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Homeward Bound

Kitty Hawk is on her way home, finally.

After 10 years of being forward-deployed and two months of wandering around the Pacific, the Kitty Hawk will finally pull into San Diego on Aug. 7. It will be 10 years, one month and a day from when she departed San Diego — the last time on July 6, 1998, to meet the carrier Independence in Pearl Harbor.

But I don’t think it has set in quite yet.

For the last two days, the ship has been offloading ammunition, a three-day job that got done in two.

Now all efforts are in preparing for the turnover with the carrier George Washington and the long-awaited trek North to Bremerton, Washington, for her final decommissioning.

It was a seemingly routine departure from Pearl Harbor on Aug. 1 after hosting the final wrap-up party for the semiannual Rim of the Pacific exercise. But shortly after clearing the narrow channel and hitting open water, the ship encountered the guided missile destroyer Chafee heading in the opposite direction.

Those on deck of the smaller ship snapped to attention as they came alongside the Kitty Hawk and the carrier returned the salute — a final reminder that this is most likely the final time the ship will visit the Hawaiian Islands.

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, but it ended up in as close to a storybook ending as a carrier can get. The May fire onboard the carrier George Washington forced Kitty Hawk to make an unscheduled stop in Guam and then train up to be the center attraction for the RIMPAC exercise. During the exercise, “The Hawk” was host to the Canadian admiral and had 1,456 carrier arrested landings, bringing the ship’s career total to 407,491– still third on the Navy’s all-time list, behind Lexington and Independence.

But RIMPAC allowed the ship to hit another milestone. On July 26, the ship’s catapult No. 3 shot its 100,000th catapult shot. That’s right, Catapult 3 on the ship’s waist — you know, the one that shoots off the angle.

Normally only a carrier’s bow catapults reach this kind of milestone and in fact, the crew believes that, till now, no carrier has ever shot that number of aircraft off its midship cats.

“From what we can tell, this is the first time a ship has reached this number on a waist cat,” said Cmdr. John Kurtz, Kitty Hawk’s air boss.

But the ship will have all of eternity to rest on that laurel. The final fly-off is next on the horizon. There will be a short tune-up Aug. 5, when the ship will fly one long cycle to get the kinks out before flying off all Air Wing Five’s fixed-wing aircraft on the 6th. The helicopters will leave the following morning as the ship gets closer to San Diego Harbor.

But the question remains — will all of the aircraft make it off on the final run? Will the maintenance crews get all the aircraft up and running in time to make the final push? Well, now, that seems to be the only question unanswered for the Kitty Hawk.

Stay tuned for the answer.

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First Call to Colors

It’s the Fourth of July weekend, and there should be flags everywhere. I’d say most in the service have gotten a goose bump or two saluting the flag during the National Anthem at one time or another, while standing at attention in uniform.

Yeah, it can get old, too, when you have to do it day in and day out.

But that’s not my point — when the country was young, it was the Navy that got the U.S. flag its first international recognition.

Today, ships render honors when passing another ship. Those outside on deck face the ship being honored and salute, when directed by those on the bridge. In the days of sailing ships, a ship entering port would fire a volley from their cannons to “salute” the nationality of the port they were entering. If the government in the port saw fit, they would fire a volley back — returning the salute — a signal they were recognized and welcome.

For the U.S., the first foreign recognition of a national flag was for the “Grand Union Flag,” the country’s first official flag adopted and considered by many as the de facto first naval ensign of the U.S.

With 13 alternating red and white stripes, the flag resembles today’s Stars and Stripes. However, in the field where we now have the stars is a square version of the British Union Jack. This flag was never officially adopted by the U.S., but was used throughout the Revolutionary War.

It was raised first on board a U.S. Navy ship when the Continental Navy vessel Alfred hoisted the banner aloft on the orders Commodore Esek Hopkins on Dec. 3, 1775. Navy legend John Paul Jones, then the senior lieutenant on Alfred, claimed to have raised the flag himself that day on the Delaware River, near Philadelphia.

