Officials and crew members of USS Columbia, a Los Angeles-class submarine, were officially welcomed to the Commonwealth by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce Saturday night at the 360 Revolving Restaurant in Susupe.<\/p>\n
Chamber officials led by president Douglas Brennan and executive director Richard Pierce presented plaques of appreciation to commanding officer Dennis Klein and executive officer Mel Naidas.<\/p>\n
Klein said the schedule of USS Columbia, which arrived on island Thursday morning, allowed them to visit Saipan\u2014a destination that was \u201cabsolutely\u201d recommended by other naval ships.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been predetermined that we\u2019re going to come in based on the availability of all the other ships so we\u2019re fortunate enough to come here and we\u2019re very happy about being here,\u201d Klein said.<\/p>\n
According to Klein, the island has \u201ca great reputation\u201d of supporting the U.S. Navy and the rest of its armed forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s that kind of support that goes a long way for both our crew and for the United States forces in general,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Klein said most of the 150 crew members of USS Columbia are first timers, including himself, and are \u201call having a good time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s excellent. It is my first time here and we have had a great time. The hospitality and the warmth of the people [are] clearly evident and I greatly appreciate that,\u201d he said. \u201cI look forward to my next visit. I think it\u2019s a great place for the crew and a great place to relax and enjoy themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some of the officials and crew members of USS Columbia spent some time at the Coral Ocean Point golf range where they were able to avail of the $30 local rate, said Chamber executive director Pierce.<\/p>\n
According to Pierce, it was COP\u2019s Lucio Aldan who gave them the local rate. Other golf courses on island offer $60 rates for visiting military personnel upon presenting their military ID.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the Chamber thinks that it should be a local rate for the military\u2026I don\u2019t think they should be treated any differently from me or you or somebody else that lives here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Pierce said the Chamber has hosted about six military ships, including USS Columbia, this year, adding that they encourage businesses on island to accommodate these visitors in their establishments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the first time for USS Columbia and hopefully they\u2019ll repeat,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Pierce urged the community to \u201cwelcome\u201d visiting military personnel and \u201cmake them feel at home\u201d during their stay on Saipan through small acts such as helping them get to their destination when they see them walking in the streets. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe usher them around, we try to take care of them, and make them feel welcome and make them come back\u2026We want to make Saipan their best destination for morale, welfare, and recreation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Officials and crew members of USS Columbia, a Los Angeles-class submarine, were officially welcomed to the Commonwealth by the Saipan Chamber of Commerce Saturday night at the 360 Revolving Restaurant in Susupe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}