USS Bush holds change of command ceremony, sailors ‘deployment-ready’ after fast-paced 9 months

Training for deployment off the Virginia coast, USS George H.W. Bush steamed a distance longer than the circumference of the Earth, said Rear Adm. Dennis Velez, commander of the Bush’s carrier strike group.

It hit every certification — including the tough ones for its nuclear reactors — on the first pass, and launched and recovered 5,000 planes without a mishap, Velez told the change of command ceremony to honor the captain who led Bush’s crew through a shipyard spell and then a fast-paced nine months to prepare for deployment.

The admiral praised Capt. Robert Aguilar, then the captain praised the crew in a heartfelt speech.

“The officers, chiefs, and sailors of George H.W. Bush are deployment-ready,” Aguilar said. “They will perform and fight and win.”

The Bush’s new commander, Capt. David-Tavis Pollard, said the crew is about to face its stiffest test — the COMPTUEX, or Composite Training Unit Exercise that tells the Pentagon that the ships and air wing of the carrier strike group are ready for anything.

“Together, we will embody the legacy of service, grit, humility, and resilience of our namesake — President George H.W. Bush,” Pollard said. “There is nothing we cannot accomplish together.”

Aguilar is retiring after a 30-year career — “I think it’s a fair bet that a younger Robert Aguilar had no idea 30-plus years ago that he’d one day be the first Texan to lead the aircraft carrier named after President George H.W. Bush,” Velez said.

Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com