Carrier: Life aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz

[Lancer]

I had the opportunity last night to see a special preview screening of Carrier: Life aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, last night at a local movie theater. It was sponsored by the local PBS affiliate and a local business.

After the introduction, the video showed bits and pieces of each of the different sections of the documentary, lasting just over and hour. Very well done. The series doesn't focus on any one thing. The primary focus is, as the sub title of the series is called, is 'Life aboard the aircraft carrier'.

As one of the commanders said, 'Freedom of speech is in full effect in this documentary', the only editing they did was removing any footage that was possibly classified. Interviews with the shipmates range anywhere from how they support what we're doing in the middle east, to questioning why they are there.

After the screening Cmdr. Dell Bull, who was in the documentary answered questions from the audience about various subjects. Very nice guy, by the way.

Here is the URL for the shows webpage on PBS:

http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/

The series will air April 27 - May 1 at 9-11 p.m. ET. (in HD where available).

Anyone interested in the military will enjoy this series, it'll really open up your eyes as to what life in the military is like, especially the U.S. Navy!

[RiverAux]

Been watching all week.  Pretty good show.

[DNall]

last night, did that kid miss movement from liberty right before he ETS'd?

[MIKE]

IIRC, it never was answered... He just "disappeared."

[RiverAux]

I've sort of been skipping over some of the segments where they're talking about their personal problems and over the shore leave stuff, so I couldn't help you.

I knew that they had cut back on the use of airpower, but it really surprises me that they could be over Iraq for a whole deployment and not have one plane in the wing drop any ordanance.

[SarDragon]

Well, I watched about an hour's worth the other night. Pretty much the same old same old, just a newer, bigger carrier. I'll need to work up a lot more enthusiasm to tackle watching any more of it.

[Eclipse]

Sunday night I came home from Spring encampment and collapsed for about 4 hours, when I got up the first thing I found on TV were episodes 1 & 2.

I must say it felt oddly familiar - same racks, same personalities, same terminology, and I swear the same food we'd just had up at Great Lakes.   

[Stonewall]

All I'm saying is, I'm so happy I joined the Army and later the Air National Guard.

[Eagle400]

All I'm saying is, I'm so happy I joined the Army and later the Air National Guard.

Um... uh... are you referring to something you said in a different thread?

[resigned]

I've been watching and/or DVRing it.  Gee - NOT to sound sexist here, but now I'm sort of glad that when I was in, it was only men on combat vessels.   

I agree with one comment above - same racks, food, attitudes, etc.

One of the better shows though.  Different than just discussing the "hardware" like most of them!

[mikeylikey]

I think the XO was awesome.  Especially with the man overboard situation.  You could see how freaking furious he was at his missing Officers. 

[SARMedTech]

I've been watching and/or DVRing it.  Gee - NOT to sound sexist here, but now I'm sort of glad that when I was in, it was only men on combat vessels.   

I agree with one comment above - same racks, food, attitudes, etc.

One of the better shows though.  Different than just discussing the "hardware" like most of them!

Whenever some prefaces their words with "not to sound sexist" you know they are going to make a sexist remark.

[Eclipse]

now I'm sort of glad that when I was in, it was only men on combat vessels. 

Its a valid point, at least for discussion - a lot less boy/girl drama when its just boys (in theory).

There's also the issue of the emotional stress placed on people in the military when they have to deal with
home issues from 10000 miles away.  Before email and the web, you might be lonely and worried about home, but
weren't confronted with it every night after your shift.

[mikeylikey]

^ No, you just stressed over the situation until the next 40 page handwritten letter came and then you stressed even more, until the next letter comes.  And so on and so on. 

I think there is less stress now with instant communications. 

[Stonewall]

 I watched the whole series and I DVR'd it.  Why this sudden fascination?  I have no clue.  I think I truly feel sorry for these guys.  My father is a retired surface warfare (engineer) officer from the Navy.  I spent a week on the USS Forest Fire Forrestal on a "tiger cruise" as well as many 1 day family cruises.  Always impressed with the big boats.

