THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501180467
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICHARD GRIMES, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
How do I find out details about the decommissioning of the America?
The carrier America is still being used militarily, so the Navy is tentative about its decommissioning date. A spokesman for Air Forces, Atlantic Fleet said on Tuesday, though, that planners are considering April or May of 1996 for the decommissioning ceremony in Norfolk.
The future of the America has been in the news recently, after Navy officials tried to figure out whether they wanted to use it again in 1997 for one final deployment. As of last week, the word is, no. The ship will go to sea for the last time in August 1995 and return in February 1996.
If you need more information, you may have to wait until March of next year, when the Navy starts its ``inactivation'' of the America - meaning that it will start moving people off of the ship.
Why has the military provided more telephone lines for the Eisenhower, while everyone else in the battle group has to do without talking to loved ones for months?
O.K., get ready. For those of us who haven't had a chance to dabble in satellite relay technology as a hobby, we've got some serious fat to chew.
First of all, you're entirely correct when you say that the carrier Eisenhower has more Morale, Welfare and Recreation lines than anyone else in their battle group. Sailors on the Ike have eight lines that they can use while deployed to call their families. No other ship in the battle group has MRW lines.
Why the disparity? Simply put, these MRW lines are possible because the Eisenhower has the capability of sustaining four channels or connections to a dedicated satellite system called INMARSAT (International Maritime Satellite). The Ike dedicates one of its channels to the eight MRW lines, which leave the three remaining channels to handle operational traffic.
Because INMARSAT is fairly new technology, most ships have only one channel, and dedicating it to phone calls home could be fairly disruptive. Other ships, the carrier George Washington, for instance, also have MRW lines. The Navy expects to expand the use of MRW lines as the capability becomes available.
I'm a Department of the Navy civilian, and I think you gave incorrect information concerning my pay increase in the Jan 4. hot line. Am I right?
In a word, yes. In this column we stated that Department of Navy civilians could expect a 2.5 percent pay increase, effective April 1. Overall, that seems to be correct. However, the pay increase varies in size from region to region. According to Navy spokesmen, Hampton Roads Department of Navy civilians began to receive a 2.64% increase at the beginning of January. by CNB