ABOARD THE USS CARL VINSON IN THE PERSIAN GULF — Even as the U.S. Navy’s top officer was serving cake to enlisted sailors on the mess decks during a special Thanksgiving Day meal, flight deck crews were launching aircraft in support of the ongoing strikes against Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria.

Besides the 112 turkeys, some holiday decorations and the visit by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, it was simply another day at work for the Vinson crew. The ship has been fully committed to Operation Inherent Resolve since mid-October, when it took over the mission in the Persian Gulf from the USS George H.W. Bush.

“The next day we were flying combat missions, and we haven’t stopped,” said Capt. Karl Thomas, the Vinson’s commander. Officials said the Vinson has flown more than 500 sorties in support of the operation.

“We are doing the mission on Thanksgiving Day and haven’t heard one complaint about it,” he said.

Sailors were treated to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner that included all the common fixings — a meal that took more than 14 hours of preparation to feed the 4,900 sailors aboard the ship.

It’s the third consecutive year Greenert has spent Thanksgiving visiting sailors on ships deployed to the Middle East. He said he uses the opportunity to “listen and learn.” This year, lengthy deployments and grievances about current shipboard uniforms topped the list of concerns sailors expressed to Greenert.

Throughout the day he visited several ships in the region but had dinner aboard the Vinson with E-6-and-below sailors.

Seaman Ekwele Nwalipenja, who was seated near Greenert at dinner, told Stars and Stripes he had a pleasant conversation with the admiral.

“It’s encouraging and inspiring to talk to the CNO,” he said.

“It’s absolutely important that we get out and spend time with our sailors and have a face-to-face conversation with them on a regular basis,” said Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens, who accompanied Greenert on the visit. “I wanted to come out here and let them know that we care about them, and I’m not ashamed to say that we love them.”

The San Diego-based Vinson is accompanied in the region by the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and the guided-missile destroyers USS Gridley, USS Sterett and USS Dewey. The entire strike group left home Aug. 22 on a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific and the Middle East.

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