the crew
Personnel Specialist Second Class Ilpa Patel
1999 from her home in Gujarat state, India. A payroll specialist who met her husband when she was living in Atlanta, Patel was not a citizen when she joined the Navy in 2004. Nevertheless, with the support of her family in India and husband here in the United States, she has prospered in the Navy. With a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and working on a master’s in health services administration, Patel has plans to become an officer soon, and wants to stay in the Navy. She believes that the best thing to do for the nation is to serve. Raised in a very conservative society in India, Patel’s dream has always been to be part of the Navy, having watched the television show JAG, and said of her assignment to PCU Bush, “Bringing a ship to life is a once-in-a-lifetime honor.” Another PCU Bush sailor who brings a foreign perspective is Machinist’s Mate Second Class Babajide Olowu, who, while born in Springfield, Ill., grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. Following his return stateside, he enlisted in the Navy and went to submarine school, serving aboard USS Oklahoma City (SSN 723) for more than four years. Wanting to know what life was like on a carrier or surface ship, Olowu quickly found a slot on PCU Bush, and joined her in Newport News. Despite the hard work of putting Bush into commission, Olowu said, “After growing up in Lagos, this is easy … my plans are actually to go to school and then hopefully be commissioned someday. …”
THE OTHER CREWMAN: “41”
Machinist’s Mate Second Class Babajide Olowu
This account of the PCU crew of CVN 77 would be unfinished if the one crewman who has influenced it most were not mentioned: President George H.W. Bush. Ever since the announcement in December 2002 that CVN 77 would be named after the 41st president of the United States, George H.W. Bush and his family have been passionately and regularly involved in her construction and fitting out. “41,” as the crew respectfully refers to him, has visited Newport News regularly since the announcement, something the crew and shipyard personnel have embraced and of which they are deeply proud. Along with the ceremonial events like the keel laying in 2003 and christening in 2006, Bush has been present for a number of significant construction milestones. When the island superlift was laid onto the deck in July 2006, Bush and O’Flaherty both placed their naval aviator “wings of gold” under the 700-ton structure just before it was dropped into place. Called “stepping the mast,” it is a nautical construction custom going back to antiquity. This was, however, the first time in anyone’s memory that an aircraft carrier’s namesake had participated in such an event. More recently, in January 2008, 41 came to Newport News to assist shipbuilders and PCU Bush sailors as they conducted catapult testing. Signing his name to one of the “deadload” trolleys, the former president gave the signal for the catapult to be fired, and the wheeled load was launched into the James River. Have no doubt 41 is as proud of the ship that bears his name, and the crew that man her, as America is of him.
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