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Posted on 04/20/2008 7:58:38 PM PDT by nuconvert
CARRIER - Life aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz
This is a heads up.
Next Sunday, April 27, PBS will begin airing a 10 part series which will run 2 hrs a night thru May 1. (check local listings for time)
I think it will be very interesting, but not without PBS bias. Hopefully, they'll limit the bias to a minimum so that it doesn't ruin the series.
I'm looking forward to it.
You can watch clips at the source link above.
I heard it was pretty good.
That Frontline Devil Dog Platoon show was pretty good at depicting what life is like for some in Iraq....was more even handed than I expected....and available online to watch. It is downright eerie watching an IED go off unexpectedly on the in Humvee footage.
I watched the 30min promo. They made sure to choose a couple of sailors (out of 5,500 aboard) who either didn’t agree with or who weren’t sure about the war in Iraq.
I’m hoping that’s the worst of it.
I’ll try to watch the show. Seeing that much metal float is still a wonder to me and that it is really a floating city more amazing still.
Then there’s the gay people they found. Wonderful. Prepare to be preached at.
Will there be lots of gratuitous sex and violence ?
“Prepare to be preached at”
yeah. I’m hoping that doesn’t ruin it.
There’s quite a lot of recreational sex (I don’t know about gratuitous) aboard U. S. Navy ships in these benighted, progressive, feminized times. I have been aware of these shenanigans for some time, but in reading “Co-ed Combat,” by Kingsley Browne I learned much about the specifics of sexual liaisons in today’s co-habitational military establishment. When I served aboard a U. S. Navy ship sexual relationships between members of the crew were grounds for immediate transfer ashore and some degree of undesirable separation from the service. Today’s skippers must deal with the consequences of shipboard pregnancies, transfers ashore by helicopter and transfers of replacements aboard in like manner. Its wonderful.
I hope soo.
I’ve been seeing the clips on pbs the past several weeks and I’m not impressed by what I’ve seen so far. It gives me the impression that the carrier is run by hormonally imbalanced teenagers and the evil warmongers in Washington are sending these little children off to be killed in a war. Hope I’m wrong, but that is what it looks like so far.
As they say, when you put men and women together in close quarters, especially young ones, stuff happens. Of course, if the CO ordered the MO to administer liberal amounts of Lexapro to the crew, that business would clear up in under a week (then, of course, liberal amounts of Metamucil will also have to be prescribed in a prompt fashion).
Well it is PBS.
ping
I did 4 years on the USS Independence and I’ll be curious to see this PBS series.
CVN-68 was my home for a couple of years in the mid-80’s, I can’t wait to see this!
Hopefully the audience will be served a “security-alert” drill and a couple of the PBS crew get to taste some buttstock served by a lance corporal.
Break Away! On the Road Again, I just can’t wait to get on the Road Again!
I served on the Nimitz from 1981-1985.
There are no longer any MARDETs on any Navy warships. The last one left the Enterprise in 1998.
No! Say it ain’t so! I loved those security alerts, it was just like playing rabbits and hounds. Except of course, much more deadly.
I suppose you 2 have met - if not in person, then here on FR.
For you, the show should be interesting for the changes that have occurred over the past 20 or more years. Your input on the program will be a plus for all of us.
As a Navy veteran and as a freeper I would be honored, honored sir, to comment pithily on such matters.
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There were no women on ships when I first joined the Navy. Near the end of my enlistment, I remember seeing a woman on a ship for the first time...a big, burly WAVE hauling a line on the tug that was docking our ship.
It's not like sleeping in the dirt in Iraq and being sniped.
On a carrier, there's plenty of hot food (but not always the tastiest), a dry air conditioned place to sleep (but extremely noisy if you're any place near the flight deck)and the hours are extremely long.
I worked in CDC. At sea we stood 12 hour watches then we had about 4 hours of equipment maintenance. That was 7 days a week. If something was CASREP’d we worked until we fixed it. Sometimes, it took 3 days to fix it. At times, I went a couple of weeks without seeing the sun. I would literally forget to go outside. If I did, “Vulture's Row” was awesome.
