USS San Diego Commissioning

Today the Young Men attended the commissioning of the newest Navy ship, the U.S.S. San Diego, LPD-22.  This is unique for a ship to be harbored in the city with its name.  The City of San Diego provided memorabilia for the ship and the various hallways had well known San Diego Street Signs (Balboa, Mission Bay, etc.).  Even their mess hall is named "Gas Lamp Cafe".

We had a good turnout - 16 boys and 4 adults.  We attended the commissioning ceremony (hopefully the boys can learn a lesson on ceremony for their own scout meetings).

Afterwards, we toured the ship (LPD stands for  "Landing Platform Dock").  It has a large platform that opens in the back and a bay that can be flooded to let smaller boats in and out.  Here the boys got to climb in and out of a tank and an amphibious assault vehicle.

Next the boys were on to an area of the ship with various hands-on-gun displays: machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, even a Javlein missile launcher.  Guess who this is?

The boys seemed to enjoy themselves.  Thanks to Charles Eshnaur for his connection with the Mayor's Office, getting tickets to this event and getting us streamlined on our tour.