The pressure is high and getting higher for the crew of the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier.
Before it deploys , the ship’s company of 2,700 sailors, the 1,500 sailors of the air wing and five surface ships will face a challenge.
Last week, the carrier left Naval Station Norfolk on its composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX).
The complex exercise is the last hurdle before the unit is “certified for national tasking".
As part of the exercise, the carrier crew is working to meet the launch and recover stats of the existing Nimitz class.
COMPTUEX will be the carrier’s first voyage with a full air wing of about 80 aircraft.
The $13.3 billion carrier was set to deploy in 2018 but was delayed by technical problems with its launch.
The crew is looking to work all the basics that a strike group would normally do in terms of communications and operations.