A Last Look at ‘Old Salt’: Former USS Nimitz Sailors Say Goodbye

Retired Rear Adm. Bryan Compton, commissioning commander of USS Nimitz (CVN-68), on July 31, 2026. USNI News photo ABOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS NIMITZ — Four hundred former USS Nimitz (CVN-68) sailors and their families streamed off buses on Pier 14 at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., and up the brow of the oldest carrier in the Navy for a final goodbye.

The guest of honor was the first commander of the carrier, 94-year-old Rear Adm. Bryan Compton. An A-4E Skyhawk pilot, Compton was awarded the Navy Cross for leading a strike against a North Vietnamese power plant in 1967 while commanding the “The Saints” of Attack Squadron (VA) 163.

Following his squadron command, Compton entered the carrier command pipeline, commanded the Charleston-class amphibious cargo ship USS El Paso (LKA-117), and then took charge of Nimitz through its 1975 commissioning and its first deployment to the Mediterranean.

Dressed in summer service whites, Compton shook hands with a constant receiving line of his former sailors, posing for photos in the hangar bay and the flight deck accompanied by current Nimitz commander Capt. Joseph Furco.

When asked about his time leading Nimitz, Compton told USNI News, “It was a good deal. I was the captain.”

Retired Rear Adm. Bryan Compton, commissioning commander of USS Nimitz (CVN-68), and current Nimitz commander Capt. Joseph Furco on July 31, 2026. USNI News photo Gary Rollins, president of the USS Nimitz Association, was a former aviation ordnanceman aboard Nimitz for the carrier’s deployment that included filming of the B-movie classic “The Final Countdown,” starring Martin Sheen and Kirk Douglas.

Speaking about the AO rate, Rollins said, “the responsibilities of naval aviation rest upon the shoulders of many, but without aviation ordnance, it’s considered another unscheduled commercial airline.”

Rollins and the association coordinated with the Navy to host the former sailors and their families, who spent Friday morning climbing all over the ship after posing for a series of group photos by the island.

Steve Anderson was one of the association members who served with the air wing on the ship from before the commissioning and through the first deployment. He came from Connecticut and brought his grandson to the carrier to see where he served as a aviation structural mechanic with the “Sidewinders” of Attack Squadron (VA) 86 working on A-7E Corsairs. Anderson was part of a detachment to teach flight deck training to the new crew during builders trials on the carrier ahead of the arrival of Carrier Air Wing 8.

“I was here for the commissioning,” he sad. “[But] was not allowed to attend because I didn’t have dress blues.”

A sailor prepares to take a group photo of former USS Nimitz sailors during a reunion on July 31, 2026. USNI News photo While Anderson missed the commissioning, he was there for the fireworks afterwards.

“The commissioning was in May. In June, the air wing came aboard, and we had our dependent cruise, and we sailed out about 20 some miles, stopped the ship and dropped bombs and rockets and all kinds of cool stuff just 200 yards off port side,” Anderson said.

T.C. and Kim Lott traveled from Florida to bid farewell to Nimitz, where the couple met during a deployment in the mid-1990s.

“We took the opportunity to make plans to come join in the group and see her one last time,” T.C. said.

After sailing around South America, Nimitz arrived this spring ahead of a planned inactivation next year and eventual scrapping.

Kim was the first woman assigned to Nimitz after the U.S. lifted restrictions on female sailors serving on warships in 1994.

Former USS Nimitz sailors T.C. and Kim Lott on July 31, 2026. USNI News photo “They sent me too early because when I got here, there was no berthings, no nothing,” she told USNI News.

Eventually, there were about 70 female sailors aboard in a berthing to the rear of the ship, she said.

During her second deployment, Kim, who was an operational specialist working just behind the bridge, met T.C. while he was cleaning stations aboard the carrier. He was an air traffic controller aboard Nimitz.

“I was out there stripping and waxing passageways, and he was cleaning the bathroom, and I needed some water,” she said. “He was playing music, and I remarked about the music [Outstanding by ‘The Gap Band’].”

They started dating and “we were pulling into port in the UAE, and from there, it was just we knew,” T.C. told USNI News. “A year later, we got married.”

T.C. and Kim Lott renew their vows aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68), officiated by Peter Norris on July 31, 2026. USNI News photo T.C. and Kim returned to Nimitz on their 27th wedding anniversary and renewed their vows on the flight deck, officiated by the association’s chaplain, Peter Norris. Norris, a former U.K. Royal Navy medic aboard British carrier HMS Hermes (R12), became friendly with sailors on Nimitz during a deployment that included stops at Naval Station Norfolk. Norris later joined the association after being ordained.

The three gathered on the flight deck Friday for the brief ceremony. T.C. and Kim reaffirmed their vows and had a quick kiss in the shadow of the carrier’s island.

After the ceremony, T.C. stressed the importance of Nimitz and his Navy career on influencing his life afterwards.

“[This ship] is my family. Without this ship, I have no foundation of starting my family,” T.C. said.