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NEW ORLEANS — Do you ever wonder what goes on in one of the navy’s largest amphibious ships?

Well we got a behind the scenes look inside of the USS Kearsarge during an overnight stay on the ship.

After taking a military helicopter ride out to the middle of an undisclosed location in the Gulf of Mexico, we landed on the giant grey vessel and immediately began traipsing through the ship’s narrow corridors.

Rear Admiral, Brad Skillman, was on board and heading up the migthy Mississippi River with the sailors and marines for Navy Fleet Week.

“Sailors that we are getting today are more talented than ever in our history,” says Rear Admiral Skillman.

The deployments are generally seven months long away from friends and family.

That’s why Captain David Guluzian says, he wears more than just the skippers hat.

“It’s almost like a city mayor, everything you need in a city you need on a ship,” says captain Guluzian.

To keep life as normal as possible, the ship is equipped with a library, a barber shop, a gym, a chapel, and even a Starbucks.

It doesn’t get more American than that.

Don’t be fulled by the side activities, but remember that this is a warship designed to support the marine corps and capable of entering rapid combat.

“They get this huge sense of pride and service to the nation because every day, especially on an amphibious ship with the marines, you see the benefits of what you do. From an engineer who is making steam down in the engineering plant to turn the shafts, to the young sailor on the flight deck who’s landing on the helicopter you flew in on, they all know what their role is and they know that additively we do the missions and we do them well,” says Rear Admiral Skillman.

“We can carry 2,000 marines and all of their stuff to places where people don’t want the marines. We can partially sink ourselves by putting water in ballis tanks and lowering the ships stern into the water so that we can get the landing craft in and out of the ship,” says captain Guluzian.

They are considered the blue-green team.

The United States Navy and the Marines are working in tandem and ready to face any opposition.

If you are around the city and see anyone in uniform during Fleet Week, be sure to say thank you for your service.