Point Loma/Navy/Wilco
In June, 2006, I was fortunate enough to take part in this joint exercise, Valiant Shield. I spent a good number of years in the U. S. Navy and went to San Diego for my two week annual training requirement thinking that I ‘d have time to spend my evenings surfing a great break at Point Loma, but it wasn’t to be. Little did I know that I signed up for one of the largest joint exercises in history. No days off and a 14 hour workday. Great experience, but it would have been nice to have surfed the below break just once.
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) (foreground), USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) (middle), USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and their associated carrier strike groups steam in formation while 17 aircraft from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps fly over them while preparing for exercise Valiant Shield 2006, the largest joint exercise in recent history. The exercise included 28 Naval vessels including three carrier strike groups. Nearly 300 aircraft and approximately 22,000 service members from the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard participated in the exercise.
I was working in the Third Fleet Headquarters building 400 feet up a cliff from this break. Got to watch guys like this rip 10 hours a day. I didn’t even dip my toenail in the Pacific.
Point Loma, San Diego
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Only one month until the show…
