Former USS Vinson XO takes command of USS Nimitz as seven-month deployment concludes

USS NIMITZ, PACIFIC OCEAN — Last Friday evening around dinner time, less than 48 hours before the USS Nimitz arrived in Sinclair Inlet, Capt. Douglas Graber spoke through the aircraft carrier’s public address system for the first time.

As the new commanding officer (CO), Capt. Graber greeted the crew and expressed his excitement at his first day leading the Nimitz. The 1975-commissioned warship conducted a change of command ceremony on June 29 in San Diego, in which Graber relieved Capt. Craig Sicola to be the new CO.

“I’ve always wanted to be part of the Nimitz, my whole career, even my whole life growing up in the 70s and 80s. I heard so much about the Nimitz and Nimitz class,” Graber told the crew. He encouraged sailors to focus on the tasks at hand and look out for each other as the sailors completed the last part of their journey — heading back to the ship's homeport. The Kitsap Sun embarked with the Nimitz at sea on its way returning to Bremerton and interviewed Graber as the captain took command of the ship.

More: Life on the Nimitz: Exploring Asian culture, and building teamwork at sea

Familiar with Kitsap

Before joining USS Nimitz, Graber served as the commanding officer of USS New Orleans (LPD 18) from September 2021 to December 2022. The Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship was forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan.

Once an Executive Officer of USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), Graber was not a stranger to the Kitsap Peninsula nor the Pacific Northwest. His family had lived in Silverdale from 2019 to 2021 when Graber was assigned to the Vinson. The 1982-commissioned carrier arrived in Bremerton in January 2019 for an overhaul and left Sinclair Inlet in August 2020 for its new homeport in San Diego.

More: USS Carl Vinson departs Bremerton for new homeport of San Diego

His family likes Kitsap County very much, Graber said.

"That was their first choice, was to come back to Kitsap," Graber said. "My son wanted to get back in with some of his friends. My daughter liked a couple of the art classes that are offered around the county. And my wife and I are just used to the Pacific Northwest and we like it."

"Every day, it's like a paint."

The family relocated to Japan as Graber served on the USS New Orleans in 2021 and moved back to Bremerton in January. Graber's 11-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son attend schools in the Bremerton School District.

Graber had been deployed aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and had lived in Whidbey Island for some years in the early part of his career in the Navy. Originally from South Bound Brook, New Jersey, Graber earned an Electrical Engineering degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 1996.

Born in 1972 in a military family, the New Jersey native always heard about the Nimitz and the upcoming nuclear-powered Nimitz class carriers, he said. The warship was christened in the year of his birth, commissioned when he was 3, and when Graber turned 10, he built a plastic model of the carrier. In seventh grade, Graber did a research paper on the carrier. Now, being able to see the ship operating at sea and be part of the crew, Graber said he was so proud and honored.

"It's really deep down exciting," Graber said. "A lot of pressure, I feel. I don't want to mess up either."

Mission-oriented experience

Graber said most of his experience in the Navy is operational. Identifying a need or an ultimate goal — whether it is to achieve an end state of something or increase proficiency — and finding ways to accomplish the tasks and requirements is what he enjoys. He wanted to contribute these mission-planning and problem-solving skills to the crew.

"I've always been mission planning, oriented, so that's what I hope to bring to the Nimitz," Graber said. "This is a fun thing to do, is to see it go into fruition."

The Nimitz arrived in Bremerton Sunday night. As the ship docked at the pier of Naval Base Kitsap, the crew would first take some time off to rest and spend time with their families. Later in the fall, the Nimitz will conduct some exercises at sea. From the winter to the beginning of the summer, the ship will enter the shipyard for overhaul to get prepared for the next global deployment.

"I'll be trying to keep everybody's focus on which phase we're in. Don't worry about everything all at once, but just worry about whatever phase we're in, what's the next thing that we got to do," Graber said.

The Nimitz will not be the only aircraft carrier docked in Bremerton after some months, as another Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, is scheduled to arrive next year. Currently forward deployed to the Seventh Fleet area of operations, the Reagan will relocate to Bremerton for its overhaul period after nearly 10 years of service in the Western Pacific.

More: USS Ronald Reagan will relocate to Bremerton from Yokosuka, Japan next year

Reporter Peiyu Lin covers the military and South Kitsap for the Kitsap Sun. She can be reached at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw. Support local journalism. Subscribe to kitsapsun.com today.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Former XO of USS Carl Vinson takes command of USS Nimitz