A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

1. Who said, “Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward”?
2. In what movie (and who said it) did we hear, “Unless we’re parked in San Diego Bay, you’re at war every time you step on this boat.”?
3. In what song (and who sang it) did we hear the following?
   Oh, I could hide ‘neath the wings
   Of the bluebird as she sings
   The six o’clock alarm would never ring
   But it rings, and I rise
   Wipe the sleep out of my eyes
   My shavin’ razor’s cold and it stings

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I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and an unforgiving place to work. On the other hand, flight operations are challenging, rewarding, and an orchestrated performance you will never forget.

Most of us have seen the movie Top Gun… you know… the one starring Tom Cruise. There’s another one coming out soon: Top Gun: Maverick. I’m sure there are plenty of veterans who either love it or hate it (you can say that about every movie). Nevertheless, there are some great flight deck action shots from the movie.

I won’t mince words. I like the first fifteen minutes the best. After that, well… it’s Hollywoodized.

I mention this movie because it actually provides a brief introduction and context to those who’ve never experienced flight operations aboard an aircraft carrier.

My Home

I worked in V-1 Division / Crash & Salvage aboard USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63 from 1975 to 77 and made one six-month Westpac cruise in ’75. I’ve written about those experiences several times. My rating was an Aviation Boatswains Mate-Handler.

We had two jobs aboard a ship: one, an aircraft crash firefighter and two, an aircraft director, commonly called a “Yellow Shirt” and a “Blue Shirt.” I worked both during my 2½ years aboard Kitty Hawk and absolutely loved it, primarily because I was where the action was: the flight deck.

Definitely NOT a 9-5 Job

I’m sure it’s changed over the years, but during Westpac ’75, our flight ops schedule usually began at 1000 hours and ran until midnight.

We weren’t at war, but because the Vietnam War had “officially” ended a few months earlier, but we were still on high alert.

Crash had to have 11 personnel on the flight deck during flight ops. However, we only had 14 in the entire unit. And… we also had to maintain a three-man night crew.

My good buddy Gary Borne (also with me at NAS Agana, Guam) enjoyed working the night shift. I didn’t. Like me, he was a 3rd Class Petty Officer and crew chief.

If memory serves, Gary took most of the night shifts. That was until we flew around-the-clock, which only occurred a few times during Westpac ‘75. Then we pretty much all worked through those 36-hour shifts, grabbing sleep whenever and wherever we could; even in the cab of the Crash firetruck (in between flight ops cycles, of course).

Skittles

Flight ops involved many people with different jobs.

The Navy figured out a long time ago that since everyone looks alike on the flight deck, they assigned different colored jerseys with stenciled IDs to help identify who does what on the flight deck.

Because of these different colored jerseys, flight deck personnel are often called, “Skittles,” named after that disgusting hard shell candy manufactured by Mars. You know, those bright colored sugar candies first produced in the US in 1982. That was, of course, before my time; they didn’t exist when I served in the Navy.

But I digress…

V-1 Division Colors

Disclaimer: I’m not ignoring all the other divisions, squadrons, and personnel who worked on the flight deck; I simply don’t have enough room in this blog post to list out and describe all the different colored jerseys and the crew jobs. Perhaps I can do that in a future post.

During my time aboard Kitty Hawk, the Air Department comprised five divisions: V-1 through V-5.

V-1 jersey colors were Yellow (directors), Blue (handlers), and Red (crash). We were responsible for moving aircraft around the flight deck and spotting them on the catapult for launch. The flight deck is huge: 1000+ feet, bow to stern; 250+ feet, port to starboard–about 4 1/2 acres. It’s broken up in three areas, or “Flys” (Fly 1-bow; Fly 2-amid ships; Fly 3-stern) and each Yellow shirt was designated a sequential number for their area.

For example, when I became a Yellow Shirt after the Bremerton Shipyards, I was Director #36, meaning #6 (no specific meaning) assigned to Fly 3.

Blue Shirts are under the direction of the Yellow Shirts. In fact, many Blue Shirts are eventually promoted to Yellow Shirts. That helps tremendously because they had “walked the walk and talked the talk.” Blue Shirts also worked closely with the squadron Plane Captains (Brown jerseys) to secure their aircraft to the flight deck by using tie-down chains.

FYI: “tie-down chains” are dastardly medieval devices that could maim you if you screwed up… but did a phenomenal job of keeping the aircraft secure. Normally, we’d use six tie-down chains per aircraft, but if there was a big blow (i.e., a typhoon like the one we skirted in the Sea of Japan), we’d use 15 chains.

Blue Shirts also drove the tow tractors to move aircraft around the flight deck. There were a dozen or so tow tractors on the flight deck and a smaller number on the hangar deck. One designated Yellow Shirt was in charge of all the tractors and affectionately known as, “Tractor King.” My good friend Dennis Mahon was Tractor King during a period of time aboard Kitty Hawk.

The Crash & Salvage crew wore Red jerseys. That’s where I spent most of my time while aboard Kitty Hawk and during Westpac ‘75.