Look, I am a wimp.  I am lazy in many senses of the word.  I remember my first day of Army Basic Training, being a "B" last name, I got KP first.  From 0330 to 2000 hours, I was responsible for Pots and Pans.  A gruelling nighmare in a hot, wet, steamy 4-walled dungeon where I scraped nasty food off of pots and pans until my fingers shriveled into prunes.  After watching "Carrier", I associate that one day of basic training with 6 months being a grease monkey underneath the flight deck for 12 to 18 hours a day.

One kid with the pregnant girlfriend from Manassas, VA talked about how the Army and Marines were not his style...living in the woods and carrying guns.  Difference is, we don't spend 6 months living in a swamp, on side of a mountain or in an igloo.  Life may suck, but the longest life ever sucked for me was about 3 1/2 weeks at Ft. Irwin National Training Center.  Real world, my 6 months in Bosnia was 10x better, I think, than being on any ship.  I could see land every day, my cot was bigger than one of those drawer sized racks and my living space in a GP Medium tent with 7 other guys was bigger than that Command Master Chief's "room" and he was an E-9.  I was an E-4 at the time.  E-6s shared one tent with 3 other people. 

Seriously, about the only way I'd survive on that carrier would be as a pilot.  Those guys had it made.  Seriously, I almost cried for these kids.  And the girl who got busted for under aged drinking?  What's with that punishment?  She got 45 days restriction and 45 days extra duty, PLUS 2 months of half pay.  <<<------ this while the boat is pulling into Pearl Harbor.

Anyway, hats off to you Big Gray.  I'll take my life under a poncho in the rain or a 100 lbs ruck sack on my back any day. 

Oh, and one more thing, thank God we didn't have females in the Infantry.  Not blaming the women, or the men, it's when you put them together for long periods of time, especially in conditions like that on a ship or in the field.  It's inevitable if you ask me. 

[Smithsonia]

Character driven documentaries are the thing, now. No matter if you look at
Deadliest Catch where they repeat the same 5 duties over and over but have
personalities that keep you interested, or American Chopper with same
squabbling father son dynamic, Axe Men, Ice Road Truckers, on and on... These
were all produced by Thom Beers Original Productions, by the way and, his work is everywhere and remodeled our expectations of a documentary to look more like a reality show. I don't care for those examples as it doesn't give me information. Although it does give me more insight into who does the work.

In this case, I know most of the information already and so I appreciated the more personal
side of those that serve onboard the "Carrier." This production team did a great job.
With regards;
ED OBRIEN

[RiverAux]

I think that following a few people through the deployment was a good way of doing things, but I think they could have cut back on some of the background info on them a bit. 

[Flying Pig]

What does this have to do with CAP?  You know....just asking.  From what I have been told, we dont have ships or jets and most of our cadets never join the military let alone the Navy.

[Stonewall]

and most of our cadets never join the military let alone the Navy.

That's because we teach them better.   

[ddelaney103]

last night, did that kid miss movement from liberty right before he ETS'd?

I don't think he was on liberty - I think he was being left "on the beach."

I'm guessing here, but it looked like the ETS system can drop him off at the next port with a ticket home - the alternative being he could extend active duty until home port.

I think it was a simple matter of him leaving his going away party early instead of going AWOL.

[Stonewall]

USNSEALVET

By having "USNSEALVET" as your user name, sir, I'm taking it that you yourself were in the Navy and a SEAL?  Cool.  I wouldn't have thought a seal would be in CAP.  You retired from the navy?  What seal team were you in? 

[Stonewall]

last night, did that kid miss movement from liberty right before he ETS'd?

I don't think he was on liberty - I think he was being left "on the beach."

I'm guessing here, but it looked like the ETS system can drop him off at the next port with a ticket home - the alternative being he could extend active duty until home port.

I think it was a simple matter of him leaving his going away party early instead of going AWOL.

Yeah, if you noticed, he was packing up to leave the ship for good and brought a full-suitcase off the ship with him.  THEN, when the Nimitz pulled into San Diego, dude was there waiting for his buddy.  The goofy one (that got off in Australia) changed inside of what, 3 weeks?  He looked like a punk-rocker, I hate my father kind of guy.  They hugged and walked off.

[SarDragon]

now I'm sort of glad that when I was in, it was only men on combat vessels. 

