USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)

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Over the years, Navy Recruiting Command has sponsored Educator Orientation Visits (EOV) to give educators around the country an opportunity to visit our Navy. The visits can include various training commands and even ship visits. Below is a description of one such trip, sent to me by a Navy Education Specialist I have known for years, written by a High School Principal in San Francisco -- it is worth the read!

United States Navy
Distinguished Visitor Program
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76)

In early March of 2014, Mr. Chuck Roder, an Education Specialist with the United States Navy, offered me the opportunity to participate in a multi-day tour of the aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan. The unique aspect of this opportunity was that "the Reagan," though based in San Diego, California, was currently on maneuvers approximately 200 miles off the Mexican coast, thereby requiring that I board the ship via a C-2 Greyhound COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) airplane, landing on the carrier deck via a "tail hook" trap landing. And upon conclusion of the tour the following day, disembark from the vessel via a "catapult" takeoff and be flown back to San Diego.

The trip began Monday, March 31st as I was picked up at Terra Linda High School by a local Naval Recruiter and driven to the San Francisco International Airport where I boarded (after a long weather delay), a Southwest Airliner and flew to San Diego, California. Upon arrival in San Diego, I was picked up by a Naval driver and taken to Naval Base San Diego where, due to my late arrival, I quickly checked into my room and attempted to get a few hours sleep.

The next morning my fellow educators and I met at 6:00 a.m. (0600 in Naval parlance), and were driven to the Marriott Hotel where we had breakfast and were introduced to one another. There were twelve guest educators from around the country in our group, two, including myself, being from California. With introductions and breakfast concluded, we boarded our two vans and were taken to Naval Air Station North Island, located on the Coronado peninsula.

Upon arrival at the Naval Air Station, we were taken to the Air Station Headquarters where a Naval Air Wing Commander briefed the group with regard to the command structure of "Carrier Strike Group Nine" (of which the USS Ronald Reagan is the flagship) and the associated Carrier Air Wing. Included in the briefing was a brief history of Naval aviation as the birth of Naval aviation occurred at Curtis Field in San Diego in the early 20th century, the present site of Air Station North Island.

Upon conclusion of the 90-minute briefing, we were taken to the airfield where we were issued a "horse collar," a nickname for a flotation vest; helmets, which included ear and eye protection and briefed on the many components of our safety gear. We were also instructed on how to evacuate from the aircraft should there by a "water landing" (better known as a crash in the water) and the bracing techniques for the carrier landing and takeoff. The gallows humor continued as our training officer informed us that our pilot had twelve successful carrier landings to credit and was looking forward to making his thirteenth attempt.

As an aside, as many of you know I am the husband of a United Airlines Flight Attendant and a relatively frequent flyer. As such I have heard the statement, "please prepare for landing by bringing your seat and tray tables to their upright position" on numerous occasions. In preparing to land via a tail hook trap on the flight deck on an aircraft carrier, the Navy keeps it simple: "Brace for arrestment."

Flight gear orientation concluded, we boarded our aircraft via the rear "belly" of the plane. In that passengers share space with cargo, the interior of the plane is spartan, with no windows and the few available seats facing the rear of the aircraft. And it is exceptionally loud, requiring ear protection to be worn at all times. I was fortunate to secure an aisle seat, with a life raft strapped inches above my head.

The flight to the "the Reagan" was approximately an hour-long, though we had to circle the ship six times until we were given permission to land. In that it is too loud to hear verbal commands while in flight, the aircrewman on board, who is communication with the pilot via a radio headset, gives us a hand signal to "brace for arrestment" and seconds later we land on the flight deck. The landing is an abrupt, physical experience. And very, very cool, particularly when we are later informed that less than 1% of Naval personnel have ever experienced a tail hook trap landing.

Upon stepping out of the rear tail of the plane, we are welcomed onto the loud, intense, fast moving world of the carrier flight deck and quickly are escorted below deck to a beautiful and elegantly appointed dining and living room, complete with pitchers of water and small turkey and vegetable wraps placed on a silver tray on the dining table. As the Public Information Officer, who introduces us to the ship's Captain, greets us, we are informed that as the carrier is named after President Ronald Reagan and Mrs. Nancy Reagan served as the ship's sponsor, this ceremonial room is the exact duplicate of President Reagan's favorite room in the White house, the Red Room.