We drove the MB-5 Crash truck, the Crash tractors, wore the asbestos firefighting suits, drove the Crash crane (“Tilly”), and the Crash forklift. We also knew how to harness up all the different aircraft to hoist with Tilly in the event of an aircraft crash.

How Many People on the Flight Deck?

Usually you’d find about 200 people on the flight deck during flight ops (both ship’s company as well as squadron personnel).

Back in my day, V-1 Division consisted of about 80 guys (we didn’t have women aboard at that time). Most of us were between 18 and 20 years old. That’s a lot of responsibility to place on “kids,” but we all had received (and continued) training for our jobs and as I’ve said many times before… “We all signed on the dotted line.”

As I understand it, now there are about 160 men and women in V-1 Division aboard today’s Navy aircraft carriers. When I visited USS Ronald Reagan, CV-76 on a “fact finding” mission to write my Navy book, there were 26 sailors (men and women) in Crash.

Flight Operations

Flight operations were broken into discrete events, or “cycles,” usually dependent upon the fuel capacity of the aircraft that used the most fuel in the shortest amount of time. That makes sense to me. During Westpac ’75, that would have been the F-4 Phantom (one of my all-time favorites).

From what I recall, the F-4 could stay in the air without refueling anywhere from thirty minutes to one and a half hours, depending upon the flight conditions and the mission (e.g., full afterburners versus cruise speed).

Using this as a guide, flight ops would allow for eight to ten cycles per day in a 12-hour flight schedule, each cycle lasting anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.

This will get slightly complicated, so stay with me here.

Events or “Cycles”

Events (cycles) typically consisted of about 15-20 aircraft and were sequentially numbered throughout the day. Prior to flight ops, the aircraft were arranged (“spotted”) so that Cycle #1 aircraft could easily taxi to the catapults once they had been inspected and started.

Once Cycle #1 aircraft launched—which generally took about 15-20 minutes, depending on the number of catapults used—we’d ready Cycle #2 aircraft for launch about an hour later.

After Cycle #2 aircraft launched, we’d ready the deck (i.e., re-spot aircraft) to recover the aircraft launched during Cycle #1.

Those aircraft recovered from the Cycle #1 would then be re-fueled, re-armed, re-spotted, and readied for Cycle #3. This sequence continued throughout the day.

Clear as mud?

A Day in the Life of Crash

My day at sea started a little different than most. I was a DJ (Disc Jockey) on Kitty Hawk (Station KRAL: “Country Chet Adkins“) and I had the 0600-0800 time slot. I wrote about shipboard entertainment in an earlier post.

After my radio show, I’d usually head to the mess hall for chow. My favorite was NOT “SOS,” but bacon & eggs with toast (lots of bacon) and good ol’ black Navy coffee. I’d choke it down and make my way up to the flight deck.

Crash had to be on the flight deck an hour before flight ops and remain an hour after we stopped flying. Yep, it made for a long day, but that’s what we did. I honestly didn’t mind it. I mean, what else ya gonna do when your out in the middle of the ocean on a ship.

We’d muster as a division on the flight deck to make sure everyone was present and accounted for, then head to our prospective areas.

For Crash, we’d perform PMS (Planned Maintenance Schedule) on the Crash equipment, then get into our positions for the first launch of the day. That means we’d have 4 Crash crew in the truck, and 2 Crash crew on each of two tractors.

Then, flight ops would begin and, for me, I’d be in hog heaven.

I’d Do It All Over Again

After working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier—and have time to look back and reflect on that excitement—I don’t think I’ve ever worked another job that offered as many challenges and rewards, even when I worked as a City of Gainesville firefighter after I left the Navy.

The big difference for me was that action on the flight deck was always constant and the adrenaline rush was almost non-stop.

Sure there was danger lurking almost everywhere you turned. After a while, your head was constantly on a swivel and you not only watched where you were going, you were also aware and watched out for your fellow shipmates.

I don’t know about you, but my head is still constantly on a swivel, especially when I’m out in crowds and/or walking or riding my bike. It just stays with me… and I’m not complaining. It’s a habit that helps keep me safe.

And that’s what it’s all about in these challenging times. Stay safe, my friends.

Until we meet again,
Andy

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Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books. His newest novel, NEVER FORGET, is the story of A Vietnam Veteran’s Journey for Redemption & Forgiveness. NEVER FORGET is FREE (eBook, PDF) for all veterans. Download your FREE copy HERE.

Previous posts mentioned in this blog:

• #54—Westpac ’75: Aircraft Carrier Squadrons
• #30—USS Kitty Hawk @ Bremerton Shipyards, Part 1
• #23—Rough Seas-Sea of Japan
• #13—After 30+ years, I’m back on the flight deck
• #48—Not Just Another House Fire
• #26—That Adrenaline Rush
• #39—Good Morning to ya, Kitty Hawk!

Answers

1. Oscar Wilde.
2. Behind Enemy Lines (2001), Admiral Reigart (Gene Hackman).
3. Daydream Believer (1967), The Monkees; written by John C. Stewart.