USS Carl Vinson Commanding Officer to Newsmax: 21-Gun Salute Honors Veterans

U.S. Navy Capt. Scott Miller, the commanding officer of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, joined Newsmax on Monday to speak about the plans to celebrate Memorial Day from the ship, which has been designated to offer the honorary salute to the members of the military who have lost their lives in the nation's wars and to discuss his meeting with Tom Cruise, star of the new movie "Top Gun: Maverick."

"At 12 o'clock today, we will start a 21-gun salute," Miller told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." At noon, sharp, we'll shoot our first cannon, and then once a minute, for every minute, for the next 21 minutes, we'll fire a round again honoring those who have fallen for us and our nation."

The Nimitz-class carrier is familiar to many people because of the "Top Gun" movie, both the original and the sequel, which comes out on Memorial Day, as that is "where most of the filming is centered, the action, the good stuff," said Miller.

The ship is a 1,000-foot-long, nuclear-powered airport with a crew of about 3,000 people and an airwing of about 2,000 more, for a total component of more than 5,000, he added.

"We are able to conduct a sustained maritime operation from the sea whenever we want," said Miller. "For size comparison, it's a little bit shorter, if you're to stand it on its end, a little bit shorter than the Empire State building."

Miller is a 1994 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and is a second-generation naval officer whose father also served for 30 years.

"We know that family members do continue to serve and they serve every day, supporting their service members, whether we're at home or whether we're deployed," he said. "I'm speaking to you right now from the captain's inport cabin onboard Carl Vinson.

"It's decorated to honor our namesake, Carl Vinson, known as the admiral of the Congress and responsible and also known as the father of the two-ocean Navy. He's responsible for preparing the United States of America for the combat that was coming in World War II."

The ship's crew, he added, is a "very diverse professional group of sailors who are specialized in their individual fields. We spread across about 20 departments. And within those departments, you have three or four specialties, and we take all those specialties and they put it together … all kinds of amazing things that are done when you're on an aircraft carrier that is deployed away from home."

Miller on Monday also talked about meeting Tom Cruise, the star of both "Top Gun" movies, who visited the Carl Vinson with U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro earlier this month for a preview screening of "Top Gun: Maverick."

"It's a great movie," he said. "I've seen it twice. We got to see it [in an] early screening with Tom Cruise, who came and opened the theater on the fourth of May, which is kind of exciting.

"He came onboard the ship and walked on with the secretary. I had a moment to talk to him. We rode the aircraft elevator up from the hangar bay to the flight deck, and then we got to introduce him to the crew, and his main message is that he just wanted to say thank you to the sailors for their service. And to say that the movie was for them and that he hoped that they enjoyed it."

Cruise and Del Toro then went to the USS Midway for the official premiere, said Miller.

"I think it's pretty neat that he chose to come to our ship first before going to that ship and honoring the sailors who are currently serving the United States," said Miller.

The commander also on Monday said he wants to express his thanks for the U.S. Navy, which is "out there in the most capable and best trained, most capable ships, the best-trained crew that we can have. We sail on, under, and we fly above the oceans of the world, ensuring free trade and safe navigation for all parties.

"We are out there forward deployed in support of our freedoms, day in and day out. It's a diverse group of people — the most diverse group you could ever meet in any organization — of professionals who are proud of their trade. They love what they do, and they're great people."

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