USS Gettysburg Hosts Carrier Strike Group Eight

Tidd is the Commander Carrier Strike Group Eight (CSG 8) which is centered on the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower (CVN 69). Gettysburg recently joined CSG 8 in preparation for its spring 2009 deployment. The visit was Tidd's first time on board Gettysburg and served as a formal introduction of the crew into Carrier Strike Group Eight.

Tidd was appointed as Commander, Carrier Strike Group Eight last month and is currently embarked in the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN69). . He most recently served on the National Security Council Staff as Director of Strategic Capabilities Policy, responsible for national deterrence policy.

Tidd has had extensive sea duty assignments throughout his career which include Commanding Officer, USS Arthur W. Radford (DD 968); Executive Officer, USS Leftwich (DD 984); Operations Officer, USS Deyo (DD 989) and Communication Officer and MPA, USS Semmes (DDG 18).

Tidd was flown to Gettysburg from USS Eisenhower by the HS-5 Night Dippers on an SH-60F. After arriving RDML Tidd joined the Gettysburg Wardroom for lunch which provided an ideal forum for a lively roundtable about Gettysburg's role in the Strike Group and the priorities of the Strike Group heading into deployment. After the lunch Tidd had a meeting in the Chief Petty Officer's mess where he again laid out Gettysburg's role in supporting the Strike Group and the importance of strong deck plate leadership in achieving strong results.

In addition to meeting with Gettysburg's leadership Tidd spent more than an hour touring Gettysburg and meeting with the crew in their workspaces. The tour led the admiral through the Mess Decks, Combat Spaces, Engineering Spaces, and Administrative Spaces providing him a view of Gettysburg's teamwork in action and allowed one-on-one interaction with the Sailors.

While Tidd has not served aboard a Ticonderoga Class Cruiser, his experiences aboard the Spruance Class Destroyers, which share the hull and engineering spaces with the Ticonderoga Class, made his trip down to the propulsion and auxiliary spaces particularly memorable. In his address on the ship's announcement system, Tidd told the crew that now is the time to prepare for deployment since because in less than180 days Gettysburg, will be entering a combat zone and the Strike Group will be fulfilling the different missions it had trained for.

Throughout the tour, Gettysburg Sailors stood proud in their work centers as they showed off the jewel of the cruiser fleet. Tidd commented several times that the ship is in pristine condition which is a direct reflection upon the hard work of all the Sailors who work hard hours ensuring the material condition of Gettysburg is maintained. Also noticeable throughout the tour was the professionalism of the crew shown in answering questions about the ship and by their personal presentation.

Gettysburg was honored to host Tidd onboard and looks forward to serving in Carrier Strike Group Eight during the works up for and our subsequent spring 2009 deployment.