History of the Navy's EW Mission Part 2

Okay when school was in session we started to talk about the history of the Electronic warfare mission and some of the aircraft that were being used by the carrier air wings. Now lets finish up.


When the AD-4 Skyraider was accepted into fleet in 1950 the number of specialized versions that were being used by the Navy at the time were converted from AD-3 airframes were numerous. To standardized across the fleet most of the AD-3's were started to be phased out and replaced by AD-4 Skyraiders. The AD-4 became the most numerous example of the Skyraider used in the fleet. Just like with the AD-3, the Navy asked for a Q-bird in the AD-4, again the ECM operator was stuffed in the back with all the gear. To get in they had a small door on the left hand side of the aircraft and only two small little windows where the enlisted air crew men could look out to see the sights.
"Enlisted Aircrew?" you ask. Yes dear readers, before the decision to make more jobs with college graduates that got wings of gold pinned on them. Naval Air crewmen usually in the avionics field were flying in some of these aircraft to do such things as operate the anti-submarine gear, ECM gear, and there were radar operators in both the AD-4W AEW version (yes SJS, us enlisted folks were doing the radar operator/airborne intercept controller until the mid-60s) and the AD-4N's had radar bombardiers/navigators. So with the AD-4Q had enlisted ECM operators sitting there in the back tweaking knobs trying to tun in the signals from the bad guys and send out signals from the aircraft.



Following the end of the Korean War there was a need to upgrade aircraft because there was a need for heavier and more complex jamming equipment. The end of the war also saw the Composite squadrons get out of the Jamming role and concentrate more on the night time/all weather bombing operations. With that change most of the Q-birds went to the VAW-11 and VAW-12. Things were good though very complex. At the time VAW-11 and VAW-12 were the largest squadrons in the Navy. Primarily because they operated the AEW (airborne early warning) mission so they had dets of up to four aircraft joining up with each of the deploying carrier air wings to provide that early warning which the Navy found was valuable. So with the introduction of the AD-5Q a Skyraider that had its fuselage stretched to accommodate two ECM operators in a full size aft cockpit rather then a broom closet set up in the fuselage.
With the arrival of the AD-5Q the US Navy saw an airplane which had the room for expansion as additional and improve ECM gear came down the pipeline. They also saw an airplane that had a great loiter time and could effectively fly the maneuvers which were required to provide the jamming which could open up the defense so the strike package get in. With the AD-5Q also saw more room for the various antenna which were required for the job. As the AD-5Q came out the other problem saw the need for another squadron to provide room for various officers to rise up in the Department head and Commanding officer billets. Along with reduce the paperwork requirements for tracking all the various dets that VAW-11 and VAW-12 was providing. So in 1959 the Department of the Navy took a det from VAW-11 and created Carrier Airborne Early Warning Thirteen (VAW-13) at NAS Agana Guam. VAW-13 was using both the AD-5W's and the AD-5Q's and the det it was supplying to the squadrons were putting both types of airframes on the carrier decks. Also the Squadron was assigned the "Victor Robert" Tail Code. The squadron also called themselves the "Zappers" because they were zapping out electrical energy. Things were good for Early Thirteen until 1961. Commander Naval Air Forces Pacific (aka AirPac) decided to shuffle things up. VAW-11 was subdivided into smaller tactical units and VAW-13 lost the Guppy version of the Skyraider. VAW-13 was told to concentrate only on the ECM mission, VAW-13 was also recalled to NAS Alameda (which is just across the bay from San Francisco). So in 1961 they packed up their things and went back to the good ol'USA. On the Atlantic side VC-33 which became VA(AW)-33 picked up flying the AD-5Q's for the Atlantic deploying air wings and carriers.
Meanwhile the USMC while they had been using all the various "Q" versions of the Skyraider in their Composite squadrons said "thanks but no, thanks" to the AD-5Q and instead took a number of F3D-2 Skyknights and modified them into F3D-2Q ECM birds. Their thinking was they needed an aircraft that could keep up with the faster jets they had in their inventory. Along with being a larger and more powerful aircraft they could carry more ECM gear. These aircraft were still assigned to the Marine Composite squadrons (VMC) and these squadrons were later designated VMCJ's. The Marines used the F3D-2Q (later designated EF-10B after 1962)from 1955 until the 1970. These aircraft were used in Vietnam to a large success and were primarily operated ashore at Da Nang.


In 1962 Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara required the services to simplify their designation system for both aircraft and weapon systems. He did this, according to scuttlebutt, is that both the Navy and Air Force were ordering parts for the same aircraft (the F-4 Phantom) by the Navy called its version the F4H-2N while the USAF had designated its version the F-110B. He realized that money could of been saved if we were buying parts for the same aircraft types. So following September 1962 the way aircraft were described followed an improved pattern.