We conclude our brief stay in the Red Room with an overview of the coming 24 hours and are paid a brief, surprise visit by Rear Admiral Patrick Hall, Commander of Carrier Strike Group Nine. Rear Admiral Hall is gracious and welcoming and an impressive presence.

We begin our extensive tour with a visit to the "Hangar Bay," the area immediately below the flight deck where airplanes, fighter jets and helicopters are stored and maintained. The enormity of the space is overwhelming. (Think of an elongated Costco warehouse). The space is in immaculate condition (as is the rest of the ship), in that foreign objects as small as the size of a penny can be sucked into and immediately foul an engine. Aircraft are moved to the flight deck via an elevator system that moves up and down between the two decks in three seconds.

We move from the Hangar Bay to the flight deck (after being appropriately outfitted with a "float coat," should we fall overboard and helmet, goggles and ear protection. We are escorted to the Flight Deck (after being warned not to touch any of the missiles or bombs stored on movable racks adjacent to the catapult runways), and stand literally within 50 feet of F-18 Hornets taking off via the steam powered catapult system. The power of the take off is difficult to describe. Suffice it to say you feel the raw power of the jet engines coursing through your entire body. And upon takeoff, the entire ship shudders.

After watching several takeoffs, we are escorted to the rear of the flight deck to watch F-18's that had taken off prior to our arrival, land via the tail hook trap system. In simple terms, the tail hook landing process involves hooking one of three steel cables that are stretched across the landing zone with a trailing hook dangling from the aircraft. It should be noted that aircraft that are landing in this manner must do so at "full throttle," in that if the pilot misses hooking one of the cables they have enough power to immediately takeoff and come around and try again.

The skill and confidence of the Naval aviators completing these tasks is inspiring and beyond impressive. That said the young men and women who comprise the flight deck crews might even be more so as the majority of these persons are literally teenagers. As you will note in the accompanying photos, the naval personnel on the Flight deck wear different color, long sleeve jerseys when working on deck. The purpose of the different color attire is to identify which team of naval personnel is assigned to separate and distinct tasks. As an example, yellow jerseys designate the "shooters," the persons charged with "shooting" the planes off the deck and into the sky; red jerseys signal munitions crew; purple jerseys indicate these persons are charged with fueling the aircraft, etc.

The flight deck crew typically works a twelve-hour shift, longer in times of combat operations and it is a young person's game. The heat rising off the deck (even on a cool, blustery day off the Baja coast,) is intense and their multiple rapid paced tasks are extremely physical in nature. The level of responsibility that these young people have risen to and excelled at is exceptional and dramatically reinforces my belief in the nearly unlimited capability of all young people, given proper training and support.

We exit the Flight Deck and spend the next several hours extensively touring the ship (Combat Direction Center, Medical facilities, the ship's Forecastle, the ship's Fantail, the jet engine testing and maintenance center, the Brigg, the ship's Chapel and Library, the internet cafe, the sailors' Mess, to name only a few). To do so we are climbing and descending the ship's seemingly endless passageways, meeting with the ship's crew, enlisted personnel and commissioned officers. To a person they are welcoming, interested in who we are, take obvious pride in their work, are smart, dedicated to task and are exceptionally proud to be stationed aboard the most powerful vessel to ever sail upon the world's oceans. In addition to their pride in the "might' of their ship, it should be noted that many, many sailors spoke with great pride as to their recent humanitarian efforts in Japan after the recent natural disaster (earthquake and ensuing tsunami).

As the tour continued, we had dinner with the Captain, several officers and aviators in the Wardroom. During the course of our meal, in the midst of much conversation, an aviator in full flight suit who looked as if he just stepped off a Hollywood stage approached me. In introducing himself, he stated that while he was not assigned to a class I was teaching, as a student he remembered me as a young, beginning teacher at his high school in southern California. We spoke at length and I will never forget our conversation and it serves as perhaps the most memorable portion of an exceptionally memorable experience.

The tour continued after dinner with the opportunity to observe Naval aircraft takeoff and land at night from the Flag Bridge. We were told that there was not a more difficult, challenging, dangerous job in the world than taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier at night. The observation experience was incredible, with the power of the F-18's seemingly more impressive at night. At the conclusion of the observation, we were given opportunity to visit with the aviators below deck as they had a late night bite to eat (it was now 11:30 p.m.). I should note that after dinner and prior to our observation of night "Flight Ops" on the Flag Bridge, we had the opportunity to meet with Rear Admiral Hall in his conference room where we shared our initial impressions of our visit and some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. As a matter of note, Rear Admiral Hall has executed over 900 successful tail hook trap landings during the course of his career.

