|

|

|
|
Jennifer Keefer, training to become a yellow shirt.
|
Behind the Scenes
Part 2 |
back to Part 1
James,
Another day on the John C. Stennis has come to a close;
a good one. Got a lot done.
Viewed from eight decks above the flight deck, in and around
the planes, bombs, and moving machinery, the carrier looks as
though someone had opened a box of Crayolas and spilled them
out. These "crayons" are in fact a mass of people adorned in
various colors, each color representing their specific job.
White shirts are "safety," blue shirts are "chock and chains,"
red are "weapons," green "avionics," purple "fuel," and yellow
shirts are the "airplane handlers." Now, these yellow shirts
folks are the people who run the deck; even the pilots don't
fly until the yellow shirt hooks them up to the Cat and sends
them on their way. They direct the aircraft around the deck,
tell them where to park and when. Twelve years ago when I was
on the Kennedy I followed a yellow shirt around; he was
a burly guy, very macho in a world where testosterone equated
to your ability to "move aircraft."
Onto the 1998 flight deck comes the new face of plane
"handlers." Her name is Jennifer. She is great. She joined the
Navy to basically get a life. We pick her up (in movie terms
only) on the deck of the carrier moving 30-ton aircraft whilst
slinging yards of chain around her shoulders, barking orders
above the general din; she's found her place.
Jennifer Keefer takes her test to become a yellow
shirt.
|
|
Actually, she just found it. After several jobs leading to
this one she is about to leave the ranks of the "UI" (under
instruction) and become a full-fledged "handler." She is like,
"soooo proud, dude. It is completely awesome." Did I mention
she is from California? It's a study in contrasts. Even though
all the protective gear on makes gender a mystery, her
diminutive size is unmistakable. When one of these jets turns
and fires its thrusters, manly men stumble and cringe from the
heat of the blast. Yesterday when the blast hit an
unsuspecting Jennifer, she flew—I kid you not - ten feet
down the deck, hitting the non-skid surface—which is
like rubbing your body over a cheese grater—and bounced
three times. She stood up and threw both thumbs in the air,
letting everyone know she was "okay." She was lucky; she only
tore up about eight or nine inches of forearm. She is
determined to make it in this world of men, and if she does,
she'll be the first "female yellow shirt" on the
Stennis. We are actually going to film her getting
grilled like a cheese sandwich by the senior chiefs for her
final tomorrow.
The heat of summer is finally starting to hit us here. The
first week was quite a surprise, with temperatures at night
getting down enough that you'd need a long-sleeved shirt. That
honeymoon is over. Even before the planes start to wind up on
deck, the mandatory long sleeves are too much. Once 20 or 25
jets start firing and turning in this small space the overall
temperature across the deck feels like about 115 degrees
Fahrenheit. Whole lot of fun.
We're here for another three or four days, then onto the
Indy and after that the Tucson and the
"bubbleheads."
Kirk
|
A destroyer is just one of the "small boys" of a
battle group.
|
We leave the Stennis today and it's been a study in
contrasts to the Indy; the Stennis is "today"
NAVY, the ultimate in "projecting the US power forward" since
Mahan first developed that strategy 100 years ago, and the
Navy has lived by it ever since. In other words, if you are
going to sit off somebody's coast and make them behave or put
a hurtin' on them, this is the ultimate machine to do it in. I
don't know how crazy Saddam Hussein is, but he would have to
be psychotic to play chicken with these guys.
In this case, the Gulf, we are in the midst of a "battle
force," that is two battle groups combined. In addition to two
aircraft carriers, each has a complement of "small boys,"
i.e., battle cruisers with Aegis systems, destroyers with
"lamps," equipped helicopters, a couple of submarines out
there with an arsenal of Tomahawk vertical launch missiles
and, of course, the Marines. Just in case we need to go
ashore, there are a couple of amphibious units of Marines just
itching to get off the boat and fight with someone other than
each other.
A helicopter helps search for stealthy submarines.
|
|
As several admirals, captains, and pilots have explained to me
so far, in the unlikely event of an Iraqi initiated attack,
sitting on the carrier is about the safest place I could be
with the exception of being back home in Maine, and if they
knew my children they'd know this is much safer in any case.
All the "small boys"—destroyers and
submarines—live for in that event is to protect the
carrier. With an assortment of anti-air and anti-missile
defense capabilities on each of these platforms, the chance of
a missile getting through is slim to none. Furthermore, with
the real-time look-down capability available on board the
carrier, the Aegis, and in the aircraft, they don't have to
wait until the missile is in the air. They can virtually tell
when the other guy is about to pull the trigger! More about
that in the NOVA show itself. It's incredible.
Admiral Moore, in charge of the battle force, made a very good
point; he's much less worried about the "big attack" than the
isolated incident (a terrorist bombing, etc.) that makes this
huge armada look like a dinosaur. It's an event they pay a lot
of attention to. Regarding the "big attack," picking a fight
with these guys is the military equivalent of a house call
from Dr. Kevorkian.
Continue
Breakdown of a Battle Group
|
Women on the Carrier
|
Behind the Scenes
Resources
|
Transcript
|
Site Map |
Battle Alert Home
Editor's Picks
|
Previous Sites
|
Join Us/E-mail
|
TV/Web Schedule
About NOVA |
Teachers |
Site Map |
Shop |
Jobs |
Search |
To print
PBS Online |
NOVA Online |
WGBH
©
| Updated October 2000
|
|
|