NAVY WIRE SERVICE - B WIRE (NWSB) - 5 January 1998 -
NWSB5jan-1. America's military might displayed in Gulf
by Linda D. Kozaryn, American Forces Press Service
USS GEORGE WASHINGTON, ARABIAN GULF (NWSB) -- Until you
see a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in action, terms like
"forward presence," "power projection" and "military might"
are hard to visualize.
But when you're somewhere in the Arabian Gulf
surrounded by endless night sky and pitch black ocean -- and
Saddam Hussein is only a few hundred miles away -- "forward
presence" becomes a reality.
Standing braced against the ocean wind, 30 feet from a
catapult about to thrust an F-14 jet fighter into the sky,
power projection takes on new meaning. Feeling the vibrating
power of a jet coming in at full throttle, slamming against
the deck and coming to a dead stop in seconds is a physical
example of America's military might.
President Clinton deployed two carrier battle groups to
the Arabian Gulf in November to counter rising tensions
between Iraq and the United Nations. USS Nimitz (CVN 68)
deployed to the region ahead of schedule, and USS George
Washington (CVN 73) cut short a six-month tour in the
Mediterranean and moved to the Gulf to join the Nimitz.
"The fact that the president sent two battle groups to
the region is evidence of how important naval forces are to
the global reach of the Department of Defense," Deputy
Defense Secretary John Hamre said during a late-November
visit to the George Washington. The United States has strong
Air Force assets in the region, "but having two carriers
here means all the difference in the world for our fighting
force," he said.
Because America's military men and women are on duty in
the Gulf, the rest of America can "rest well and sleep
easy," Hamre said. "This is the most important national
security crisis we are facing right now, and they are the
first line of defense for all of us. I hope the importance
of that helps them realize their contributions are
indispensable."
Visitors travel to the George Washington on board a COD
-- carrier on-board delivery aircraft. Wearing helmets, seat
belts and shoulder harnesses, passengers experience an
arrested landing, thereby earning "honorary tailhooker"
certificates.
After a slightly turbulent 20-minute flight from
Bahrain, veteran COD travelers aboard Hamre's flight
shouted, "Here we go-o-o-o-o-o!" as the plane did a stomach-
turning dip into a 45-degree turn, thrust full throttle
until the tailhook caught the carrier trap wire and then
came to an abrupt stop aboard the floating American city.
The ship is as tall as a 24-story building and as long
as three football fields. Nuclear power makes George
Washington capable of steaming more than 1 million miles
before refueling. Nearly 80 aircraft use its 4 1/2 acre
flight deck -- 50 strike-capable F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18
Hornets and 30 support aircraft. With four catapults, the
ship can launch a fighter every 45 seconds.
About 5,500 U.S. service members crew the aircraft
carrier. About 3,500 Sailors make up the ship's company and
another 2,000 Sailors make up Carrier Air Wing 1. A Marine
detachment provides security. During launch and recovery
operations, about 325 Sailors are on the flight deck.
To the uninitiated, flight operations may look somewhat
chaotic as aircraft move fore and aft, a Navy spokesman
said. A flight deck control officer orchestrates the ballet
by using a scale replica of the flight deck and hangar bays
to manually indicate aircraft movements. Nicknamed the
"ouija board," everything from wing nuts to tack pins is
used to represent the aircraft.
Life at sea, particularly moving massive aircraft
around on a flat, open deck without railings, is inherently
dangerous, Navy officials said. Hot air blasts from a
turning jet can send a careless deck-hand 20 feet into the
air, off the edge and into the sea. A buddy system is
employed to teach new flight deck-hands the ropes and help
prevent accidents.
During Hamre's visit, a "man overboard" announcement
instantly sent crew members scurrying for a full personnel
accounting within minutes. This time, however, it was only a
drill.
Crew members say real world missions such as the crisis
with Iraq puts added focus on their jobs. It's fairly common
for carrier battle groups to respond to world crisis, a Navy
official said, and often that very presence is enough to
stabilize the situation. While ship routine stays fairly
standard, normal training requirements are integrated with
mission requirements to keep the ship and its crew at 100
percent readiness.
Aviation Storekeeper 1st Class James Robinson, a 16-
year Navy veteran, said he has no problem shifting from the
routine to the unexpected. "Here we get a chance to do
something the country wants us to do," he said. "It's a real
situation. We're not just doing drills. We're actually
involved with something. It's great when you feel the
country appreciates what you're doing."
Fifteen-year Navy veteran Petty Officer William
Wiggins, from Newport News, Va., said the ship's leaders
"keep us informed, so we pretty much know where we're going
and what we're doing."
LTJG Ron Chamblis, a 19-year Navy veteran and former
petty officer from Detroit said when things get tense, some
young Sailors get depressed, some get a little scared and
some get a little nervous. To keep morale high, Chamblis
said, you get them all together and talk to them. "You say,
'Hey this is the world situation at the present time. We're
all familiar with our jobs. We know what we have to do.
We're going to do it with the best performance. You guys are
the best.'"
LTJG Tim Bergan, an 18-year Navy veteran and another
former petty officer, said military leaders have to watch
young troops who are not used to the pressure of a real
threat. "Coming out here, they started issuing chemical
protective gear, and you could see it on their faces," he
said. "Concerns they hadn't really thought of before
suddenly become very real -- how they're going to handle
things -- life-and-death situations. You watch very
carefully to see how people are reacting, and you try to
explain what the real hazards are. You explain that being on
a ship we're a moving target, so we're much safer than
ground forces."
"Any time you go from a training situation to a real
situation, the pace picks up," Bergan said. "These guys will
get things done 10 times faster in a real situation than in
a training situation. When you go to general quarters for
real, everybody is ready to go."
Commanding Officer CAPT Wendell G. Rutherford agreed.
"The practice flavor goes away, and people take a renewed
look at their responsibilities and there's a lot more focus
on the issues on the table. They absorb a lot more, and the
readiness gets higher. People rely on their training."
Moving to the Arabian Gulf was somewhat frightening,
admitted Storekeeper 3rd Class Donald Dupree, from Newport
News, Va. "One minute everything was calm, and the next
minute we're called to duty, possibly to go to war," he
said. "It's a very scary feeling, but in some ways it's
exciting to be called to serve your country."
Dupree said he balances the benefits of Navy life
against the risk of losing his life in combat. "My main
reason for joining the Navy was to get an education and to
travel -- to see different worlds, things I'd seen in my
history books," he said. "You do know there's the
possibility of going to war -- it may come to losing your
life -- but that's the chance you take. So far, I've been to
Haifa, Israel and the Jordan River. I actually got to see
things I read about in the Bible.
"In some ways, life on the George Washington is like
living in a small town, even though you don't get to know
everyone among the 5,500 on board," Dupree said. "But being
out here on the ship, you get to meet different people and
you actually get to see different walks of life because
everybody comes from different places. It's a good
experience to interact with other people with different
ideas. You can learn a lot."
Dupree described ship life as upbeat and intense.
Storekeeper 3rd Class Christopher Powell said the pace
picked up even further when the George Washington set sail
for the Gulf. The Atlanta native said he was looking for a
faster pace when he enlisted right out of high school.
"Being here gives a whole new meaning to my life,"
Powell said. "It gives you more of a purpose than just doing
the same old everyday thing running the streets. I'm very
proud of what I do."
-USN-
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