[PACIFIC OCEAN] – The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) celebrated the 76th birthday of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program with a ceremony on the ship’s mess decks, August 5, 2024.

More than 70 Sailors attended the ceremony highlighting the rich history of the Navy’s nuclear propulsion program.

“The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program’s 76th anniversary was on August 4th, which celebrates the beginning of the nuclear power branch within the bureau of ships,” said Capt. James Hopp, Vinson’s reactor officer. “A combined 127,495 enlisted service members and 28,155 officers have been trained under this program to use and maintain this energy for the success of the Navy’s missions.”

Created in 1948, the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program is a joint program between the U.S. Navy and Department of Energy, which is responsible for all aspects of the Navy’s nuclear propulsion, including research, design, construction, testing, operation maintenance and ultimate disposition of naval nuclear propulsion plants.

Today, more than 45 percent of the Navy’s warships are nuclear-powered, a testament to the significant impact of the naval nuclear propulsion program. This includes 70 submarines and 11 aircraft carriers, including Carl Vinson known as “America’s Favorite Carrier.”

“There is no substitute for presence,” said Hopp. “Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers remain the most survivable and versatile airfields in the world.”

During the ceremony, Capt. Matthew Thomas, commanding officer of Vinson, thanked the Sailors in Reactor Department for their hard work and spoke of his career working in nuclear propulsion in the Navy.

“I’m very proud of what you all do,” said Thomas. “I realize it’s hard. The program has high expectations. I can say the two most proud things I am of in my Navy career: first one is landing on an aircraft carrier at night, and the other one is being a nuke.”

The event ended when the oldest nuke, Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Gibbons, and the youngest ‘nuke’, Electrician’s Mate (Nuclear) 2nd Class Joseph Storm, joined each other to cut the celebratory cake.

Carl Vinson is currently underway in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations. As an integral part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. 3rd Fleet operates naval forces in the Indo-Pacific in addition to providing realistic and relevant training necessary to flawlessly execute our Navy’s timeless roles of sea control and power projection. U.S. 3rd Fleet works in close coordination with other numbered fleets to provide commanders with capable, ready forces to deploy forward and win in day-to-day competition, in crisis, and in conflict.