Who Needs A Tesla When You Can Drive An Aircraft Carrier

Jacqueline Vanacek
4 min readJun 10, 2019
Captain’s Bridge, USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74), May 2019

Yup, that’s me at the helm of the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier (CVN-74)!

It was my first U.S. Navy Tiger Cruise (photos), with Sailors on deployment on an active warship. The Stennis was headed home after 7 months around the world.

I joined other friends & family “Tigers” to see firsthand what “service” means for our Navy.

I was so touched to be invited by MA2 Wade Reygaert, Security Master-At-Arms Second Class, whom I’d never met. I’d been sending care packages & newsletter & Wade wrote back an enormous thank you! We became pen pals for 7 months. I sent goodies & toiletries that Wade shared with shipmates so everyone could enjoy an extra slice of home.

What a thrill to board the ship & meet Wade & crew! My cards were posted in the Security Office & I got a warm “welcome to our Family” from LCDR Brian Finger (SECO), who himself had 5 impressive deployments.

First we dumped my “sea bag” at my “rack.” Thought I’d lucked out with a middle rack, but it took lots of gyrations to climb in! Sailors had hilarious stories of maneuvering into their own racks. You almost had to be from Cirque du Soleil to get in bed!

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Jacqueline Vanacek

Founder TLC4Troops 501c3 for U.S. Navy & Marines | Care Packages & Humor to give Sailors on deployment a “slice of home”