RADM Bernard Smith was CTF 70 until summertime, 1995 when RADM Jim Ellis relieved RADM Smith. RADM Ellis was promoted to VADM and he detached in mid 1996, relieved by RADM Charles W. Moore. All three were outstanding leaders who I feel privileged to have served with.

Indy was a hard working ship in Japan. She answered all tasking during my tenure aboard her. We deployed to C5F July-Nov 1995, then we did Westpac Ops all of 1996 (including the Taiwan contingency when the PRC was firing missiles near Taiwan to intimidate them during their first elections). In 1997 Indy did her farewell tour through Westpac. An amazing deployment, the only true peacetime deployment I have ever seen in 20 years of service. We hit Hong Kong, Singapore, Port Kelang, Malaysia, Guam, PI, and Perth and Sydney in Australia. We called that deployment "Indy Down Under". I detached in Dec 1997, and in January 1998 Indy deployed again to the C5F AOR. She returned mid 1998, then headed to Hawaii to swap out with Kitty Hawk.

When she was decommissioned in 1998, and I was fortunate enough to be based at Whidbey Island at the Electronic Attack Weapons School (The EA-6B Tactics Center), and Capt Milliken was kind enough to send me an invite. It was a somewhat sad occasion, but it offered those of us who could attend a chance to say thanks and goodbye. It was chilling seeing the crew file off the ship, and I still remember shaking Capt Milliken's hand at the post decomm reception, congratulating the last CO of USS Independence (CV-62).

The last time I saw her up close was in the fall of 2001, when CVN-72, (I was ship's company at the time), was pulling a yard period in Bremerton. I walked over to her, Ranger and Midway the day before we pulled out for sea trials. It was a cold, dreary day. How appropriate. Indy looked alone, dark and cold, but she was still there. At least Ranger Boat and Midway Maru were keeping her company. Now Midway is a museum in San Diego and Connie has joined the Navy's carrier junk yard. Kitty Hawk will soon follow.

In 2006, before I retired from active duty, I called the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility to ask if they would take me aboard. They said no, they were prepping her for being sunk as an artificial reef. However, now I am hearing that she will be cut up for scrap at some point. I hope they have better luck than when they cut up poor old Coral Sea. Three companies went bankrupt trying to cut up that grand old ship. Quite a scandal.