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My late father enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He didn’t make a career of the military, but his fascination with US Navy ships lasted a lifetime. Once while he and my mother were visiting me in my first diplomatic posting in Jamaica, we drove past a U.S. ship paying a port visit. “Pull over, Kristie!” my Dad shouted with enthusiasm. “Let’s see if they will let us tour the ship.” Much to my surprise, the slightly bemused ship’s Captain graciously invited the Kenney family aboard for a tour.

Dad passed that fascination on to me and the Philippines is a great diplomatic posting for me to see U.S. Navy ships. Nearly 100 Navy ships pay goodwill calls in Filipino ports each year. They take on fuel and food and do community service projects in the ports they visit.

This week, a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier arrives for a port visit in Manila. The crew will spend their time here doing community service projects from painting schools, to reading to children, to planting trees. They will even join the Filipino Navy in a coastal cleanup.

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Senior Filipino military officers, some Embassy staff and I got to fly out to the aircraft carrier while it was still far out at sea to watch flight operations from the carrier deck. Talk about exciting! We felt like we were in the movie “Top Gun.” We watched the crew perform perfectly correographed maneuvers to let jets take off and land within minutes. The young crew (average age is 20 and more than 22 percent of the crew is Filipino-American) executed their roles to perfection with great attention to safety at every step. We ended the day covered in sweat and jet exhaust but thrilled to have shared such a great naval adventure.