Its a valid point, at least for discussion - a lot less boy/girl drama when its just boys (in theory).

There's also the issue of the emotional stress placed on people in the military when they have to deal with
home issues from 10000 miles away.  Before email and the web, you might be lonely and worried about home, but
weren't confronted with it every night after your shift.

And why not? Back then, there were still letters, and not getting one for a while could be (and was) just as emotionally draining. The disappointment of , "COD on the ball with mail!", followed by an absence of mail for you, can get pretty intense.

[RiverAux]

Since I think we've forgotten to mention uniforms in this thread, I have to say I was surprised at how many people all over the ship wore BDU pants. 

[DNall]

^ they're supposed to. The variety of flight suits didn't get your stuff in a bunch? 

[Stonewall]

Since I think we've forgotten to mention uniforms in this thread, I have to say I was surprised at how many people all over the ship wore BDU pants. 

I don't know anything about uniforms on a ship while at sea, but I'd rather wear BDU pants any day than those blue dungaree things.  I just did several various google image searches for carrier flight decks/operations and other than BDU/DCU pants, the only other thing I saw were khakis.  Perhaps it's the norm to wear BDU pants while underway.

[SAR-EMT1]

USNSEALVET

By having "USNSEALVET" as your user name, sir, I'm taking it that you yourself were in the Navy and a SEAL?  Cool.  I wouldn't have thought a seal would be in CAP.  You retired from the navy?  What seal team were you in? 

As for what Team Captain Page was in , I have no idea, but yeah he's a SEAL. Also, not only is he in CAP but he's also my Group /CC. And he is a freaking good Group CO.

[Stonewall]

but yeah he's a SEAL.

Cool.  I've never known a seal to be in CAP before.  You ought to have him start a discussion so we can ask questions.  Seems like we've had pararescue guys, pilots, cops, rangers and marines, but never a seal.

[afgeo4]

Why not SEALS? My former squadron in Syracuse had a member who was an SF troop. Had HALO and Scuba badges to boot.

All kinds join our ranks. That's why CAP works.

Carrier: Was anyone else upset by the whole dental clinic scene where an Airman with a dental emergency/pain had to wait while an aviator (officer) was seen immediately even though he just needed his routine flight check?

I know rank has its privileges, but I think that's just ridiculous. I've never seen that in medical/dental places when I was in the USAF.

[DNall]

There's a lot of SF guys in CAP. I never met a seal in CAP either, that's cool.

Side note: I'm working on a cadet field activity for next summer with C 1-19 SFG(A). Got a couple friends over there, including their operations NCO. Kinda like hawk w/o the bling & better qualified instructors. 

Carrier: Was anyone else upset by the whole dental clinic scene where an Airman with a dental emergency/pain had to wait while an aviator (officer) was seen immediately even though he just needed his routine flight check?

I know rank has its privileges, but I think that's just ridiculous. I've never seen that in medical/dental places when I was in the USAF.

There's 5000 people on that ship multi-billion dollar ship, plus all the other ships & sailors on the escorts, expending hundreds of gillions of dollars (I don't have any idea how much)... all to make it so those 60 planes can go flying over Iraq. If you take 1/60th of that capability offline in favor of some kid getting a tooth fixed, that's not a sound decision.

I don't know what impression people have of officers, and I don't know how it works on a carrier, but I can tell you from my experience that officers spend many time more hours outside of work to keep the unit operating. Scheduling in to get something done, maybe a flight physical update or something, that's a much bigger hassle for an officer than the junior enlisted guy working a set shift with little responsibility outside work. It's not officer privilege for status reasons. It's a practical thing, even if not everyone watching understands it.

[SARMedTech]

Reluctantly, I agree with the idea that you have to take care of those pilots first. Whether any of them dropped ordinance during that tour or not, that is what that carrier group is there for.

And I do agree with the work level that comes with being an officer, even a senior NCO.  I was watching the sections about the CCPO and how many responsibilities the man has. Basically, he has to look after every single sailor on that ship, deal with enlisted discipline, etc. I know from several points in the show that they hated to see him coming through a hatch, but you could also tell that he had their respect and that he was not someone to be trifled with. Not a job I would want.