In 1965 the Navy Realized that they needed to replace the vulnerable EA-1F (as the AD-5Q was designated) and while looking around they realized the airplane to use was the A-3 Skywarrior. It has a tremendous space for all the various antenna and black boxes the ECM mission were requiring. On top of that as radar systems improved they realized more and more of the actual tweaking of out going signals had to be done by computers. Again there was only so much room in the EA-1F for these new computers and for the new ECM gear to radiate out the energy required. So it was in 1967 the EA-3B Skywarrior started to join the home base element of VAW-13 and as the various detachments came home they traded in their old EA-1F's for the new EA-3B's or EKA-3B's. The final deployment of the EA-1F occurred in 1968.
The EA-3B's were completely different compared to what was being flown before. Where as the EA-1F's had to fly straight at the radar site they were jamming along with decreasing their altitude to make sure their jamming was covering the offending site. Near the end of the path the aircrew had to execute a hard climbing turn to turn away and start climbing back up to a high altitude to restart the attack again. This lead to the squadron to adopt the motto "We can Hack it!". Now with the A-3's they just had to fly a basic race track pattern and the antenna's could be turned and tuned. No more violent maneuvering and no more getting into range of air defense of the bad guys. The other big difference between the two birds is just the size alone. The EA-1F had a 50 foot wing span, was about 40 feet long and the cockpit was only 13 feet off the ground. The EA-3B had a 72 ft wing span, 76 ft long and its cockpit was 22 ft high off the ground. Things were just bigger. The EA-3B's started to deploy in 1968 and continued to deploy on carriers. As the bomber versions of the A-3's were being phased out they went through re-work at the Naval Air Depot in Alameda to be converted into either the EA-3B or the EKA-3B. The only difference between the two was that the EKA-3B had a little housing near the aft of the bomb bay for an in-flight refueling system. So it could do the Jamming mission or the other mission the squadron could fly is the flying gas station (aka Texaco).

The Marines again looking around when the Navy was making the modifications to the Skywarrior. The Marines realized that the EF-10B just couldn't handle flying over such an integrated air defense system like North Vietnam was become. Again, the airframe was tired and the need for more and more jamming power just lead them to look around for something bigger and better. The Grumman Aircraft Corporation took an A-6A and modified it to and electronic attack variant called the EA-6A. They enlarged tip of the vertical stabilizer to house the various antennas required. Added some additional pylons to carry either Chaff pods or electronic counter measure pods. The nose had a plug installed it was actually made heavier. The first EA-6A was accepted at MCAS Cherry Point in 1965 and its first combat deployment was with VMCJ-1 at MCAS Da Nang in 1967. The EA-6A was eventually picked up by the Navy at the end of the Vietnam war. It was supplied to its reserve air VAQ squadrons, VAQ-209 and VAQ-309. Along with being supplied to the first tactical electronic warfare squadron VAQ-33 The Firebirds.
The Firebirds were originally a composite squadron based out of Rhode Island and after a shake up post the Korean war they became specialists in the all-weather bombing mission with the re designation as VA(AW)-33. After receiving the AD-5Q's they were re designated again to become VAW-33. In 1968 the Navy realized it was too burdensome to train people in both the early warning and electronic mission at the same time. There needed to be specialization so VAW-33 became the first tactical electronic warfare squadron VAQ-33 on the first of February. Following on the heels of that VAW-13 became VAQ-130 on the first of October. The need for more ECM lead to the re designation of VAH-4 and VAH-2, both heavy bombing units that flew the A-3 Skywarrior up in Whidbey Island to be re designated VAQ-131(nee' VAH-4) and VAQ-132(nee' VAH-2). They then moved down to NAS Alameda to trade in their bombers for electronic Whales. VAQ-130 also became the EA-3B Replacement Squadron in 1971 with the disestablishment of VAH-123. It was the largest tactical electronic attack squadron in the Navy at the time. Between training Pilots and Electronic Countermeasures Officers (ECMOs) and providing dets, they were also the Electronic Attack Wing commander. Things were hard but good. They got a little easier as VAH-10 converted to EA-3B's with them being re designated as VAQ-129 and the plan to take over the training requirements.














In 1969 the Navy realized that although the EA-3B was good there is always better. They took a look at the EA-6A and realized that it was good as well. After some figuring they realized that if you combine the airframe of the A-6 with the crew requirements of the old EA-1F and EA-3B (both of which had a pilot, navigator, and two ECMO's). They looked around and saw that the Grumman was already thinking ahead of them. The EA-6B Intruder (as it was originally called by Grumman) was being built for flight testing. The Navy bought into the idea, it was a common airframe to their primary attack aircraft. The EA-6B started to arrive in the US Navy in 1971, VAQ-129 dropped their plans to become the Electric Whale RAG and instead they built the syllabus and training regime for this new electronic attack aircraft. VAQ-132 became the first squadron to deploy to a combat zone with it when in 1972 they deployed on board the USS America (CV-66) and CVW-8. There they flew missions in support of Operation Linebacker I and II. There is a story that during the midst of the Christmas Bombing there were two EA-6B Prowlers were flying their race track pattern when they detected just over one hundred missile being launched. Both aircraft realized they couldn't jam all the missile guidance radars, instead they knew the missile command detonate signal and proximity radar signal (which the warhead used to detonate itself near the target) so they jammed both of those signals. The reports later that night from all over Pacific Command was everyone from B-52's over Hanoi to USN strike packages near Haiphong were reporting Surface to Air Missiles were going ballistic past them and were not detonating. That is some power and some idea of why this mission is so important now a days. As more and more EA-6B's came on line the Electronic Warfare folks moved away from San Francisco in 1973 and resettled up to NAS Whidbey Island.
The EA-6B had been there from flying electronic support missions along route paths for the RH-53D's to rescue the Hostages in 1979, to open holes in the Libyan air defenses in 1986 so the USAF and USN could bomb Qadhafi for his support of international terrorism. They were the jamming both radar signals and throwing anti-radar missiles during Operation Desert Storm. Supporting the folks on the ground during Operation Desert Saber by jamming enemy communications. They flew support missions during Operations Northern and Southern Watch. The EA-6B was there over Serbia and Kosovo. When international terrorism came to the United States, it was EA-6B's that were providing ECM support as US Navy and USAF strike packages were having their way over Afghanistan.
The same was said again over Iraq. Now the EA-6B's in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, by flying ECM support of the folks on the ground.
Both the US Navy and the US Marine Corps operate the EA-6B in 20 different squadrons. VAQ-129, VAQ-130,VAQ-131,VAQ-132,VAQ-133,VAQ-134,VAQ-135,VAQ-136, VAQ-137,VAQ-138,VAQ-139,VAQ-140,VAQ-141,VAQ-142,VAQ-209,VMAQ-1,VMAQ-2,VMAQ-3,VMAQ-4.


