Sea of Japan - Part 3

During the underway we got to see an UNREP (Underway Replenishment).

We took on food, aviation fuel, and other stuff.

Some goods were brought over by helicopter.

Finally, we had to COD off of the Ship immediately or we would be too far away from Okinawa and would have to stay onboard until Singapore. So, off we went after have a nice reception group meeting with the Commanding Officer to include ice water and pastries. That ice water was nice!

So, we caught the next COD flight and off we went.

Arriving at Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa.

I did not get too many photographs on Okinawa. We were there for 3 - 4 days, but stayed mostly on base for various reasons that I will not get into here. Still, here are the Shiisa.

Shiisa are normally presented in pairs. The one on the left has a closed mouth to keep the good spirits in.

The one on the right has an open mouth to chase away the evil spirits. This is the guardian.

These Shiisa are on guard at the main gate into Kadena AFB.

じゃあね

Sea of Japan - Part 2

I had too many photographs for a single post, so here are some more. These are more about the ship than the aircraft. It is hard to choose which photos to include, I have many that are of interest but I just cannot post them all.

Anyway, my accommodations were good. I was assigned to a two-man stateroom. Ahhhh, the privileges of a little seniority.

My bunk was the one on the top.

Cool things on the Ship include the enormous anchor, which we cannot see because of its location, and the anchor windlass that raises and lowers the anchor. Also cool is the enormous chain

...and the chain covers, decorated with the American and Japanese flags.

We took our meals in Wardroom 3

...with the officers. The junior enlisted mess decks are not quite so nice, although we ate exactly the same food.

While we were in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) we had many visitors from Busan. These included military and political VIPs (including extremely senior people) as well as local citizens. Everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoyed their visits. Hundreds of smiling faces were everywhere.

During the port call the hangar deck was decorated with the 13 starred flag.

It normally looks more like this...

As I have mentioned elsewhere, we were there during the military exercises that took place in the Sea of Japan (that irritated Kim Jong Il so much).

In this picture, the ship in front (to my left) is of the ROK Navy and the one behind (to my right) is of the U.S. Navy.

That's all for now. I will do one more Sea of Japan post to include some pictures in Okinawa.

じゃあね