Air Force photographer views life aboard a Navy aircraft carrier

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Daniel Owen
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --  Imagine if you were on an airplane and just before landing, the attendants begin waving their arms like madmen while yelling "Get ready! Here we go!" What would you think?
As an Air Force member who's flown on several military flights, I found the Navy aircrew's behavior a bit unnerving. However, for those experienced with Navy transportation, it's the warning to brace yourself because you're about to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier; in this case it was the USS. Nimitz, a Navy aircraft carrier just off Guam's coast participating in the joint exercise Valiant Shield. The landing was the first of many new experiences I survived during my overnight stay on the carrier from Aug. 11 to 12.
The Navy uses a C-2 Greyhound, also known as the carrier on-board delivery, or COD, to move people and cargo to and from ship to shore. Passengers sit facing the airplane's tail in a stiff L-shaped steel chair covered with a pad that dates back to 1936. Passengers are strapped in with a four-point harness that is so tight you feel you're "at one" with the chair. The final piece of equipment is a two-piece helmet called a "cranial."
As explained by the aircrew, all of this was for our own protection.
Included with the safety gear was preflight instructions: "when the two aircrew members start to wave their arms, put your head on the head rest, clasp the shoulder harnesses with each hand and hold on."
No Air Force aircrew has ever told me that.
After assuming the position, three seconds passed before it felt like we hit a brick wall. A loud pop sounded as the aircraft caught the arresting cable and I was slammed into the back of my seat; the force knocking the wind from my lungs as the COD stopped almost instantaneously.
The violent stop marked my arrival on the USS. Nimitz. I flew there with several other members of the media who were also covering the joint exercise.
As I walked across the flight deck, I felt like a little kid in an amusement park. I saw things that looked cool and things that scared me; all of them keep me in awe.
Since I was the only military person in the group, an escort ushered me to the galley to eat with the rest of the "troops" while the civilians ate in a distinguished visitor lounge.
I quickly learned that no matter where you go on a carrier it's always up two decks and over three sections, or down four decks and over six sections. What does this mean? Stairs!
By the time we reached the galley, I felt like I climbed to the top of the Empire State Building and down again twelve times. I was out of breath and starving.
Entering the galley, the scene reminded me of a prison movie where the inmates step up and stick their tray under a plate glass window as the "cook" on the other side slops some kind of goop onto the tray. Well the food was better than that, but the experience was similar. The Nimitz's food services departments provides 18,000 to 20,000 meals a day for the 6,000 Sailors and passengers aboard.
One concerned Sailor noticed my Air Force uniform and gave me some helpful advice for eating in the galley.
He warned me to inspect my tray for "leftovers" before proceeding to the food line. After that, he apologized in advance for the food and walked away.
Andersen's dining facility has never looked better.
After lunch we rejoined the civilian media. I began feeling slightly dizzy, so I asked a reserve SK2 (supply petty officer second class) if that was normal.
"Do you get sea sick?" he asked me.
"No," I said. "I don't feel nauseated, just a little dizzy."
"That's normal for about the first week at sea." He replied.
Our group visited several sections of the ship and interviewed key officers on the boat. After that we went to the flight deck and to photograph the aircraft "launching, and being caught."
An Air Force photographer, I've photographed hundreds of aircraft taking off and landing and haven't thought anything about it. That changed when I stepped on to the 4.5 acre flight deck and lined up about 20 yards from an F/A-18 with its jets roaring!
I could almost reach its wing tip! This was a first for me.
I lifted my camera and took a few pictures of it on the deck. As the pilot revved the F-18's engines, I took a knee and braced myself. The marshaler signaled the pilot to take off and the F-18's after burners roared as the catapult flung the aircraft off the edge of the carrier. The aircraft dipped slightly as it cleared the deck before streak off into the sky.
That's when my heart began to beat again and I realized I had been holding my breath. After about the third plane, I started to take pictures of this amazing feat.
Our hosts explained that it takes between fifteen and twenty seconds to launch an aircraft into the air. They said that with the two catapults working at the same time the Nimitz is able launch every aircraft in a matter of minutes.
Since I'm in the military, I was able to not only see the parts of the ship that the civilian media tour covered, but I also visited the photo lab (and media shops), enlisted "head" (restrooms and showers), and berthing - the ship's sleeping quarters.
I was shocked! Each bed, or rack, is about six feet long, three feet wide, and each one is separated from the rack above it by only two feet. The racks are stacked three high along the walls; there are about fifty to sixty men in one room. I asked the MC3 who took me to the berthing "where do you put your clothes?" He lifted the mattress and revealed about twenty small compartments. He also pointed out a small locker that was about six inches wide, two and a half feet tall, and three feet deep. After talking to a few of the sailors for a while I went back to my DV state room to sleep.
The next morning we visited the flight deck one last time to take pictures of the maintainers.  Following that, it was time to board the COD and return home. 
Once again we donned our cranials and strapped into the COD's armored seats. This time, we received different preflight instructions from the public affairs lieutenant who lead the tour.
"When the air crew begin to flail their arms and yell, put your chin to your chest, clutch your shoulder harness and put your feet on the back of the seat in front of you. If you don't Isaac Newton will!"
As the civilians laughed and joked, I remembered seeing a COD launch the day before. The C-2 Greyhound catapulted off the deck and sank about twenty or thirty feet before gaining enough airspeed before climbing into the air.
I was more than a little concerned about the "roller coaster ride" I was about to endure. Sitting in the seat of the C-2, I waited for the air crew to give the signal. Sure enough the two air crew began to yell and flail their arms wildly. I braced myself and put my chin to my chest. No sooner than my chin touched my chest I was thrust forward so hard that again all of the air was forced out of my body, everything went silent for about five seconds. I was weightless for a few seconds right before I was dropped back into my seat, and we were in the air.
I have a new found respect for my sea-going brethren, and have never been so happy to be in the Air Force in all my life!