Symbolism was never lost on Jones, and he’d play more of a part in the lore of “Old Glory,” but we’ll get to that in a moment.

That Grand Union Flag was first recognized by a foreign nation on Nov. 16, 1776.

That’s when Commander Johannes de Graaff of the Dutch Navy decided to return the salute given by the Continental Navy’s brigantine Andrew Doria — also flying the Grand Union Flag — as it sailed into he harbor of the Dutch port of Sint Eustatius on Nov. 16, 1776.

The U.S. gave the answering salute great publicity because the salute was the first international acknowledgment of the independence of the U.S.

Once the Stars and Stripes was adopted in 1777, it was Jones, many say, who first took it to sea again, this time on the Ranger. Jones’ ship was the first to take the Revolutionary War to British home soil when he and two boatloads of his men rowed ashore at the port of Whitehaven and created havoc in the town. He and his sailors put two sets of artillery out of commission before escaping just as a group of local citizens were closing in pursuit.

Once in his small boats, he and his crew escaped after having set fire to the only boats available to pursue them.

Heading to France, Jones sailed into Quiberon Bay near Brest, France, on Feb. 14, 1778. It was there that Ranger received the first salute to the Stars and Stripes when Admiral La Motte-Picquet returned Jones’ salute.

Jones’ exploits earned him the love of those in America and the title of pirate in England — and he relished both.

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Liberty on the Steel Beach

This is a drill, this is a drill, liberty call, liberty call…… Well it wasn’t quite like that, but the Kitty Hawk held a “Steel Beach Picnic” today on the aft end of the flight deck. The pause gave the crew a break from steaming east and an inevitable date with Hawaiian waters and the semi-annual RIMPAC exercise.

It wasn’t your normal shore picnic hours, 0900 to 1300, but it was just as good, and the flight deck was outfitted with an inflatable pool, footballs and soccer balls. The folks from Morale, Welfare and Recreation provided a frozen t-shirt contest, and there was even a peanut butter eating contest.

Meanwhile, back on the ramp, the chief petty officers were firing up the ship’s charcoal grills and provided hot dogs and chicken. But by far, the most popular food was the pulled pork, which had run out long before noon. Officials were working feverishly to get some more prepared.

“It was the best, and it sure was popular,” said Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Terrence Carr of the ship’s AIMD ordnance division said of the pulled pork. “It was so popular that I’ll bet they serve it again for dinner tonight.”

Then the rain came. Like any good picnic, it was nearly ruined by rain. It came down in sheets for some time, and sailors took refuge under the wings of aircraft. Then the rain began to let up and the lines for the food started to back up again, when all of a sudden the rain started again and came down even harder.

Some enjoyed the respite, such as Fireman Nicolas Ivey, who normally works way below decks in the auxiliary machinery room — and though on watch, was relieved for a few minutes so he could come up and get something to eat.

“I got up here just in time,” he said. “I was hot and sweaty and got up here, and there was a cool breeze and the rain — awesome.” The combination made Ivey smile as he was wolfing down his grilled chicken and corn underneath the wing of an F/A-18 Hornet.

Some didn’t like the added moisture.

“OOD, this is the Captain,” came a familiar voice on numerous “bricks” (Navy shipboard for walkie talkie). “I’m getting wet out here.”

The officer of the deck said he’d try to steer a better course, and the captain responded that he’d appreciate his efforts — or words to that effect.

Slowly, the massive 80,000-plus-ton carrier began to turn slightly.

With the ship’s course change, the rain went away and the sun came out for good. Sailors threw the football to each other, occasionally chasing an errant ball into aircraft or close to the ship’s catwalks, but I did not see anyone or even any balls go over the side.

One aircraft was being used as a promotion by the Navy Exchange to give away a $15,000 gift certificate so picnic-goers seeking to stay dry stood next to other sailors who had one of their hands above them touching an F/A-18 Hornet’s wings. The last one to put down their arms would get the prize. It took nearly two hours, but Aviation Maintenance Administrationman 2nd Class (AW) Loni Brannon of member of the Air Wing Five’s VAW-115 “Liberty Bells” took the prize.