After a brief night's rest in our assigned bunk, the next morning the group convened at 6:00 a.m. (0600) in the "Chief's Mess" for breakfast. The Chief's are the lowest ranking officers on the ship and are widely acknowledged as the persons who "run the Navy." Their job, by specific department, is to take the vision of the commissioned officers and turn this vision into reality. They are a lively, seemingly rough, dedicated and caring group, many stating that they "work for their sailors" during their introductions. Breakfast with the Chiefs was time well spent.

We continued our tour with a visit to the Navigation Bridge (eight levels above the Flight Deck), where the ship's Captain (Captain, Chris Bolt) and his Navigator pilot the ship. Approximately a dozen naval personnel are on the bridge at one time (the helmsmen, etc.) including Naval counter terrorism personnel who are charged with the guarding of the Ship's Bridge. Captain Bolt was extremely accommodating, freely discussing the intricacies of piloting this incredible vessel, particularly discussing the vulnerability of the ship during aircraft takeoffs and landings as the ship must steer a steady, straight course into the wind in order to generate proper wind speed over the Flight Deck to facilitate optimum conditions for said takeoffs. In other words, the inability to maneuver the ship in an evasive manner places the ship in danger, hence the speed and intensity of Flight Deck procedures.

We concluded our tour on the ninth level of the ship's tower at the Primary Flight Control Bridge. This operation essentially functions as air traffic control for the carrier aircraft. Again, these operations are an intense, technology and personnel dependent endeavor. It was beyond a privilege to watch these young men and women work.

At approximately 12:00 p.m. (1200), it was time to disembark the ship. After "gearing up" and a brief orientation as to proper bracing for a catapult takeoff, we boarded the C-2 Greyhound for our return trip to San Diego. As with the trap landing, we were signaled by a crewman that takeoff was imminent (within 15 seconds). Though prepared and properly braced, I will confess to underestimating the force and power of the catapult takeoff. In preparing for takeoff you are seated in a three-point harness system, with appropriate headgear, flotation device and ear and eye protection. Though essentially strapped down tight to your seat, your arms folded across your chest and holding your straps, the force of the takeoff (followed by a big "dip" as your plane leaves the deck), is, like the landing, a significant physical experience. And like the landing, an exceptionally memorable experience that I am very proud and fortunate to have undergone.

This incredible trip concluded with an uneventful return to Air Station North Island, where I was shuttled to the San Diego airport where I boarded my return flight for the trip home.

As you can imagine, the last few days I've been trying my best to process this incredible, transcendent experience. Though the sheer size and power of the USS Ronald Reagan and the associated Air Wing are beyond my ability to adequately describe, it is the interaction with the young men and women who harness this power and technology, who are charged with keeping our country and our allied countries safe, that have left an indelible mark on me. If nothing else, this visit is a positive reminder that there are special people in this world and these same "special people" sit right in front of us everyday, just waiting for the opportunity to show us what they are capable of if presented with the right challenge.

As a postscript, a couple of quick facts: The USS Ronald Reagan houses 4,800 persons (2000 sailors and officers dedicated to manning the ship and 2800 Naval personnel which comprise the Air Wing). Approximately 30% of the USS Reagan's crew and Air Wing personnel are female (highest ratio of any ship in the Navy).

The ship has five full-time dentists, an oral surgeon, five physicians and a 63-bed hospital ward. As to meals, 15,000 meals are served daily. 205 loaves of bread are baked daily. 100 dozen fresh eggs are consumed daily. 250 gallons of milk are consumed daily. The ship has a newspaper and a television station.

With regard to the C-2 Greyhound COD aircraft landings and takeoffs: The air speed on the trap landing is 105 miles per hour to 0 in two seconds. The catapult takeoff is 0 to 135 miles per hour in three seconds. I do not have the numbers for the F-18 fighter jets.

The Flight deck area comprises 4.5 acres. The overall length of "the Reagan" is 1,092 feet. The USS Ronald Reagan cost $4.5 billion to build and $1 million daily to fully operate.

If you are an educator, I highly recommend that you contact your local Navy Educational Specialist (via your local recruiter) and see when the next opportunity might present itself.

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