors completed the ship’s 180-day, inter-deployment training cycle basic phase in only 54 days.

TSTA is the final part of a ship’s basic phase training cycle, which includes command assessment of readiness and training (CART) II, and TSTA in-port.

It is the first step in proving a crew’s readiness for composite training exercise (COMPTUEX) and other exercises which test a ship’s proficiency before deployment.

TSTA/FEP was completed in a total of 30 in-port and underway days, and represents a major step toward Nimitz becoming certified for its upcoming 2017 deployment.

According to Cmdr. Wilbert Wafford, afloat training group (ATG) Pacific training liaison officer, Nimitz completed basic phase with an overall score of 97 percent.

“It’s hard to tell this crew was in the yards for 21 months straight,” said Capt. John Ring, commanding officer of Nimitz. “They are performing exceptionally, and I couldn’t be more proud of this ship and its crew.”

TSTA/FEP exercises most major warfare areas aboard, including damage control, engineering, navigation, deck, combat systems, air, safety, intelligence, supply, operations, and security. It also integrates the air wing in order to build proficiency on the flight deck.

After the completion of TSTA, Nimitz and her crew moved onto FEP, the final stage of the basic phase training cycle.