THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 15, 1995 TAG: 9509150503
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
NATO's decision Thursday to temporarily halt the bombing of Bosnian Serbs gives the Norfolk-based carrier America and cruiser Normandy their first respite since entering the region six days ago.
Up to 15 hours of daily flying from the America, plus Normandy's five-minute barrage with 13 Tomahawk missiles Sunday, have kept the warships hustling.
The Normandy, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, had been ordered to speed into the Adriatic upon its arrival in the Mediterranean last week.
The cruiser crossed the Mediterranean in less than two days, averaging 35 mph, picked up fuel Sunday from an oiler and then launched its million dollar missiles later that night in a five-minute spectacle its commanding officer called ``awesome.''
``We don't normally run around at 32 knots for an extended period of time,'' Capt. Francis D. DeMasi said in a satellite telephone interview Thursday. ``I don't think we've done that before.''
Rear Adm. William V. Cross II, commander of the America battle group, said in a separate telephone conversation that the America's air wing and ship's crew also hit the ground running as they raced to the region to relieve the carrier Theodore Roosevelt battle group.
The 14 ships in the Roosevelt group are heading back to East Coast ports following the group's six-month deployment to the region. They should arrive Thursday or next Friday.
``We're flying between 12 and 15 hours a day,'' said Cross, making the 9 a.m.-to-midnight routine ``tiresome for everybody.''
``But we watch that carefully. They are being very safe so they (families back home) don't have to worry about that.''
Neither DeMasi nor Cross had heard officially Thursday of the NATO decision to stop the bombing of Bosnian Serb military targets.
``We hope there is a possibility of a breakthrough, but we don't have any insight on that,'' Cross said.
``We just keep our fingers crossed that peace can come to this area, and we would like to do anything we can to help bring that to fruition.''
The Normandy's cruise missile strikes in Bosnia followed a week of NATO airstrikes by land-based and carrier-based aircraft, ordered after the Aug. 28 shelling of a marketplace in Sarajevo in which 38 civilians were killed.
DeMasi noted that the Normandy launched 26 Tomahawks against Iraq during the Desert Storm conflict.
``We've got this tradition of coming into an area and carrying out whatever the boss wants,'' he said.
It took just five minutes for the $1.3 million missiles, with their 700-pound warheads, to leave the ship.
``It was pretty awesome,'' said DeMasi. ``The launch was the most awesome spectacle I've ever witnessed.''
The rest of the America's 14-ship battle group appears to be spread throughout the Mediterranean, said Cross, adding he could not discuss the actual locations.
As far as how long the America and Normandy will remain where they are, Cross said he didn't know.
``I don't have any insight what the duration will be,'' he said. ``I know the type of operations we are doing now is very, very sustainable for us and we can keep this up indefinitely.
``I wish I could tell you how long that was going to be.'' by CNB