Presenting the prize was Navy Exchange car salesman Don Houdek, known to everyone on Kitty Hawk simply as “Don the Car Guy.”

But as the time came close to 1300 and it was time to go back to work, many were heard to remark, “This will be the FOD walk down from hell,” speaking of the practice of searching the flight deck almost foot by foot to find anything that could get sucked into an aircraft engine and ruin it.

A few hours later, things were back to normal shipboard routine on Kitty Hawk as everyone went back to work.

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Groundhog Day at sea

I’ve just finished my second Monday this week. It didn’t just feel like another Monday, it actually WAS another Monday.

Yesterday was Monday, June 23, onboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. Sometime during the day, we crossed the international date line, and we didn’t just set the clocks back — we set the calendar back. Or more accurately, we simply had a do-over day.

As for me, I chose not to make my second Monday a carbon copy of the day before. My first Monday entailed 61/2 hours in a Navy helicopter taking photographs –- or waiting to take photographs. Some turned out well and others were a bust. But that’s how it goes sometimes. Some things are better left undone a second time.

Some called the occasion “Groundhog Day,” and for those sailors there was a requisite showing of the movie of the same name starring Bill Murray, in which the character relives the exact same day over and over again.

“Well, if you don’t like today, you can do it all again tomorrow,” said Chief Mass Communications Specialist (SW) Jason Chudy, with whom I share an office onboard the ship. “The bad part of getting an extra day is, for us, it ended up being a Monday.”

About the only blip on the radar was that the computer folks shut down access to some services to let the change in days go quietly by -– such things don’t react well to events like Y2K and extra days in the week.

Even e-mail was slightly affected. When I fired it up this morning, nothing new was in my box — or so I thought. Scrolling down, I found all my new e-mail below the e-mail that had arrived on my first Monday — a fact that was jokingly discussed around the lunch table in the wardroom. And oh, by the way, though it was still Monday, no one was served the exact same food as yester-Monday. It was taco day, right on schedule.

In any event, the second Monday came and went without major problems as we continue to steam east, toward Hawaii. The only difference for us is that we’re now behind the United States in time, not ahead of it like before. Does that really matter? No, we’re still on the other side of the world.

The aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk and her escorts, a Canadian frigate (foreground) and Ottawa steam in formation in the Pacific Ocean shortly before crossing the international date line. The two frigates are part of Kitty Hawk’s escort to Pearl Harbor, where she will take part in the semiannual Rim of the Pacific exercise.

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The “Alamo of the Pacific”

It’s the evening of June 21 and the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, screened by the Canadian frigate Regina, steamed within 10 miles of Wake Island — scene of a vicious battle between American defenders and Japanese invaders in December 1941.

Steaming to the Northeast, the Kitty Hawk passed by the southern side of Wake — the same side the Japanese invaded from. It was also from near these waters that the second aircraft carrier, Yorktown, pummeled the islands in late 1943, a practice that U.S ships and aircraft would continue for the remainder of the war, inflicting hundreds of casualties on the Japanese garrison.

Wake Island should figure much more prominently in the lore of American and U.S. Marine Corps history. Here, a small band of more than 400 Marines held off the Japanese for over two weeks in December 1941, aided by a large number of civilian contractors who were helping build the island’s defenses.

With the civilians, the group repulsed the first Japanese landing on the island, killing hundreds of enemy troops in the process. Along with the aviation Marines of Fighter Squadron 211, they shot down numerous aircraft and sunk two destroyers and a gunboat while damaging other ships of the Japanese invasion fleet Dec. 11, 1941.

But few of those details got through to the American public, still reeling from the attacks of Dec. 7, 1941, on Pearl Harbor and on the Philippines on Dec. 8.

After the initial success of the Marines, officials promised a resupply but pulled back at the last moment when a superior Japanese invasion force reappeared off Wake on Dec. 23. Outgunned and nearly out of ammunition and supplies, the U.S. forces capitulated.

