NORFOLK, Va. — With a military entourage, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, boarded and toured the USS Ramage in port at Naval Station Norfolk Friday, Feb. 9.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff took some time Friday to thank sailors in Hampton Roads for their service.
He also toured the USS Gerald R. Ford.
Both ships returned home in January after a more-than-eight-month deployment, part of which was spent supporting the U.S. response to the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
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“We’ve got to stay focused. At the same time, we’ve got to be thoughtful about the approaches we take," Brown said when asked about his thoughts on the fighting in the Middle East. "We do not want to have a miscalculation and have something spread much broader than it already is."
The fighting is one of the topics he spoke to reporters about after his tours.
He also offered condolences for the U.S. service members who recently died in Jordan and California and spoke about the lack of Navy housing.
Watch Chairman of the Joint Chiefs full interview:
“We’re trying to work to not have to stay on ships when they come back home," Brown emphasized. "We’ll continue to work and improve to make sure we do all the things to support, particularly, our most junior service members and their families.”
The last topic he addressed was mental health challenges among service members, something that has been tragically highlighted in Hampton Roads with multiple sailor suicides.
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“We’ve got to make sure we’re doing the things to make sure when our young men and women have a challenge they have someone to talk to, someone who can help them through that tough problem. At the same time, provide a range of services to be able to support them," said Brown.
Two sailors on the Ramage who got to interact with the Chairman, including receiving a ceremonial coin from him, said they appreciate the visit.
"It was pretty great," said Matthew Redding, a gas turbon systems mechanic third class on the USS Ramage. "It shows that he actually cares for all of us."
"It was pretty good to get to have a conversation with the Chairman, get to show him what we do in combat and show him how we operate," said Charkevious Doston, a fire controlman second class on the USS Ramage.
An opportunity they likely won’t soon forget.