[AlphaSigOU]

Why not SEALS? My former squadron in Syracuse had a member who was an SF troop. Had HALO and Scuba badges to boot.

All kinds join our ranks. That's why CAP works.

Carrier: Was anyone else upset by the whole dental clinic scene where an Airman with a dental emergency/pain had to wait while an aviator (officer) was seen immediately even though he just needed his routine flight check?

I know rank has its privileges, but I think that's just ridiculous. I've never seen that in medical/dental places when I was in the USAF.

The Navy (and to a lesser extent, the Army; it kind of died out after WWII) still has a rigid caste system between officers, chiefs and enlisted. For example, one does not wander around or pass through 'officers' country', wardroom or the 'goat locker' (the CPO berthing areas and mess) aboard a ship unless you have business there or are specifically invited. Officers and chiefs (the khaki wearers aboard ship) are granted front of the line privileges for just about anything.

The Air Force, practically since its inception (and actually dating back to WWII) has always been the more informal of the services (under the premise of 'there is no rank aboard an aircraft'). Military courtesy is still there, but on the whole you don't see much of a wall separating the snuffies from the officers.

[NIN]

First time we were doing deck quals on an LPH, we were going to have lunch on the boat, so we shut down, were chained down, and because we'd launched so early in the morning to fly all the way across Korea to the Sea of Japan, we were a little coffee deficient.  Climbing off the aircraft (sans helmets, which made the deck crew a little crazy.. we don't wear those cranial things or any of that), the pilots said "Jeez, chief, I could sure use some coffee.."  so I led us to the deck edge, down a ladder, thru a hatch, grabbed the first guy I saw wearing khaki and said "Hey, Chief, where's the goat locker?"

"Forward about 10 frames, down 2 decks and left."

"Thanks, Chief!"

So we go bombing forward a bunch of frames (I had no clue what he meant by frames, but I figured it was bulkheads), down two ladders and I grab another guy in khaki: "Pardon me, Chief, but can you direct us to the goat locker?"

"Oh, yeah, thru that hatch, turn left.."

"Thanks!"

So we arrive at the Goat Locker, and my pilots are rather befuddled by the whole thing. 

"Chief, what the hell is a goat locker?"

"Its the Chief's quarters on a boat.  Rumor has it, they'll have the *really good* coffee here."

So sure enough, near the entrance to the Chief's mess there is a little coffee station there with the whole "voluntary contribution to the chief's welfare fund" can and a huge spigoted coffee pot.

We each made ourselves a cup of joe, slipped a buck into the can and commenced to wandering around the ship. The best part was, the Navy guys didn't quite know what to make of eight Army aircrew guys in this little pack with nary a commissioned officer in sight.  We eventually found ourselves in the ready room of one of the CH-53 guys and were able to find some guys who could understand us.  They had good coffee, too.

Still drove the deck crew guys nuts when we went up to the flight deck to show the -53 guys our aircraft and we weren't wearing helmets.

[Gunner C]

Still drove the deck crew guys nuts when we went up to the flight deck to show the -53 guys our aircraft and we weren't wearing helmets.

Great story!

GC

[RocketPropelled]

Still drove the deck crew guys nuts when we went up to the flight deck to show the -53 guys our aircraft and we weren't wearing helmets.

Helmets only apply when there are assets worth protecting under the helmet.

This is why, when asked why I don't have on a hard hat around some of my job sites, I look up to see, say, trees and daylight above, and ask where the overhead hazards are.

Just sayin'....

[2ltAlexD]

Yeah, it is a great show! I loved it so much, I bought the dvd at amazon.com. It makes me want to serve in the military so much.

[Eclipse]

PBS is re-playing the whole series this weekend, and it can still be found on Hulu in its entirety.
http://www.hulu.com/carrier

Still compelling and hard to stop watching....

Make sure to seek out the mini-sodes that follow up with some of the people after the show, especially the kid with the girlfriend issue.

[PhoenixRisen]

My squadron was invited to go out on a day-long mini cruise aboard the Nimitz a year ago (and the Peleliu, a few weeks ago, as well).  It was an awesome experience!

[Eclipse]

The Chief who was our main liaison with encampment this year was with the task force when the sailor went missing, he said they never did find him.  Very sad.