Ask John Stokes what he knows about the Navy, and the first word that rolls from his mouth is “Tailhook.”
“That’s all you ever hear about the Navy these days,” Stokes said, referring to the 1991 sexual-assault scandal at the Tailhook convention.
That’s why the Chicago graphic designer brought his three sons to Navy Pier on Sunday. Stokes and a hundred other spectators gathered at the southern flank of the pier to welcome the USS Fahrion, a 3,600-ton Navy frigate.
The guided-missile warship will remain docked at the pier through Aug. 10 as part of a Navy recruitment campaign.
“I wanted my kids to see the ship, and I guess I wanted to show them that the Navy isn’t all bad,” said Stokes, 36, as he stood with his sons, ages 3 to 7.
The 445-foot Fahrion cruised into town amid pomp Sunday as part of the annual summerlong Great Lakes Cruise, a journey that will take the warship and its 190 men to nearly two dozen cities along the lakes. Free tours will be given daily from 1 to 7 p.m.
Despite the heat and the ship’s one-hour-tardy arrival, a spirited crowd waved American flags and welcome banners and offered loud cheers as the ship docked.
The enthusiasts did not include Chicago Navy Peace, a group of peace activists whose craft sailed in front of the warship, denouncing the Navy’s recruitment mission.
Naval officials say the Great Lakes Cruise allows the public to gain a better understanding of how the Navy works.
Already, more than 40,000 spectators have wandered through the ship, checking out the sailors’ living quarters, eyeing the weapons system and chatting with the officers. Local Navy officials expect about 20,000 Chicago-area residents to take a peek.
“It lets the folks in this area see the Navy in action and lets them see their tax dollars at work,” said Lt. Cmdr. Dane LaJoye, a Navy spokesman.
But more important, the tour is a recruitment tool for a branch of the military that has been rocked in recent years by scandals, including Tailhook, allegations of drug use, larceny and cheating at the Naval Academy and the suicide of Jeremy Boorda, the Navy’s highest-ranking officer.
“This type of cruise helps people see that we are like everyone else, and helps them see that we are dedicated to this country and its people,” said Cmdr. Karen Rasmussen, the top naval recruiter in the Chicago area.
The Navy will decommission the 30-year-old warship later this year in an effort to cut costs.
Still, what better place to recruit than aboard a ship that saw action in the Persian Gulf war and helped apprehend drug runners in the Caribbean?
“To see the ship, smell it, touch it, walk through it, is wonderful,” Rasmussen said. “People who might not visualize themselves in the Navy may change their mind after seeing this ship.”
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Such a tactic may work on Tommy Newton, an 11-year-old from Orlando, who planned to tour the ship with his cousins.
“I’ve never seen anything so big,” Tommy said. “I’d join today if my mom would let me.”