President Johnson Toribiong said that the USS George Washington made a detour near Palau to pay a courtesy visit.
“Palau now feels secure with the U.S. presence in the Pacific,” Toribiong told reporters.Toribiong was joined by 19 others who were flown to the aircraft carrier via carrier board delivery.Toribiong said the warship was located 160 kilometers north of Palau and kept moving while the delegation tours the enormous ship for at least five hours.The president said that with the U.S. presence the community can feel secured from any security threats.Toribiong said that during the visit the aircraft’s Rear Admiral Kevin Donegam president him a plaque bestowing condolences to the family of Army Sgt. Jasper Obakrairur.The country mourned the loss of Obakrairur who was killed while on tour of duty in Afghanistan on June 1.He said that he will be giving the plaque to the soldier’s family.The president said this is the first time that Palauan officials were invited to visit the aircraft.The president said that he met some of the crewmembers of the vessel and saw the aircraft’s capabilities.USS George Washington (CVN 73) is the sixth ship in the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered supercarriers.George Washington (commonly known as GW) is 1,092 ft (333 m) long, 257 ft (78 m) wide and is as high as a twenty-four-story building, at 244 feet (74 m). The super carrier can accommodate approximately 80 aircraft and has a flight deck 4.5 acres (18,000 m²) in size, using four elevators that are 3,880 ft² (360 m²) each to move planes between the flight deck and the hangar bay. With a combat load, GW displaces almost 97,000 tons and can accommodate 6,250 crewmembers.The U.S. military does not release specific numbers on how many Palauans are currently serving, but locals regularly claim that that per capita, Palau contributes more personnel to the military than the U.S.On Tuesday, the country mourned the recent death of Jasper Obakrairur, a 26-year-old U.S. Army sergeant and the first Palauan killed in Afghanistan. For a country of just 20,000, the casualty represented a national tragedy — a fact repeatedly acknowledged Sunday by crew members of the USS George Washington.”Our condolences for your recent loss,” Rear Adm. Kevin Donegan said to the Palauan officials.The visit to the carrier reminded Reklai Bao Ngirmang, one of Palau’s top two traditional chiefs who serves as an adviser to the president, of his own past as a Vietnam vet and a nearly three-decade career in the Marine Corps.”I miss it,” Ngirmang, 76, said.Watching the F-18s landing in front of him, he peppered nearby crew members with questions and marveled at the precision of the operation.”Everyone knows their job, and it’s all perfectly coordinated,” Ngirmang said. “Beautiful.”The George Washington is the crown jewel of the U.S. 7th Fleet based at Yokosuka Naval Base near Tokyo. It spends about half the year at sea.
