As Carl Vinson returns, mum is still the word - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

As Carl Vinson returns, mum is still the word

SAN DIEGO — The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson returns home Wednesday from a six-month deployment that included sending warplanes on combat missions over Afghanistan, dropping eight tons of bombs and missiles and intercepting pirates who threatened ships at sea. But the ship and crew have suddenly become superstars for their role in another mission — sending terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to his final resting place.

When more than a dozen news outlets gathered Monday to ask the ship’s skipper about the deployment, reporters were told that questions about bin Laden wouldn’t be answered or details provided because of operational security of the mission, which Carl Vinson’s crew conducted in the Arabian Sea near the end of their time in the 5th Fleet region.

Still, the opening question to Capt. Bruce Lindsey sought his personal reaction and ship’s preparations to support the mission.

“I cannot comment on any aspects of that mission,” Lindsey said, speaking from the ship by satellite phone during a 50-minute teleconference interrupted by poor reception and interference.

“I’m a good sailor, 24/7. We have no comment on that mission.”

Still, perhaps the most famous at-sea burial was the elephant in the room. Several times, reporters asked Lindsey about his sailors’ reaction, the ship’s legacy in being part of a historic mission, and the crew morale and mood in the day before the mission, but he politely declined to get into any specifics and even avoided most generalities. “They have been part of history, and they should be very proud of the part that they played,” he said of the crew.

At one point, Lindsey was asked by a radio host for his thoughts about a California man who reportedly plans to leave for the Arabian Sea with a personal mission of finding bin Laden’s body somewhere in the ocean.

Lindsey paused, and said, “OK, that’ll be an interesting mission, and I hope he has a lot of money.”

He later noted that the Navy, of course, knows the specific coordinates of the location of bin Laden’s burial ground.

“I’m pretty sure we’ve executed that mission very, very well,” he said, adding, “I’m sure he’ll need a heck of a lot of money, and he’ll have to look a long time.”