In the mid-90's it was realized that the EA-6B was starting to get a little long in the tooth. On an average most of the airframes were over thirty years old and even though they had been through re-work. The age was just showing, fatigue on the wings and airframes was there. Some of this fatigue had caused aircraft losses. McDonnell/Douglas (and later Boeing) had started to play around with converting an F-18F into an electronic attack aircraft. Playing around with the needs and requirements, Boeing built the EF-18G Growler. With the arrival of the first EF-18G to the fleet on June 3rd of 2008, a new path of electronic warfare is being forged. Again VAQ-129 has taken it upon themselves to establish the maintenance and training syllabus. The future looks bright. I won't say bright enough to wear shades though. The Marines again have decided they are not going to buy into the EF-18G and instead try to soldier on with the EA-6B until something that fits their requirements comes down the pipeline.


The future beyond manned aircraft.
A possible future for the Navy's EW aircraft might be a UCAV. There are advantages here along with disadvantages. The biggest advantage is that one could conceivably build a number of smaller versions all of which using improved networking capabilities could accurately plot mobile early warning sites and radar defense sites. On top of that each separate one could be built and configured separately to fly missions for longer periods of time then what a human crew member could possible even fly. The disadvantage is that even under the best possible conditions UAV's are a lost at very high rate. With the cost of some of the ECM systems that just would be unsustainable for the Navy. The other disadvantage is adapting a UCAV for carrier usage. It hasn't really been tested out yet to explore all the problems that would come with it.

History of the Navy's EW mission part 1

With the arrival of the EF-18G, I started to think about the history of the EW mission in the Navy and its possible future.

To start with we actually need to go all the way back to the World War Two. Right around 1943 the Navy through its Naval Research Laboratories started to work on smaller and lighter radar sets to be mounted on fighter aircraft such as the F4U and the F6F. That way these aircraft could be used to defend the fleet from night time snoopers. Along with that the NRL's were also working hard on radars so the torpedo, scouting, and bombing squadron could hunt for the enemy fleet at longer ranges and in worst weather then what the good ol'mark one human eye ball could find. As a side project a couple of the Naval Research Labs realized that if they were doing this then there might also be a way to create a way to an active way to disable enemy radars. At the time the only way to defeat a radar was through the use of something called Chaff or as the Brits called it "Window". Basically it was aluminum foil cut to certain lengths and dropped in huge bundles. This created a large blossom of reflected energy on the radar scope. Think of your classic radar scope and where there should be clear area there is a huge blot on it. That is what Chaff can do. The downside of Chaff is that it is pretty static, in that once you drop the stuff it just hangs there till it falls to the ground. On top of that you need to cut this stuff to the specific radio frequency that the bad guys are using. So if you guess wrong, well then it again isn't as effective. So that is where what is called active electronic counter measures comes in. This idea is that instead of using something passive like chaff, one uses electronic energy to "attack" the enemy radar sites. The scientists fiddled around and discovered that if you are able to "look" at the radar signal then mess with the return signal then hiding from the radar sites for longer were possible. One of the first aircraft to be converted to an electronic countermeasures aircraft was a Grumman aircraft.
The venerable TBF/TBM Avenger was modified into numerous different versions and types both during World War 2 and after the war. One of these variants was the early version of the Carrier On board Delievery (or COD) called the TBM-3R. Another version using the TBM-3R airframe was something called TBM-3Q. This aircraft started to see its development in 1945 and wasn't accepted to service until 1946. The basic differences between the TBM-3Q and the regular bomber version was that it replaced the after powered turret with faired over hole where an operator sat at looking at a radar scope, a pulse scope, and finally had the controls to operate the basic jamming system. The aircraft had installed the Yagi direction finding system installed in it as well as the APS-4 surface search radar system. On top of that it was still able to carry bombs and rockets under its wings. The Navy bought enough of these to try and issue about five to six of them out to the torpedo bombing groups in the post war carrier air wings. These aircraft only served with the Navy for two years from 1946 until 1948. Where they were replaced by the new Navy attack aircraft from the Douglas company and the design mind of Ed Heinemann

When the AD-1 Skyraider was accepted into the fleet it was realized that the old TBM-3Q couldn't keep up with the new hot rod attack aircraft being built by Douglas. So they asked the Douglas Aircraft Company to modify 35 of the AD-1's that were being produced to include space in the fuselage of the aircraft for an ECM operator along with all his gear. It was a tight fit, but they were able to install a little door on the port side of the aircraft and make room for a single man in the fuselage right behind the cockpit tub. Douglas also added a blister on the underside of the aircraft where the radiating antenna and air scoop for the electronics were located. Also permanently installed on the starboard wing was the same APS-4 radar set that the TBM-3Q had.
AD-2Q
As structural difficulties lead to the replacement of the AD-1 with the AD-2 so to the AD-1Q was replaced by the AD-2Q. Same set up as before with the AD-1Q. They also installed a pod on the port side to hold chaff as well. So the AD-2Q could go and mess with the enemy radar signal or it could drop chaff along an approach path to hid the air group from enemy air defense systems.