The best part was liberty call :)
Nimitz, 79 to 81. No female shipmates then, but beards were legal. Still have mine.
Visited the Eisenhower a few years later. The ships Bosun was female and she probably could have whipped Hulk Hogan.
Lexapro? Is that something like unisex Saltpeter? (The coffee additive we always believed was used back in Korean war days).
Yup. Should be called “Boner-no-more.” When I took it for anxiety, I couldn’t get a stiffy with a forklift.
: ~ )
They need to talk to the guys who sleep in the Bow Catapult Coop, and whose bunks are on the other side of the bulkhead from Catapult #2’s water brake tank...
Now that’s life on a Nimitz class, especially if you work nights...
Are you sure? The series have a couple interviews with Marines.
I served onboard the Independence from 82 to 84. As a RM, berthing was forward and directly underneath cats 1 & 2. When I first got there, I wondered how I could ever sleep. Within a week, you sleep through it fine. 12 on 12 off when underway. Food - though hot - sucked but thats to be expected when you’re cooking for 5,000 plus men. Not a lot of time to prepare it well. I found the smaller the ship in the Navy, the better the food.
MARINE CORPS SECURITY FORCES
Date Signed: 1/16/1998
ALMAR Number: 024/98
R 162344Z JAN 98 ZYB
FM CMC WASHINGTON DC//CMC//
TO ALMAR
UNCLAS //N05500//
ALMAR 024/98
MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC//
SUBJ/MARINE CORPS SECURITY FORCES//
REF/A/SECNAVINST 5530.4B/28NOV94/-//
AMPN/REF A IS NAVAL SECURITY FORCES ASHORE AND AFLOAT//RMKS/1. THIS IS A JOINT NAVY AND MARINE CORPS MESSAGE. NAVY AND MARINE CORPS FORCE PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS IN TODAY'S DYNAMIC AND ASYMMETRIC THREAT ENVIRONMENT REQUIRE SECURITY FORCES OF INCREASED CAPABILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS. TO MEET THIS CHALLENGE, THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS HAVE CRAFTED AN AGGRESSIVE AND FLEXIBLE PLAN FOR EMPLOYMENT OF MARINE CORPS SECURITY FORCES (MCSF). THIS COMPREHENSIVE AND COORDINATED EFFORT BY THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS TO OPTIMIZE THE EMPLOYMENT OF MCSF WILL PROVIDE MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT FORCE PROTECTION FOR NAVAL FORCES ASHORE AND AFLOAT.
2. THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DOWNING REPORT AND DISCUSSIONS OF THE DEFENSE SCIENCE BOARD SUMMER STUDY ON TRANSNATIONAL THREATS REINFORCE AND CONFIRM THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS OBJECTIVE BY EMPHASIZING THAT FORCE PROTECTION FORCES MUST BE A ROBUST, FLEXIBLE, AND ESTABLISHED TEAM. IN ORDER TO EXPAND THE CAPABILITIES OF MCSF RESOURCES AND MEET CURRENT AND PROJECTED FORCE PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS, AN ADDITIONAL FLEET ANTITERRORIST SECURITY TEAM (FAST) COMPANY WILL BE CREATED TO PROVIDE A LARGER, BETTER TRAINED FORCE TO FLEET CINCS FOR USE IN COMBATTING TERRORISM AND MAINTAINING THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF FORCE PROTECTION, WHILE PRESERVING THE CAPABILITY TO PROVIDE TRADITIONAL SECURITY FORCE SUPPORT AS REQUIRED TO AFLOAT UNITS. ADDITIONALLY, IN AN ERA OF INCREASED ANTITERRORISM/FORCE PROTECTION (AT/FP)VULNERABILITY, DEDICATED AND ROTATIONALLY DEPLOYED MCSF DETACHMENTS WILL BE ASSIGNED TO FLEET CINCS AND OMUSNAVCENT IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A ROBUST CAPABILITY TO RESPOND TO A WIDE RANGE OF IN-THEATER CONTINGENCIES.
