This was a news article that was released a day before we pulled into our first port visit, which was very very exciting! Enjoy:

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The Yanks Are Coming!

(PORTSMOUTH NEWS (UK))

Portsmouth is bracing itself for the arrival of up to 6,000 American
sailors as the world’s newest and most powerful warship anchors in the
Solent.

USS George H W Bush will drop anchor in Stokes Bay, Gosport, on Friday
after taking part in the biggest training exercise hosted by the Royal
Navy in recent years.

The 1,100ft super carrier – with a ship’s company of more than 5,300 –
will be joined by an American destroyer and the Spanish frigate
ESPS Almirante Juan De Borbon – meaning almost 6,000 sailors and airmen
will descend on the city until Tuesday.

Portsmouth bars and clubs are preparing for a bumper bank holiday
weekend as the sailors let off steam.

Peter Emery, Gunwharf Quays centre manager, said: ‘US ships have come
alongside here before, and what tends to happen is it provides a huge
boost to everything from retail to food and beverages. Last time they
came we had been drunk completely dry of Budweiser within a couple of
days, so we are bearing that in mind. <–(Bidweiser. Really?!                                                                                                                        Wouldn’t have guessed that.)
‘But in general the Americans are incredibly well behaved and act like
absolute gentlemen.’ <–(they forgot to add “and ladies” to this sentence.)

Southsea seafront manager David Evans said: ‘The cafes, pubs and bars
will obviously benefit, but they might also take this opportunity to
visit the D-Day and Royal Marines Museums. Obviously they could travel
up to London, but I’m sure many of them will take advantage of the
opportunity to explore Portsmouth.’

A mammoth policing operation has been planned for the weekend, with the
US Navy paying Hampshire Police to provide two extra sergeants and 12
extra police officers to patrol the streets. They will be joined by six
senior US sailors.

While more senior ranking US sailors have been given extended shore
leave and may head to London, many junior ranked sailors are set to hit
Portsmouth as they will have to be back on board by 1am each morning.

The Bush – named after the US President who held office in 1989 to 1993
– is the largest US warship to stay over since USS Theodore Roosevelt
stopped in Stokes Bay in 2009.

Police operations planner PC Alan Hockley said: ‘In 2009 [the operation] went fine.

‘We had no issues

**This is all I’m going to leave you with tonight, stay tuned for updates on our first port visit of the deployment!

For a complete listing of all of my deployment articles Click the Link: MY FIRST DEPLOYMENT

This article appeared first in the UK news and second on Dynamic Soarer.