The next day, we got up bright and early to voluntarily participate in EOD PT. EOD PT can be translated into living death. EOD is the Explosive Ordinance Disposal; they have to be fit, and if they’re running the PT everyone else will be too.
After that, we were rewarded for surviving with one of the best parts of the day: aircraft launch. The planes have to leave before the ship pulls into port, otherwise they’ll have to be lifted off by crane, which is both difficult, time consuming, and very expensive. The launch is truly incredible to watch. The flight deck crew guides the plane into alignment with the catapult and the pilot throttles the engine. A crewman crawls underneath the plane to attach the catapult, and two more crewmen kneel under the wings to ensure that everything is moving properly. The catapult crewman runs as soon as the catapult is attached, and the moment the wing crewmen see that things are working properly they give the thumbs up to the Shooter and run. The Shooter is giving the pilot all the commands, and when the second he gets the OK from the control, he signals the pilot and then ducks as low as he can to prevent being hit by the plane. Other crewmen on the flight deck are Emergency Medical Response, Crash and Fire Rescue, and Fuel and Mechanics. Working on the flight deck is one the most dangerous jobs in the world; sailors can be killed by being hit by planes, caught in propellers, and blasted off the ship. Average age is 18-23, but even 17 year olds work on it. It’s truly incredible the risks they take, and how they grow and mature and are able to work safely to minimize those risks.
Since I said nothing about how the planes land, I’ll mention it here, even though I really saw it yesterday after the air show. Four slightly raised wires are laid across the aft of the flight deck. The pilot puts the engines onto full throttle and lowers the landing gear, which includes a tail-hook for a Navy plane. The aim is to catch the second wire; if the pilot is too far back she can still catch the first, and if she’s too far forward she can catch the third or fourth. If the wire is caught, it is a successful landing and the plane will be dragged to a stop by the wire. Flight deck crew will direct the pilot to the side of the carrier, where she is towed onto the elevators that will bring the plane down to the hanger bay. If the landing is not successful, the pilot is able to “bolt”, that is, pull up and circle around to reattempt the landing (this is why she throttles the engines before she tries to land, in case she misses she will have enough power to bolt and not crash into the sea).
After we watched the planes, we went back down. My dad is the Floss Boss, meaning he’s in charge of Dental, so he had to meet a tour group that was coming through. This left Robert and me on our own for a few hours. We were going to just wander around and see what we could find, but we heard an announcement inviting Tigers to come onto the flight deck for a shooting demo by the Nitze and the Willy, more officially known as the USS Nitze DDG-94 and USS James E. Williams DDG-95. Each destroyer took turns firing a shot from their 5 inch cannons, and each time achieved a range of approximately 11-12.5 miles. It was marvelous; each time there would be a loud bang and a lot of smoke from one of the ships. We never actually saw the cannon, but after a few seconds we would see a huge pillar of water almost out near the horizon. There were about 5 shots total in the demo, enough to finish off a crate, since opened crates of ammo can’t be brought into port.
Robert and I met two of our friends at the demo. Their dad is in flight ops and also has Watch Duty on the Bridge. We hung out and wandered around the ship together for a while. We went down to the very bottom of the ship and saw the engines. The engines are each separated so that if water leaks into one and shuts it off, the other three can still move the ship. In addition, control of the ship can be accessed directly in an emergency.
Since our friends’ dad had Watch Duty, we all headed up the Bridge to hang out for a while. Unfortunately, there’s not much I can say about the Bridge, and I could only take one or two pictures for security. The Bridge was off limits to everyone except those on duty and their Tigers unless they were part of a tour group. Mostly there were just instruments, radar, and maps. The Captain and the Gator have the most comfortable chairs imaginable; I guess if you have to sit somewhere for 6 hours, you want it to be comfortable. They even have their meals brought to them on the Bridge, so their chairs have very nice little trays. We mostly hung out and asked lots and lots of questions. We asked so many questions that a Master Chief told us he couldn’t tell us anything and then started talking into his headset about sending in the SEALS and closing off the flight deck and having lifeboats ready. It was very interesting to listen to, and he made sure we were listening (he later confessed the joke). After a few hours, my dad came up and joined us and we mostly just sat around and talked to the Bridge crew. Besides bother the crew, we also got to take the helm and steer the ship, which was really awesome. As Robert said, before he’s even backed the car out of the driveway, he’s already driven an aircraft carrier.
We left the Bridge to eat dinner, and when we came back, we got to see a spectacular sight. It turns out that the Enterprise had a lot of leftover ammo that had to be either fired or thrown overboard. So in order to prevent waste, security officers stood in the Crow’s Nest and aimed lasers down at the ocean. Sharpshooters took turns aiming for the laser point. It was glorious, the lights were brilliant shades of red, orange, green, and blue, and the little beams of light combined with explosive noises was a marvel to behold.
By then it was getting late, so we went back down and had ice cream to celebrate the end of the final deployment of the USS Enterprise CVN-65. We sat around and played Phase 10 with our friends before going to bed.
Next morning was the big day: the day the Carrier Strike Group 12 came home at last. After 8 months at sea, the USS Enterprise, USS Nitze, USS James E. Williams, the USS Porter, and the USS Vicksburg all pulled into port in Norfolk, VA and were warmly welcomed home. The homecoming of a ship is a huge deal. The newly returned ship gets a special red, white, and blue streamer to hang from the bow. Huge crowds swarm the pier and the area outside the gate, waiting to welcome the returned sailors. To pull into port, the ship is guided in by little tugboats. Lines are tossed ashore and the ship is moored securely into place. The anchor on the side away from the pier is lowered to counter the lines, and the brail is secured. The ship is now home, and the deployment is officially over.
The Tiger Cruise was one of the most splendiferous experiences of my life. Seeing how the Navy crews live every day was amazing, and actually being part of it was even better. I think the best part was being able to spend time with my dad after the deployment, but after that, I would have to say the planes. What that flight deck crew does is nothing short of miraculous, and they and the pilots are so brave to risk their lives like that. And the best thing about this deployment? No deaths from anything besides one natural cause, no flight deck accidents or fires to cost the lives of the crew!
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