After the successful completion of TSTA II, the crew of Independence has proven that despite working in an unpredictable environment, under stressful situations, no task is too difficult to complete. This positive assessment was reached after performing various general quarters drills, mass casualty scenarios, and many man overboard drills.

However, there is one underlying factor that would not have allowed the I-5 team to complete its mission successfully, and that is lack of safety. Independence, along with the rest of the U.S. Navy and Armed Forces, participated in a service-wide safety standdown recently.

This was prompted in part to the numerous amounts of Class A mishaps (mishaps that cost a life or the military over $1 million) regarding military aircraft crashes. The most recent of these crashes was a B-1 bomber in southeast Montana, killing all four crew members on board. The crash in Montana was the sixth crash of U.S. Military aircraft this week. In those crashes, 16 servicemembers have died.

So in a response to the unusual string of tragedies, the Pentagon announced that all training missions will be halted for a 24-hour standdown to review safety procedures. Indy is taking part in this, however, not just focusing on flight deck or aircraft safety, but over all shipboard safety. This includes damage control refresher training and general shipboard precautions.

"Nothing we do during this peacetime environment requires one single life or even injury for that matter," said Rear Adm. Charles Moore, Battle Force SEVENTH Fleet.

"I have asked all ship and squadron skippers that if they feel an evolution might be unsafe or risky, to simply drop it. Its just not worth getting hurt over, and I want to return to Yokosuka with just as many men and women I left with."