As improvements came with the introduction of the AD-3 into fleet service AD-3Q was accepted into service as well. The AD-3Q's were in used in Korea where they used the ECM skills to jam the radar control anti-aircraft artillery the North Korean and People's Republic of China armies used to defend such things as rail depots, bridges, and other high value targets.

Most of the Q-birds were assigned to a fleet composite squadron where they were mixed with other specialized mission aircraft such as the AD-3N, F2H-2N's, AD-3W's, and those aircraft configured as special weapons delivery aircraft. Some of these squadrons were units such as VC-33, VC-11, VC-12, VC-35, VMC-1. Something else while I am taking the quick break. I realize that I might need to explain how to decipher the cryptic aircraft designation system that the Navy Department used up until 1962. Basically the alpha numeric code used to describe an airplane told you what the primary mission of the aircraft was, who the manufacture was, and what production variant it was. Any other codes following that described any additional missions that were added on to the airframe.

So for example TBM-3Q actually equals out like this:

• T=Torpedo
• B=Bomber
• M=General Motors manufacture
• 3= Third production variant
• Q=Special Electronic mission

Or as in the example AD-1Q it would read like this:

• A=Attack
• D=Douglas Aircraft Company
• 1=First version produced
• Q=Special electronic mission

Any questions? Ah yes you in the back, what you don't completely understand it? Okay see if this crib sheet might help you out. Okay schools out. When we come back we will pick this up from the AD-4Q and work our way on up to the possible future of the Navy/Marine Corps EW birds.

Should I taste the Kool-Aid?

The Growler has now been up here at Whidbey for about week. The first production variant straight from the factory in St. Louis arrived here on the 3rd of June. About two days after the main body of my squadron arrived. I have yet to see it actually fly mind you all. Let alone what the whole set up in the cockpit looks like. I will probably find a way to duck out of work some day walk down to the RAG and ask for a hook up from one of the guys that I know working there. That way I can get a chance to sit in the cockpit and look at all the new cool toys.


On the flip side of this equation there appears to still be some serious teething issues going on. As I write this it is the 27th of June and according to the word on the flight line, this wolf has yet to pass its acceptance FCF. Let alone there were some tools from the production line found inside the jet and bags of fasteners found in other places. Time will tell what is going to happen and how this is all going to succeed on the EF-18G. There are still kinks to be worked out but hopefully all will go well.

Meanwhile on my side of the EW world, I have to strip two jets down and get them ready for the interim modification by a field support team. The interim mod is going to install some of the cool features of the EF-18G like digital ICS, improved IFF system, and digital flight control system. The digital flight controls isn't a true fly by wire like the F-18's have. Rather it is a frankenstein design, an improved computer compared to the older one and it has a better response time when in autopilot and an auto carrier pilot landing system. Meanwhile there is also talk of taking another look at some of the older EA-6B's and if they are under the flight hours restriction sending them to the Naval Air Depot for further upgrade to ICAP III with the new and improve ICS, IFF, DFCS, and the new ECM suite. Some one up the line has gotten smart and decided that it might make sense to simplify down to only have two different variants floating out in the supply system instead of the way the F-14 folks did it (with F-14B's, F-14A's, and F-14D's out there in the fleet). Again time will tell if logic will prevail or if there will be a Dilbert style leadership intervention to prevent that bit of logic to escape into the wild.


I am sure some of you readers will want to know, but personally I think the name "Growler" sucks big time for the name of a jet. The reason is that to my sailor like mind the term just conjures up the thought of an action that is supposed to be very private. :) I would of preferred something more interesting like the "Shocker" . I have also heard the term "Electric Bug" or even "Lightening Bug" by some people around here.

Scenes from the Flight Deck

Previously on "Scenes from the Flight Deck".



...He skipped that one and looked through the 15 or 20 messages that had been stacking up since he forwarded he email the Friday when he got off from work before the flights out. When he finally found the two with the name he was looking for. The romantic interest had written him twice. Once asking how the flight some general life subjects, the other email was some questions about himself. They had just barely known each other for a few days before he had to ship out. So it was perfectly natural to sit back and start to answer these questions.



He read those emails and then turned around and deleted half of those emails which didn't out right apply to him. Such fun emails as "NMCI will go down...", "NAS MasterJet Liberty Program has tickets to..", "Gate J35 will be closed because of maintenance on...". After he deleted those he in turn gave up the computer to the guys from the night check. They checked their mail while the night check supervisor was off at his own maintenance meeting. Same thing that was put out during day check was put out to night. They all started to mill around, he finally realized that he was tired. So grabbed his stuff from out of the drawer for personal gear and staggered back to the rack.
"Hey, Southern you going to chow?" AT1 asked
"Hmm," he said as he looked at his watch, "Nah, it is past 1900 and I don't feel like trying to scarf another water burger and fries again. So I am heading back to the berthing for a hot shower and some sleep."
"Okay see you back there."
With that he staggered on back to his wrack and watch as the night check guys were milling around getting use to the 12 on/12 off schedule. Walking past some of the staterooms where the TAD guys were cleaning in prep for the air crews flying on or taking laundry down of those ground officers that had already been on board for a few days. The air department guys who were doing the last minute testing and maintenance on either the cat gear or the recovery gear. Listening as the handlers began to reposition the SE. Also listening to all the conversations that went on as people walked around the passageways.
"...and so I told him to go to Toys 'R Us and buy the home game of "Go f--k yourself. Who does he think he is..."
"... Bulldog told me that Lex and Steeljaw were trying to get a CAG only spades tourney going up in..."
"....she stuck some letters in my bag while I was packing and I didn't even know it, now my bag and clothes smell of her perfume.."
"Hey, can I bum a cig..."
"Chief Sackdonuts wants these maintenance actions cleared before mid-rats...."
"...why are they showing 'X-men' again on SITE TV..."
"Pardon, me young man how do I get to the wardroom." someone said to him as he felt a pull on his sleeve. He looked around and saw this older gentleman in some civilian clothes and a USS Newboat ball cap that said VIP on the back. It pulled him out of his tripped down memory lane of being back out to sea after two years away.
"Huh? Excuse me, sir" he said with a slightly startled tone and confused look on his face
"I said how do I find my way to the wardroom," his gentleman said again, "I am looking for wardroom 2. I need to find a pilot with the nickname of Willy."
"Oh, here I will show you." He looked around and realized that he had only gone about 40 frames from where the shop was. So back tracking back up the way he came he pointed this gentleman to the wardroom. Realized that this guy had gotten separated from some sort of tour group. Thinking about the tour groups and VIPs took him back to being on board USS Oldboat. A slight smile crossed his lips as he thought of some adventures that occurred there. Then his mind cross of the romantic interest and an even bigger smile crossed his mind. He had that smile even as he laid down to get some sleep at the end of the day. His thoughts took him back to that last night with her and some of the best dreams started.

