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Carrier USS Kennedy decommissioned By RON WORD, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER,The Seattle Intelligencer, Friday, March 23, 2007. Sailors reach for a pallet of surplus equipment being unloaded from the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, Tuesday, March 20, 2007, at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. The Kennedy is being decommissioned March 23. (AP Photo/Oscar Sosa) MAYPORT, Fla. -- Sailors in blue lined the deck of the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy on Friday as guns boomed to commemorate the decommissioning of "Big John" after nearly 40 years of service. Officers gathered in front of a screen displaying a large American flag,...

WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain said he has serious concerns about the current and planned U.S. military presence in the Pacific and said operations in Iraq and Afghanistan “may be mortgaging our future.” The comments came as Adm. William J. Fallon, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command and Army Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, Commander of United States Forces Korea, testified before Congress on Tuesday to discuss their operational plans related to the 2006 defense budget. McCain called the Middle East operations “legitimate demands” but said he worries that not enough attention is being paid to the military’s ability to react to...

Capt. Dennis Fitzpatrick will assume command of the USS John F. Kennedy today in a ceremony aboard the Jacksonville-based aircraft carrier as it sails in the Persian Gulf, according to the Navy. "We will have a change of command [on Tuesday]," said Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde, spokeswoman for the Kennedy, in an e-mail from the ship. At first, the Navy didn't want to confirm whether Fitzpatrick was the next commander until the ceremony was completed. But his father, Gene Fitzpatrick of Delmar, N.Y., told the Times-Union in a phone interview Monday, "As of tomorrow, he will be in charge." Gene Fitzpatrick...

JACKSONVILLE, Fl (AP) -- The Navy discovered 65 illegal immigrants among the workers hired to renovate the USS John F. Kennedy at Mayport Naval Station. Eleven illegal Mexican immigrants were arrested and charged yesterday with possessing false documentation. The other immigrants are still at large. The Navy discovered the illegal workers during a routine review of the status of foreign-born workers hired by the contractors and subcontractors renovating the carrier. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service then asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service for assistance. The 11 men arrested worked for Moran Environmental Recovery. It is unclear whether Moran will face...

Immigration officials have discovered dozens of illegal aliens working on the USS John F. Kennedy as the aircraft carrier undergoes renovations at Mayport Naval Station. Eleven men, all from Mexico, were arrested and charged yesterday with possessing false documentation. The others are still at large. "We responded to a military concern," said Barbara Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. The investigation began this month after the Navy started a routine review of the status of foreign-born workers hired by the contractors and subcontractors renovating the carrier, said Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde, a Kennedy spokeswoman. The Naval Criminal Investigative...