Most would spend the next four years in captivity in China and Japan. After the October raids in 1943, the Japanese executed the remaining 96 civilians left on the island, considering them a liability.

With flight operations over, many of Kitty’s crew came up to the flight deck and the island to catch a glimpse of the historic island. Now it’s an airfield stopping point for aviators crossing the Pacific Ocean.

But the island was the scene of a selfless stand. With so many heroic battles to come in the next four years, few today discuss Wake in the same breath as Saipan, Iwo Jima or even Okinawa.

But those who care to take a look and read about those heroic Marines and sailors will find it is worth the time spent learning about “the Alamo of the Pacific.”

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The Dud

I found an old friend today. Well, sort of –- kind of a shipmate, you might say. The problem is, my old friend is a dud of an old aircraft -– Bureau Number 160905, to state the number by which the Navy tracks aircraft. An aircraft with a tie to my own history in the Navy.

Old aircraft and ships fascinate me. I found this one tucked away in a corner. In the Kitty Hawk’s forward-most hangar bay is an old aircraft -– the shell of an F-14A Tomcat that is making a final voyage back to the United States from Japan along with the ship. It was used by the Kitty Hawk’s crash and salvage team as a large training aid to help them learn how to fight fires and rescue pilots on the flight deck.

“We would use it onboard when we were going to sea without the airwing as a way to maintain proficiency,” said Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (aircraft handling) (AW/SW) Scott Cook, who heads Kitty’s Crash and Salvage Team. “We would leave her on the pier when we went on deployment.”

Cook says every carrier has a “dud” for just such training purposes, but this one is the last Tomcat being used for that reason -– all the other carriers have since converted to F/A-18 aircraft, reflecting the bulk of their airwings today. The F-14 Tomcat made her last curtain call on Kitty Hawk with Fighter Squadron 154 during operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Following that cruise, VF-154 returned to the United States to transition into F/A-18 E and F models.

In 2006, the Tomcatters of Fighter Squadron 31 made the airframe’s last combat deployment and last carrier qualifications. At 4:42 p.m. July 28, 2006, the final Tomcat left the TR’s decks and two months later, there were no more Tomcats in active service in the U.S. Navy.

But when this venerable old girl returns to the states, she won’t get a cushy slot in a museum somewhere. She will most likely be cut up and disposed of as officials seek to keep spare F-14 parts out of the hands of the Iranians, who purchased a number of the aircraft from the United States in the 1970s. Some of those aircraft are still in use by the Iranian air force, and spare parts are a tough commodity to come by now.

So, as the last Tomcat makes her final journey at sea, there are no final moments of glory, no “lasts” of any kind, and she barely gets any notice from the crew. In fact, her bare engine compartments are now filled with excess supplies with nowhere else to go, causing some to joke that she’s simply a store room … compartment number 1-F14-0.

But I almost forgot -– I knew her once. This aircraft and I were both aboard the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy on Aug. 4, 1980, when we left Norfolk on a nine-month-long Mediterranean deployment. I was ship’s company -– worked in the photo lab. The dud, well, she was a proud member of VF-32, one of the “Swordsmen,” proudly carrying the side number 203. I spent many long hours on the flight deck and, no doubt, watched and photographed this aircraft leave and return to the ship.

We were both at the beginnings of our Navy careers then. I would soon go off to Navy second class dive school and 160905 would switch squadrons and spend nine years in Fighter Squadron 74 flying off the carrier Saratoga, even making the ship’s final deployment during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Her final assignments were in fighter squadrons 11 and 24, before being struck from the active flying rolls Feb. 28, 2006, six months before VF-24 was decommissioned Aug. 31, 1996.

She most likely made the trip to Japan on the Kitty Hawk, as there is no record she ever served with Fighter Squadron 154, which was the only forward-deployed Tomcat squadron the Navy ever had.

Farewell, old friend. It was nice to share a small ride with you once again and bring back some good memories from when we were both much younger.

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Fan-tales

It’s the place to go on the ship when you want to get away from it all. It’s the fantail — the very back of the ship, where one can sit and watch the water go by, read a book or just gather thoughts.

