Navy’s Newest Carrier USS George HW Bush Gets First Deployment

The USS George H.W. Bush, the United States’ newest nuclear powered aircraft carrier, has embarked on its maiden deployment, under the leadership of the first woman to ever command a carrier strike group.

The carrier's first assignment is to support maritime security in Europe and the Middle East over the next six months, although it isn’t uncommon for cruises to be extended due to world events.

As strike group commander, Rear Admiral Nora Tyson will be responsible for roughly 6,000 sailors aboard five ships as well as eight aircraft squadrons.

The USS Bush is named in honor of the 41st president, who attended its commissioning in January 2009.

Rear Admiral Tyson is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and she has background in Naval aviation. She earned her wings as a naval flight officer in 1983, four years after she entered the Navy following graduation at Vanderbilt University.

Among other assignments, Tyson has served as director of staff for Naval Forces Europe and most recently as commander of a logistics group in the western Pacific.

via USS George H.W. Bush has embarked on its maiden deployment | Texas on the Potomac | a Chron.com blog.

The USS Bush is the last ship of the 10-carrier Nimitz class.  It's been training with the other four ships in the strike group for the past nine months in preparation for the deployment.