Scenes from the Flight Deck

Returning after being restructured is the famous show "Scenes from the Flight Deck" to the Southern Air Pirate channel. Previous Episodes are now available here:
Pilot episode
Second episode
______________________
Scenes from the second episode
"That may have been what it was like in the old Navy senior, but I am part of the new Navy. You have to be ready to jump quickly and quick to draw. That being said, we are caught up for right now and since we just cross the Chesapeake Bridge-tunnel complex, Burger doodle is too far away now. The AT shop is heading to lunch and grabbing a bite to eat before the mess decks close."
"Okay, just remember that the man-over board is at 1300."
"Right-O"

So he and AT1 stumbled down the passageway remembering to try and pick up their feet over the knee knockers and carry on a conversation behind his back with the Uno.
"So where do you want to eat?"
"What do they have?"
"Dunno, usually they have sliders and fries up forward and back aft is the full meal. I would bet that since we just pulled out there might now be a line at either. So, we could..."
"Sliders sounds like a plan."
"Okay follow me."
They start to jink around the passageways up on the third deck above the hangar bay. For some reason only known to some one older them him, the hangar deck on a carrier is referred to as the main deck and everything above it is in the "oh" deck levels. They were on the oh-three (03) deck which is right below the flight deck (the 04 level) and where 99% of the staterooms and ready rooms were. Finally after moving through a couple of knee-knockers and turning through a couple of non-tight doors they came upon the ladder well that would take them right down to the line for the burgers and fries.
"We call them water burgers since they are nearly always sitting in a pan of liquid grease and look constantly wet. Sometimes we get lucky and they have fry season packets sitting out for us.", he said describing the menu to the uno.
"Gotcha."
Just as he was getting ready to say something else, the click of the general announcing system came on and three quick whistles
"THIS IS A DRILL, THIS IS A DRILL. MAN OVER BOARD PORT SIDE, MAN OVERBOARD PORT SIDE. ALL HANDS TO YOUR MUSTERING STATIONS. THIS WILL BE A BOAT RECOVERY."
"MUSTERING ROUTES ARE AS FOLLOWS, UP AND FORWARD ON THE STARBOARD SIDE. DOWN AND AFT ON THE PORT SIDE."
"THIS IS A DRILL, THIS IS A DRILL. MAN OVER BOARD PORT SIDE, MAN OVERBOARD PORT SIDE. ALL HANDS TO YOUR MUSTERING STATIONS. THIS WILL BE A BOAT RECOVERY."
"MUSTERING ROUTES ARE AS FOLLOWS, UP AND FORWARD ON THE STARBOARD SIDE. DOWN AND AFT ON THE PORT SIDE."
"Son of a..." they both said in unison as the turned and jumped up the ladder to head back to the shop.
At that instant some one was trying to come down the ladder. He thought about it for 5 seconds before realizing they were on the starboard side.
"Out of the way asshole you are going the wrong fucking way." As he shoved this person in coveralls which were neatly pressed with military creases and realized after a cursory examination was an non-petty officer with dual warfare pins.
"Obviously an admin punk who had nothing better to do then blow off real workers. While he got his pins gun-decked. "
They made it back to the shop in about 6 minutes and nearly everyone else was there. The night checkers were very unhappy and chief looked like he just woke up himself from a combat nap in the mess. AT1 took out his shift list and looked over.
"Anyone seen Airman Sanso?"
"Yea he is on his way, stupid bastard sleeps nude. That wasn't cool to roll out to." one of the night checkers that lived near him said.
"Okay."
30 seconds later in came the one missing man for the shop.
"South you want to dial maintenance and report AT's have everyone."
"TIME PLUS 10, MAN BEARS 075. MAKE MUSTER REPORTS TO DECK HOUSE ONE."
"Yea, Senior. AT's are here. All are accounted for. I know a few personnel issues need to still be resolved. Okay."
"Can we go now?" some one in the group pleaded.
"Nope not till they secure from Man Overboard." Chief said
"TIME PLUS 15, MAN BEARS 075. THE FOLLOWING DIVISIONS EXPEDITE MAKING MUSTER REPORTS TO DECK HOUSE ONE: X-1, V-1, OS, MEDICAL, VFA-99, CVW-19, DESRON100."
For the next five minutes it went like that until at the 20 minute mark the constant screech of the 1mc changed yet again.
"TIME PLUS 21, MAN BEARS 075. THE FOLLOWING PERSONNEL REPORT TO DECK HOUSE ONE WITH THIER ID CARDS: AN SMITH, V-1 DIVISION; AN BEGANI, V-1 DIVISION; HN CHOCKER, MEDICAL; LT JOHNSON CVW-19; MR. ROBERT BONES CVW-19."
"Well at least Cobra's made it. We are usually lucky like that." he said to no one in general.
At 28 minutes later everyone was accounted for, the last one to be found was the AN Smith. After which the XO of the ship came on and went on for another 5 minutes about the need to do better and team Neverdocd.
"Okay night check can roll back to their racks." AT1 said
Grumbling and groaning they all staggered out.
"Well that was interesting. Do they always take that long?" AT1 asked
"Not really, but the boat chucks are pretty new." ,he said while looking at his watch, "Goddamit, we missed lunch and now the only thing worthwhile to eat is the taco bar."
"I don't feel like tacos."
"Good cause they aren't very good. Dried out meat or over spiced chicken and usually broken shells or ripped up soft shells."
"Hang on, I will get you two some burgers from the mess" Chief said for the first time after the start of the man overboard.
"Alright, lets go get the skids and the rest of the crap."
"Okay just follow me."
So for the next hour they went all over the hangar bay getting the gear together just in case they had to drop pods.
When they came back up to the shop there was one of the ITs and a pair of civilians standing outside the shop door.
"We are here to hook up your computers to the LAN and give you email and NALCOMIS access." the IT said
"Okay"
For the next 10 minutes of screwing around with the IT, a boat IT, and the civilians find out that of the three drops in the shop all but 1 didn't work and the one that did work was in a bad position to get to because it was behind the workbench. Yet, after it all it they finally got the two NMCI computers they brought out hooked up and email running.
They both separated and started to check their email on the separate computers.
After logging in he immediately clicked the icon for MS Outlook and waited for that to load.
The first thing message was from the AZ2 in charge of NALCOMIS, basically a link to the server while out to sea.
He skipped that one and looked through the 15 or 20 messages that had been stacking up since he forwarded he email the Friday when he got off from work before the flights out. When he finally found the two with the name he was looking for.
The romantic interest had written him twice. Once asking how the flight some general life subjects, the other email was some questions about himself. They had just barely known each other for a few days before he had to ship out. So it was perfectly natural to sit back and start to answer these questions.