For Culinary Specialist Seaman Jimmie Johnson, just a few months removed from his Atlanta, Ga., hometown, it’s a place to watch the water go by each evening before heading off to bed.

“This is my first time at sea and I just don’t seem to get tired of watching the blue water go by,” he said. “It relaxes me at the end of my day.”

But even older salts like getting a breath of fresh air — especially those who spend most of their waking days below decks. Such is the case for Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Damien Sylvester. His workspace is well below the ship’s waterline in the bomb magazines. So, when he gets the chance, he heads to the fantail for a few minutes.

“Down in the hole, it’s dark and sometimes you wonder what it’s like outside, so I come out here,” he said. “It’s nice to get a little sunlight, but today it sure is bright out here; it’s hurting my eyes.”

Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class (AW) Brian Van Essen, who hails from Paradise, Calif., makes his way aft to read a book –- and to get warm.

“Where I work, the air conditioning is so strong that it’s freezing in there. I come here to feel warm again and to read; I do it often.”

But some come to work and don’t seem to appreciate what the other “fantailers” seek out. Seaman Victoria Truong works in deck and must stand two-hour lookout watches on a regular schedule all around the ship –- reporting on what she sees, or doesn’t see, every five minutes while wearing a kapok life jacket and a hard communications headset. “I’m usually at one of nine different lookout watch stations around the ship each day, and they are all outside,” she said. “ I see people come out here all the time and they seem to enjoy it, but when I look to relax, I go inside.”

Some come alone and others in pairs. Electrician’s Mate Fireman Gener Agraan of Anaheim Calif., usually hangs out on the fantail with his buddy Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class Christian Nicholas, who hails from Louisiana.

Sometimes the two lean on the lifelines, and other times they sit on the large bits used for tying up the ship in port. “It’s part of me now and I try to come here at least once a day because being here at either sunrise or sunset is a great way to eliminate stress,” he said. “I wouldn’t quite call it my peaceful place,” he said — with a pause before adding, “Well then again, I guess it really is.”

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Sunday at sea — the non-routine

In the civilian world, Sunday is a day of rest. Underway on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, it’s a workday, with a little twist.

For six days of each week at sea, life is a routine — everything happens at the same time each day, including meals, ship’s store hours, barbershops and watches, to name a few. So it’s not hard to lose track of the day of the week onboard a carrier or any other ship for that matter.

But come Sunday, you get your bearings again, as it’s hard to miss the difference.

Instead of serving breakfast and lunch, the galley is open all morning, serving brunch, shutting down at 1300 (1 p.m. for you landlubbers), and opening again at 1600 (4 p.m.) for a dinner of steak and crab legs. In the wardroom, it’s even more noticeable as the lights are turned down low during brunch to give it some atmosphere — something that’s not done on the enlisted mess decks or chief’s mess, probably for safety reasons … but who knows.

If for some reason you weren’t eating today, there are other ways to figure out it’s Sunday as it is also team ball cap day. Though most don’t wear ball caps at sea, on Sundays it’s considered kosher to wear your favorite team’s cap. Get ready to put up with crap from those around you if they disagree with your choice. Though technically it’s only authorized to wear team caps, I have seen others. I believe I caught a glimpse of an “It’s better in the Bahamas” ball cap on a sailor, complete with a painted island scene as the backdrop.

But for pilots, it gets a little crazier. For them it’s colored flight suit day, or as they call it, “s***-hot flight suit day.” In this, you will see bright red flight suits worn by the Musashis of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (light) 51 (my favorite). They stick out more than anyone else when coming down the passageway. Second in my book are the jet-black suits worn by Strike Fighter Squadron 27 “Royal Maces.” They’re pretty sharp, too. Strike Fighter Squadron 192, “The Golden Dragons,” wear a blue suit that makes you think the Blue Angels have landed onboard.

In all, it’s a colorful day, with lots of food and color to break up your routine’s routine.