3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FOLLOWING EVENTS WILL TAKE PLACE IAW A TIMELINE TO BE SET FORTH BY OPNAV N3/N5 AND USMC PP&O.
A. EFFECTIVE 31 JAN 98, NON-DEPLOYED MARINE DETACHMENTS WILL BE DISESTABLISHED. DEPLOYED DETACHMENTS WILL BE DISESTABLISHED UPON RETURN TO HOMEPORT.
B. THE STRUCTURE FROM THE DISESTABLISHED MARINE DETACHMENTS WILL BE USED TO CREATE A SECOND FAST COMPANY AT YORKTOWN, VA, AUGMENTING THE CURRENT FAST COMPANY IN NORFOLK. MARINES FROM THE FAST COMPANIES WILL BE ROTATIONALLY DEPLOYED AND OPCON TO CINCUSNAVEUR, CINCPACFLT, AND COMUSNAVCENT FOR ASSIGNMENT AS REQUIRED WITHIN THEIR AOR. THESE COMMANDERS HAVE THE OPTION TO EMPLOY THEIR ASSIGNED FAST PLATOON TO ANY LOCATION, ASHORE OR AT SEA, IN THE NUMBERS THEY REQUIRE.
C. THE REFUEL/DEFUEL MISSION WILL BE ASSUMED BY THE FAST COMPANIES AND SUPPORTED WITH PERIODICALLY DEPLOYED PLATOONS. D. THE CADRE, WHICH PROVIDES UNIQUE COMBAT SKILLS TRAINING, WILL BE REORGANIZED, DOWNSIZED, AND KEYED TO NAVY REGIONALIZATION PLANS. THE CADRE WILL TRAIN BOTH NAVY AND AUXILIARY SECURITY FORCES IN SMALL ARMS, SMALL UNIT TACTICS, SECURITY, AND ANTITERRORISM. DETAILS WILL BE ADDRESSED BY AN N3N5/PP&O WORKING GROUP WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH.
E. THE CURRENT INSTALLATION SECURITY VALIDATION PROCESS WILL BE EVALUATED TO ASSURE THE PROCESS SUPPORTS FAIRLY ASSESSING THE CHARACTER OF SECURITY FORCES REQUIRED TO RESPOND IN THE DYNAMIC OVERSEAS THREAT ENVIRONMENT. THREAT BASED CRITERIA THAT MEET CURRENT AND PROJECTED CINC AT/FP REQUIREMENTS WILL BE USED AND ALL APPROPRIATE ASSETS AND AGENCIES WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR INCLUSION IN A FOCUSED AND UPGRADED VALIDATION PROCESS. MCSF COMPANIES LONDON, ROTA, AND NAPLES WILL BE REEXAMINED USING THE MODERNIZED POST VALIDATION PROCESS.
F. INTERIM MCSF COMPANY BAHRAIN WILL REMAIN AT ITS CURRENT STRENGTH UNTIL THE REPLACEMENT FOR MANNAI PLAZA IS COMPLETE. THE COMPANY WILL THEN BE REEXAMINED USING THE POST VALIDATION PROCESS.
G. MCSF COMPANY KEFLAVIK WILL BE EVALUATED BY THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS IN COORDINATION WITH REGIONAL COMMANDERS USING THE UPGRADED CRITERIA.
H. MCSF COMPANY NORTH ISLAND AND MARINE BARRACKS JAPAN WILL CLOSE AS SCHEDULED. MCSF DETACHMENT SOUDA BAY WILL BE DISESTABLISHED IAW PREVIOUS PLANS. MCSF BATTALION HEADQUARTERS; MCSF COMPANIES KINGS BAY, BANGOR, AND PATUXENT RIVER; 1ST FAST COMPANY; MARINE BARRACKS GUANTANAMO BAY; AND CAMP DAVID WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED.
