to a quarter mile long, makes for tight quarters. Even so, the enlisted and chiefs' berthing spaces on a
For a young person coming aboard a warship for the first time, the cramped personal space may seem harsh. In fact, while personal space is spartan, it is nevertheless quite functional. Enlisted personnel get a stowage bin under their bunks, and a single upright locker about the size of the one you had back in high school. They can also stow some personal items in their workspaces, but they still must always plan ahead when packing to go aboard ship. For sleeping, crew will normally be assigned to a bunk (called a 'rack'), which will be one in a stack of three. You will find around sixty racks in a berthing space, with an attached rest room/shower facility (what the Navy calls a 'head'), and a small common area with a table, chairs, and television connected to the ship's cable system. Television monitors can be found in almost every space on board, displaying everything from the ship's Plan of the Day (called the 'POD'), to movies, CNN Headline News, and the 'plat cams'-a series of television cameras that monitor activities on the flight deck.
The racks themselves are narrow single beds, with a comfortable foam-rubber mattress, and basic bedding. There are also privacy curtains, a small reading lamp, and usually a fresh-air vent-often a vital necessity. While most of the interior spaces of a
Forward of the living spaces, in the very bow of the ship, is the forecastle. Here the anchors, handling gear, and their huge chains are located. It is also the domain of the most traditional jobs in the Navy: the Deck Division. In an era of computers and guided weapons, these are the sailors who can still tie every kind of knot, rig mooring lines, and handle small boats in foul weather. You need these people to operate anything bigger than a rowboat, and aboard a carrier they are indispensable. On the port side of the forecastle you find the first of a set of 'stairs,' which we'll use to climb up several levels. These are not conventional stairways, but very nearly vertical ladders, and they are quite narrow. You learn to move up and down ships' ladders carefully, and finding a handy stanchion to grasp when you're on them becomes instinctive.
Opening another hatch, you find yourself on a small platform adjacent to the bow. From here, you can climb a few steps and move out onto the four and a half acres that is the carrier's flight deck. Again, the spongy feel of the deck tells you that there is non-skid under your feet. Around the deck, two or three dozen aircraft are packed in tight clusters, to free as much deck space as possible. During flight operations, the noise is incredible. It is so loud that you must wear earplugs just to watch from up on the island, while flight deck personnel who must work among the aircraft wear special 'cranial' helmets with thickly padded ear protectors to preserve their hearing. Only Landing Signals Officers (LSOs, the people who guide aircraft during landings) are allowed on deck during flight operations without a cranial, since they have to clearly hear and see aircraft as they approach the stern for landing.
There are other hazards as well. In fact, the flight deck of a modern aircraft carrier is arguably the most dangerous workplace in the world. Aircraft are constantly threatening to either suck flight deck personnel into their engines, or blow them off of the deck into the ocean. For this reason, the entire perimeter of the flight deck and the elevators is rigged with safety nets. In addition, everyone on the flight deck also wears a 'float coat,' which is an inflatable life jacket with water-activated flashing strobe light, and a whistle to call for help-just in case the safety nets don't catch you. Standard flight deck apparel also includes steel-toed boots, thick insulated fabric gloves, and goggles (in case a fragment of non-skid or some foreign object/ debris-FOD-is blown into your face).
Each float coat and cranial is color-coded by job. Under the float coats, deck crews also wear jerseys-heavy, long sleeved T-shirts-of the same color as the float coat (though they may be a different color from the cranials). These color-code combinations are universal aboard Navy ships. Here is what they mean:
For example, only sailors wearing purple coats, jerseys, and cranials are allowed to handle fuel and other flammable fluids on deck (they are nicknamed the 'grapes').
Keeping an eye on flight-deck operations is a vital task. Up on the island, observers constantly watch the position and flow of planes, personnel, and equipment around the deck. Any deviation from standard procedures or safety rules calls down a sharp and angry rebuke over the flight deck loudspeaker (loud enough to hear through your cranial-and that is really LOUD) telling you
• The 'Crotch'-The point where the roughly 14deg landing deck 'Angle' ends and the port bow begins.
• The 'Junkyard'-The area at the base of the island aft. Here tractors, forklifts, a wrecking crane, and the world's smallest fire truck (collectively known as 'yellow gear' even though some are now painted white) are parked, always ready to move when needed.
• The 'Hummer Hole'-The area just forward of the Junkyard. Here the E-2C Hawkeyes (nicknamed 'Hummers') and their cargo-carrying cousins, the C-2 Greyhounds, are parked.
• The 'Street'-The ' Street' is up on the bow in the area between Catapults 1 and 2; the forward catapult control pod is located there.
• The 'Rows'-Also on the bow are the '1 Row' and '2 Row.' These are the zones outboard of Catapults 1 and 2 and are normally used as parking areas for the F/A-18 Hornets when a landing event is active.
• The 'Finger'-A narrow strip of deck just aft of Elevator 4, with parking space for a single plane.
Working in this noisy, hot, and dangerous world is the job of some of the bravest young men and women you will ever meet. Most are under twenty-five; and some look so naive (or so scary), you might not trust them to valet park your car at a restaurant. Yet the Navy trusts them to safely handle aircraft worth several
Theirs is a world of extremes. For up to eighteen hours a day, they're subjected to noise that would deafen if not muffled; heat and cold that would kill if not insulated. They are surrounded by explosives, fuel, and other dangerous substances,[36] and are frequently buffeted by winds of over sixty knots. For this, they receive a special kind of respect and a 'hazardous duty' bonus (in 1998, about $130 per month) in addition to their sea pay. These young men and women know their work makes flying aircraft on and off the boat possible, and they take quiet pride in this dirty, dangerous job up on 'the roof.' Because of the extreme noise, a richly expressive sign language is used to direct operations on the flight deck. Using a series of common and easily understood hand signals, the deck crew personnel tell each other how to move aircraft and load bombs and equipment, and warn each other of emergencies. They constantly watch out for each other, for only the brother or sister sailor looking out for you keeps you safe. All of these efforts are dedicated to just two basic tasks: the launching and landing of aircraft. Let's now look at how it is done in somewhat greater detail.
