PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- Sailors aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) got the ship underway from Pearl Harbor with more than 1,100 friends and family members aboard for a Tiger Cruise, Aug. 5.

Tiger Cruise allows friends and family members of Sailors to experience life on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, and to better understand how their Sailors live and work at sea.

"My dad really wanted to come and see everything," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Airman Apprentice Jason Langley, from Sacramento, California, who brought his father aboard.

The Langley family has had five generations of Sailors, with the exception of his father, Brian Langley. Brian wanted to come aboard to have some of the same experiences as other members of his family.

"It's pretty crazy; it's different from where I live and work," said Brian Langley. "It's neat, though, especially from my point of view. It isn't something I can see every day."

Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) has been planning the cruise since the first day of John C. Stennis' deployment in mid-January.

During the cruise, tigers will take tours of the ship, see an airshow by Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9 and observe informational demonstrations set up by various shipboard departments. MWR is also providing live entertainment every night during the cruise.

"It's an opportunity to see what the Navy does," said Chris Cation, John C. Stennis' MWR director, from Union, Washington. "As major of an asset as John C. Stennis is, [the tigers] get the opportunity to come aboard and see firsthand what they normally can only see on the news."

Providing a combat-ready force to protect collective maritime interests, John C. Stennis is on a regularly scheduled Western Pacific deployment.
Moe