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Sailor surprise program

This morning was a good one for the Kitty Hawk crew. Sure, there are many who are disappointed that the ship is now going to stand in for the carrier George Washington in the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise, known around the Navy as RIMPAC.

The Kitty Hawk’s skipper, Capt. Todd Zecchin, called everyone who wasn’t on watch to the flight deck for an all-hands call to announce the news and tell them what’s expected of them as they head out into Guam for a few days of liberty.

But Zecchin had a bit of other business to get out of the way before he delivered the official news of the change in the ship’s schedule — an announcement the crew has been expecting for two weeks, since the ship left its former home port of Yokosuka, Japan, on May 28 under a cloud of uncertainty because of the fire onboard the George Washington.

One by one, he called seven sailors up to the small, makeshift stage set up in front of the ship’s island superstructure and lined them up.

When they were all in place, Zecchin walked down the their ranks and told five of them with a wave of his hand they were now third-class petty officers. Two others got a similar wave — they were now second-class petty officers.

Capt. Todd Zecchin points to Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (AW) Michel Lackey

telling him he was now a third class petty officer.

Command Master Chief (AW/SW) Charles Clarke, Kitty Hawk’s top enlisted sailor

congratulates seven sailors advanced under the Command Advancement Program.

“Oh, and before I forget, it’s effective immediately, so your pay starts today,” Zecchin said. Only days ago, he frocked 291 sailors who had advanced off the spring petty officer cycle. But these sailors were advanced through a program that all commanding officers at sea have, the Command Advancement Program, known as CAP.

This program is designed to advance sailors who, though they are outstanding performers, are either in ratings where advancement is very slow due to manning issues, or their final multiple scores — the combination of their test scores, evaluations and awards — have not been high enough to move to the next paygrade.

But for these seven sailors, what is officially called CAP should be called the Sailor Surprise Program, as most commands work hard to keep the process secret and then surprise those being advanced when they least expect it.

That’s what happened to newly minted Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Aircraft Handling) 3rd Class (AW) Michael Lackey.

“I was hoping I might get advanced like this, but I didn’t think it would happen,” he said. “I thought I’d make it off the last [petty officer advancement] cycle — it was my third time and I thought it would be the charm,” he said. “It wasn’t.”

But all that changed for Lackey as Kitty Hawk sat at the mouth of Apra Harbor in Guam.

“I’m kind of shocked, but very happy,” he said. “It’s certainly a great way to start out in a liberty port, that’s for sure.”

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Making watertight right

On board ships, watertight doors are a reality. No one goes through a day underway without passing through a number of these — and generally the same ones –- over and over.

Proper etiquette says that when you go through one you are supposed to close it behind you and “dog” it down, meaning you have closed and latched it. During normal underway steaming, there are times when many of these doors are kept open, although some must be kept closed all the time. The general rule … if it was closed when you got there, then leave it closed when you go through there.

When Kitty Hawk goes away, there’s a special type of “quick-acting” watertight doors that will leave the Navy along with it.

“This is the last ship in the Navy with this kind of door,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jim Humphreys, a surface warfare officer and the ship’s damage control assistant,” I haven’t see them anywhere else.”

Today, most watertight doors in the Navy have a long lever that when pulled down, seals the door to the bulkhead (Navy for wall) it’s attached to. These, popular in the 1950s and early 1960s, had a stainless steel wheel about a foot wide with a single, long spoke that allowed sailors to turn the wheel to seal the door.

“The problem is when you are in a hurry, it’s not intuitive because some of them seal to the right and some to the left,” he said. “You have to stop and think and in damage control, that can cost you critical time.”

Simply put, watertight doors are put on ships to help keep the ship afloat in an emergency. The idea is if a space gets flooded, you can isolate that compartment and prevent that flooding from spreading.

But for Kitty’s old doors, technology has left them behind. Without regular grease and other maintenance, they quickly stop working properly. Now there are even newer doors that officials claim don’t require much maintenance at all.

These are being installed on the San Antonio class of amphibious ships. Only time will tell if those claims come true or if those doors will become a thing of the past, like the Kitty Hawk’s wheeled versions.

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