Scenes from the Flight Deck

On the last episode the following scenes occurred:
"Where is the coffee?" He growled looking worse for wear then the other two in the space.
"So chief went out with the rest of the mess and tied one on. I wonder how bad he is hung over or was yesterday a special occasion because we are away from home and chief operates on a separate set of rules versus home?"

Before anyone else had a chance to say something the phone rang, startling everyone in the little space not much bigger then the walk-in closet that her home had. As that though cross his mind, a smirk crossed his lips as his hand grabbed the receiver.
"Cobra Avionics, AT2 Southern, how may I help you sir/ma'am?"
"South, Maintenance meeting has been moved back to 0715." A female voice called to him over the phone.
"0715 meeting, rog."
He hung up the receiver.
"That was AZ2, as you heard maintenance meeting has been pushed back to 0715. Josh why don't you go and grab some breakfast up forward. I think they were still serving as I came up. Or at least you can grab some cereal. Chief, this isn't like back at the beach. We haven't drawn our coffee issue yet. Technically the pot" ,and as he said that his arm pointed out to the percolators pot that was sitting on top of the large gray safe in the space, "is illegal since there are a number of hoops you need to jump through while on board, USS Neverdocd to run a coffee mess."
"Oh right I forgot. Looks like I will have to stumble back down the mess and get coffee from one of their pots. See you guys in a few."
"S, I will take you up on your offer. Go ahead and take the meeting. I am going to try and grab some food."
"Hey, where is maintenance? I know it moved."
"03-60-1. Just down the way from the HS bubbas."
"Ahh, I know where you are talking about now. Thanks.
Both of them walked out and he was left to his thoughts for a few moments. He looked around and realized he was an old hand at this now. After doing a six and half month cruise in this space it hadn't changed much from two years previously. The only thing missing was the scrawny little 13in TV that was on the workbench. at the one end of the space.
"Hmm, that is interesting. I guess no more Roger Ball show for a while. Got to remember to ask about that at maintenance. Which reminds me where is the pass down log"
He looked around for a couple of minutes and found the pea green book which was the size of the standard spiral notebooks he use to have in school. Picking it up and flipping till he found an blank page and started to put down the standard lines for notes and info. He then went and wrote down the fact that a TV was missing from the space. Looking at the few meager toolboxes they brought out. Nearly all of which still had the tape from when they were packed up back at home. The ring of the bells across the announcing system and a quick check of his watch told him that it was 0700 and time to find the maintenance desk and a good place to sit.
Down the passageway and around the corner to find the maintenance desk. This was a bigger maintenance control then they had during cruise, but it was in a worst space. Just up the way was the starboard side entrance to the 03 wardroom. Nearly all the air wing and to an extent the ship's airdale officers would stomp their way past the desk on the way to get some food from there. Opening the bottom of the dutch door he walked into maintenance.
"Morning Domitila. Do we have a workloads?"
"Yea, about that. Robyn just unpacked the server and we are awaiting the IT's to come by and set the sucker up."
"Right, welcome to the boat. Oh joy." he said a little sarcastically
"Yea, welcome to the boat." she answered and a smile crossed her face.
"You seen the controllers or the brain?" he asked wondering why the none of the maintenance chiefs were in nor was the Maintenance Master chief was in. It was a real surprise to not see the MMCPO in since back at the rock he was an early riser and usually in before everyone screening his own copy of the full squadron workload.
"Last time I saw any of them was last night when I came staggering on board from grabbing dinner and some drinks. They were pretty wild, crazy, and very drunk."
"I know my new chief just came in and looked like some form of death warmed over."
Just as he said that the door opened again and a tall, blond hair man with some small glasses on his mousy looking face walked in. He looked pretty rested and wide awake, standing there in front of both him and AZ2 in his khakis.
"A few of your guys stay out too late at Green's last night Southern?"
"No, Senior. I was just asking about a few of the other people that we know about."
"Okay. AZ2 where is my FBI and why aren't the workloads in the baskets ready to be passed out."
Southern looked back at the AZ2 while this was being said and watched her mouth something, roll her eyes, and then say the same thing to the Senior Chief that Southern heard just seconds before.
The rest of the maintenance supervisors checked in and a slight rise in things as people started to trade stories on what they did in town.