4. THESE CHANGES TO HOW THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS EXECUTE THE FORCE PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS OF REF A WILL ENABLE US TO MORE EFFECTIVELY MEET FUTURE SECURITY CHALLENGES AND MAKE THE MOST EFFICIENT USE OF VALUABLE RESOURCES. ADDITIONALLY, FLTCINCS WILL HAVE GREATER CAPABILITY, FLEXIBILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS IN CARRYING OUT THEIR FORCE PROTECTION RESPONSIBILITIES. THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS TEAM LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING TOGETHER AS WE IMPLEMENT THESE IMPORTANT INNOVATIONS, AND STRENGTHEN OUR UNIQUE AND VITAL RELATIONSHIP.//
BT
the first episode was pretty good.
I didnt realize Mel Gibson and his company produced this show.
Yup. I thought so too
Best line of the night: “Nimitz stands for Never Imagined Myself In This Zoo.”
I rolled my eyes a few times when they seemed to want to seek out people who had nothing going on in their lives before they joined the Navy (which is a big class-warfare meme for Democrats). But there were some scenes that I loved, like the 18-year-old black female air-traffic controller from Athens, GA.
Did you watch the first installment?
Just wondering what you thought so far.
I spent many years in the military and I'd have to say that that described the vast majority of the junior enlisted that I served with. If you asked them why they joined it was almost always small town, nothing to do, no real job, get out of parent's house. And I've no doubt that the same response would be gotten from the majority of soldiers and marines you talked to. One thing that the show did make clear on several occasions is that the majority of enlisted come from what would be considered some form of middle-class. The Democrats would have us believe that the military culls it's recruits from the poor. Those oppressed by the evil Republican policies, blah, blah, blah. So far I'm not seeing any agenda. But it's early.
They are. As are just about every other ship in the Navy. And I speak from experience.
Don't be confused by the flightdeck crew wearing old-style Marine cammo trousers, those aren't necessarily Marines. I think that they issue those on carriers for use because they still have a supply on hand. Marines wear a new style camouflage.
I was aboard Nimitz between ‘82-’85. I was in VA-35, CAG-8.
I wonder if they continually play “The Final Countdown” like they seemed to do back in the ‘80’s. I got so sick of that!
Ol' home girl is full of CHT. Working in Pri-Fly isn't anything close to being, "Like a air traffic controller ". AC's do not work in Pri-Fly. She's doing essentially Admin duties up there. She, btw, struck for Yeoman, which may or may not get her out of Air Department.
V-2 Division, Waist Catapults.
You know I think you might have worked with a friend of mine that was assigned to the Nimitz. I believe he worked the waist cats up on deck hooking planes up to the shuttle.
What's his name?
You can send it via Private Reply if you'd like.
I have been watching the series, and I noticed the book, on the table written by Michael Savage, which the lone conservative sailor on the program had.
But, as usual this is a left-wing PBS program, with the typical, white man racist, white man rapist, and the poor down trodden, minorities and gays being kept down by the man.
What a joke today’s Navy is.
Just as one of the command people had said, that he didn’t want the ship to be like the love boat.
Well, from what I can see so far it is the love boat with all of the wacko lib cast of characters!
Our enemies see this and have to laugh at the social experiment called today’s Navy.
My condolences to Navy veterans.
I’v got to say though that they are showing inspiring stories of people that come from bad circumstances and join the Navy and accomplish something in their lives. I was somewhat disappointed in some of the officers attitudes towards the war in Iraq. Who knows, they could have edited out anyone who had something positive to say.
Yes, you are right.
At least the latest episode was not focused on racial or gender issues, but the producers made sure that they spotlighted the anti-war views of some crew members. It was wrong for the pilot to go on camera and voice his opinion of the Iraq War. It sets an example for the enlisted personnel and only benefits the Cindy Sheehan crowd and terrorists.
Ping! You see this?
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