San Diego

USS Theodore Roosevelt Returns to SD

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt returned to San Diego Thursday after several weeks out to sea for training.

The Roosevelt departed San Diego on Aug. 1 with the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group to complete a Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) and prepare for deployment, according to a statement from the U.S. Navy.

“COMPTUEX evaluates our ability to engage in operations safely and effectively while providing our crews with additional focus areas so as a team we are prepared for anything,” said Rear Adm. Steve Koehler, commander of Carrier Strike Group Nine, in a military statement.

Sailors engaged in safety evolutions, search and rescue operations, damage control tests, as well as surface, air and anti-submarine exercises, according to the statement.

One of the exercises resulted in a civilian pilot being rescued after ejecting from his Hawker Hunter jet off the coast of Point Loma on Aug. 22.

The pilot was rescued by a helicopter assigned to a helicopter squadron aboard the Roosevelt. 

The reason for the pilot’s ejection is not available. However, the military said the pilot was hired by the contracting company Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, which was playing the role of the enemy during COMPTUEX.

The Roosevelt participated in COMPTUEX with Destroyer Squadron 23 onboard and the Squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 17, the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill and the destroyers USS Halsey, USS Higgins, USS Preble and USS Sampson, according to the U.S. Navy.

COMPTUEX is the last phase of preparation before deployment, which is scheduled for the Roosevelt later this year, according to a military statement. 

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