"Okay people, lets get this thing started." Senior started to say and with that things quieted down.
"All of them but 502 are up and on the beach. 502 has a slow to indicate gripe. 120, we have the contact info for the beach det. Lets get ahold of them before the brow goes up and find out what they need. "
"Right Senior"
"Other then that a few gripes from the cross country that the beach det was able to settle. We are expecting to start CQing tomorrow. Get the shops squared away today and get what SE you all need now. CAG has also stated that the man overboard should be going down around 1300. The rule for us is muster the shop and call Maintenance. Also get a list together of things wrong or missing in the shops and spaces owned by us. Final thing is shift lists folks! We don't all have inputs as to who is playing on first. So get an updated list to maintenance admin."
Everyone started to file out. AT2 staggered out with the rest of them and walked back to his shop.
As he punched the combo into the lock to enter, the 1MC spoke again with bells announcing it was 0800.
"That didn't seem like a 30min meeting, but we probably didn't have much so I just zoned the rest of it out. Oh well."
He walked in thinking that. Looking around he noticed just AT1 in the shop.
"Where is Chief?"
"Went down to the mess to see if he couldn't wrangle breakfast and coffee."
"Okay. Big things from maintenance is get ready for underway. CQ starts tomorrow, knock out the SE draw today. Possible MOB at 1300, typical for the squadron is face to face in the shop and then a phone call or runner to maintenance to announce full muster. 502 is down with a gear issue. No workloads yet, nowcommunist is being a pain to set up through the ships network. Oh yea! As per the norm, maintenance admin has lost the shift lists that we submitted before coming out on this pleasure cruise. So before shift change today, we need to give them a new one. Email it or drop it off in person, doesn't matter."
"Right, so what else do we need to get?"
"Skids, Hoists, SHOLS, Pulleys; that is about it"
"Gotcha"
"So what first?"
"We can get the Hoists down in GSE and the SHOLS and Pulleys from AIMD. Both of those shops are right next to each other."
"Okay show me where these are and lets get ready to catch jets."
For the next two hours it was up and down ladders as he lead his new boss around the ship showing him the important spots on the ship.
Showing back up in the shop, his stomach started to growl. Taking a peek at his watch he realized that it was 30 minutes past noon. The ship had shift colors and gotten underway, or at least as underway as a modern super carrier could have about an hour earlier.
"Hey Josh, Do you want to go and grab some lunch." he stated to the AT1.
"Why what time is it."
"Noon-thirty or 1230 for you non-military types."
"Damn is it that late?"
"Yep and if we don't hurry we will be forced to grab a bite in the taco line. Considering that it is a Monday and the Neverdocd always has tacos and fake-Mexican food for eats on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. I would say lets head down to the forward galley for a water-burger."
"Sounds like a plan."
So they both walked out of the shop and on the way past maintenance, he stuck his head in real quick.
"Hey Senior, AT shop is unmanned. We are grabbing a bite to eat."
"Did you...."
"Yea we got skids, pulleys, shols, and all the rest of the stuff. Everything is tied down for heavy seas. 210 is ready to head back to the boat and back out to sea. Any other dumb questions?"
The senior chief got a quick smile across his face
"AT2 in my days long ago.."
"What when you were the first mate on the Ark?"
"Don't question my age son! Didn't your folks teach you proper respect for your elders? As I was saying in my days long ago as a blue shirt, I would wait until the chief, senior chief, or master chief had finished his statement before answering questions."
"That may have been what it was like in the old Navy senior, but I am part of the new Navy. You have to be ready to jump quickly and quick to draw. That being said, we are caught up for right now and since we just cross the Chesapeake Bridge-tunnel complex, Burger doodle is too far away now. The AT shop is heading to lunch and grabbing a bite to eat before the mess decks close."
"Okay, just remember that the man-over board is at 1300."
"Right-O"

Scenes from the Flight Deck

He saw her face. That beautiful brunette with that cute smile, little twinkle in her eyes as she laughed, and those beautiful lips that were great to kiss. Her lips where moving and he could hear her voice say, "I love you and write you as you are gone. Give me one last kiss before you go."
He was confused and tried to say that he was right here and wasn't going any place. Yet just as he opened his mouth to say something instead a constant buzzing started to go off behind him. As he turned around to find the buzz it just go louder and louder. He tried to turn back to tell her to hold on, but she had disappeared from in front of him. Instead the world got very black and started to grope for light switch when a sharp pain came to his legs and a voice called out to him....

