SKIPPER's CORNER

Greetings from the Med. It’s great to have our tour of the Red Sea and North Arabian Gulf behind us. The heat was as challenging as we expected; however, the TOPHATTER team excelled yet again with combat-ready aircraft flying missions over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch. Most recently, we completed an exercise with Oman, superbly coordinated.

Our port schedule has changed due to problems contracting required services for the ship. Our planned visit to Antalya, Turkey has been cancelled and it looks like we’re going to Terragona, Spain instead of Malaga. We’re all looking forward to a much deserved rest and our last opportunity to "shop" before our transit home.

I can’t thank you enough for your love and support throughout deployment. Especially our Ombudsman, Kathie Grady and Kim Caswell, and our Family Support Group led by Donna Bowers.

We are counting the days with you until our return. I could not be prouder of "your" TOPHATTER’s performance throughout the deployment. The best part of deployment is approaching fast -- our return home.

CDR Luke Parent