The future USS America passed under the Golden Gate bridge Monday as it entered San Francisco harbor in preps for its next milestone — joining the fleet.
The first-in-class amphibious assault ship is to be commissioned into the service Saturday amid Fleet Week and is planning a series of outreach events with the community, including having sailors visit locals schools or accompany emergency medical technicians on ride-alongs.
"I believe [ride-alongs] are great ways for Sailors, whether they're already in the medical field or are thinking about pursuing it, to see how it's done in the civilian sector," said Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Thomas Holder, according to a Navy newsstand story.
The big deck gator embarked 300 Marines from a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force South and completed a one-of-a-kind sailaround around Central and South America in September. The two-month journey from Pascagoula, Mississippi, where it was built, to its first home-port in San Diego took the crew around Cape Horn. Their stops included Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Valparaiso, Chile; and Callao, Peru.