"Owww, god damn it."
His eyes popped open to the voice and to the feeling of a foot on his lower leg.
"Huh, Whaaa, where the hell am I?"
Sit up the little voice at the back of his mind called out.
"Okay" Another part of his mind said in return.
He sat up right when a sharp pain came to his forehead which caused him to slam his head back to the pillow. He then realized where the hell he was. Once more back on the boat and because the plane he was on was late he was on the bottom rack on one side of a six man cube. More thoughts started to come to his head and his mind started to spin up to speed. It was then that he realized the pain came from guy on the rack above him who was big footed and couldn't just swing out and fall out of the middle rack. His hand found the rack light and turned it on, that was when bright light startled him part of his mind said to turn it back off. The buzzing came back to his ears and he looked around. That was when he noticed his alarm clock up near the pillow on a little shelf that some one decided this rack was lucky enough to have. As more people stirred around him he felt for the little flip-flops that he wore to the shower and threw those out. He then pulled the little curtains that gave him some measure of privacy.
After pulling back the curtains he looked out and realized that no one else was stirring in his cube, so he picked up his clock and pushed the little button to shine light on the time.
"0500, What time did chief say we had to be in?"
"0630" came from some other part of his brain.
"Good if I can move fast enough there might be time to get breakfast in."
He rolled out of his rack and put his feet into the flip-flops. Stood up and stretch the stiffness out of his arms and legs. "Gosh those racks are never long enough to stretch out completely."
He then bent back down and took a chain off his neck. This chain held his dog tags and the key to his locker. Popping the lock off his rack and pop-up the cover which he was just sleeping on just minutes ago. Digging around he found the leather kit bag, his father had given him after checking into his first sea command. After closing the locker and lock, then pulling on the lock to make sure it actually locked he stumbled out of the compartment past others coming back from showering or just getting dressed.
The area was bathed in a red glow from the red lights in the passageway. The didn't hurt his eyes as much the white light that was his rack light. Into the head and finding the first empty sink. Put the kit bag down opening it up and pulling out the toothbrush and tooth paste.
About 10 minutes later after brushing his teeth and get a shave in he was back in front of his open rack this time feeling for a white t-shirt, pair of skivies, black socks, and the coveralls that were standard wear for in port. Stripping out of the t-shirt and Bahama shorts he wore to bed last night, then down to nothing as he pulled off the skivies he had worn since yesterday morning getting on the big C-40A that took him from the west coast to the east coast. 10 minutes later he was finishing up adjusting his boot laces when he picked up his clock and saw that the total morning ritual took about 40minutes. "15 minutes longer then normal. Can't let that happen too often." On out of the berthing compartment and down to the mess decks. Walking about 40 or 50 feet till he arrived at the outboard passageway he remembered from cruise two years ago and went out and down the ladder well that took him from the 03 level down to the second deck and the mess decks. All the way to the bottom he noticed there wasn't a line at all.
"What luck, I might actually be able to get some eggs and bacon in me before work instead of cereal."
Grabbing a tray and plate he walked down the line and scooped some scrambled eggs and bacon and healthy scoop of grits on to the plate. Walking past the grill with a cook that had a bored expression on his face, then past all the donuts and other breakfast pastries that the bake shop had made the night before. He arrived in another space which had various juice and soda machines set up. Grabbing a couple of plastic cups from the dispenser at the start of this line he walked past the fresh fruit.
"Oh joy they have oranges and they look pretty fresh and ripe. I think I will have two right now and save one for later in the day."
Grabbing 3 oranges off the pile that sat in the refrigerated tray, he went further down to one of the juice machines. Pushing the button for the fruit punch into both cups he went past everything else and went into the seating area. Finding a seat he sat down and started to shovel the breakfast down and was left to his own thoughts for a few moments. Those thoughts keep returning to her.
It was a few moments later and the ring of a bell and the ship's announcing system that told him the time.
"Reveille, Reveille, All hands heave up and trice too."
"0600, oh joy." He said to no one.
Going around to another part of the seating area he got in line to turn in his dishes. Dumping the scraps into the trash and handing off the pieces of his dishes to the various windows in the scullery. He got out of the line and started to walk further to find the ladderwell that would take him right up near his shop. But first he had to put the extra orange into his pocket, because technically taking food off the mess decks is bad juju.
"I might need it for later if I miss lunch, cause I don't know when the main ships store will open and it is healthier then the candy bars in the vending machines down here."
Getting up to the shop he realized that the door was shut and he didn't know the code to the cypher lock. Knocking on the door lead it to be opened by the new first class that had checked in a couple of months ago.
"Whats going on? How was the flight? Did you guys get any liberty time?" where the first few questions out of the PO1's mouth as both of them walked back into the shop and got settled.
"Not much, the usual, no we got in about midnight way past liberty expiration for all hands. I see the shop is set up. Beach det and early det do that?"
"Yea, Maintenance meeting is at 0645."PO1 said and guessing what the next question was. "What is that in your pocket?"
"Oh it is an orange I took off the mess decks for later. Do you want it?"
"Yeah, I didn't make it down to breakfast."
"You taking it or me? Or do you want to rock paper scissors for it and lose like you always do?" He asked. Basically wondering who was going to the maintenance meeting
The door swung open again startling both of them. The new shop chief that had checked in only 24hours prior to coming out on this adventure walked in.
"Where is the coffee?" He growled looking worse for wear then the other two in the space.
"So chief went out with the rest of the mess and tied one on. I wonder how bad he is hung over or was yesterday a special occasion because we are away from home and chief operates on a separate set of rules versus home?"
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Well that is it for right now. More will be written over the next few days. Just trying something different if you don't like this please feel free to comment in the comments box or via the email. Thanks for sticking around here folks.