THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 17, 1996 TAG: 9607160322
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: AT SEA
SOURCE: BY DENNIS DAVIO, Special to The Virginian-Pilot
LENGTH: 61 lines
Editor's note: The following column was written on July 4, when the carrier Enterprise was headed east across the Atlantic. The ship is now in the Adriatic Sea.
Here I am, more than 1,000 miles away from Norfolk. I'm with the Jolly Rogers, the Oceana-based F-14B Tomcat squadron from Air Wing 17 embarked on the carrier Enterprise.
Soon the Enterprise Battle Group will relieve the carrier George Washington and its battle group. We've been busy with flight operations, preparing for our upcoming role as the American presence in the Mediterranean Sea and wherever else we may be needed at a moment's notice.
It's the Fourth of July, and many of us miss our families, friends and loved ones. But, as sailors have always done, we are making the best of it.
Today there's a ``steel beach'' picnic scheduled on our flight deck - an amazing experience for anyone who's never seen one.
The first thing you notice is not the usual smell of jet exhaust or steam catapults, but the bouquet of barbecued ribs and chicken. You don't hear powerful jet engines sending planes thundering into the air, but the music of Van Halen, Whitney Houston and Alanis Morissette drifting from the deck.
The air boss is not in the tower barking out warnings and advisories. Nope, he's scheduled to be flipping chicken and ribs later this afternoon.
Nobody is scurrying to secure jets to the flight deck with chains and chocks. Today, everyone's in gym gear and summer clothes, enjoying a day on which we have good reason to be thankful.
The senior enlisted and the officers have volunteered to do the cooking in shifts. So instead of waiting in line on the lower decks for chow, you head for the flight deck, where there's sunshine and temps in the mid-80s.
It is, in almost all respects, a typical holiday picnic, with grilled chicken and beef, baked beans, macaroni salad, cornbread and lots of soda, topped off with cake and brownies. The only thing missing is the bugs.
You can find games of touch football, soccer and hacky-sack, as well as a three-on-three basketball tournament, complete with portable rim and backboard. Here and there, small groups of sailors are talking of home, work and family or trading sea stories. Folks are out catching a tan in the afternoon sun, jogging, and practicing their golf swings off the fantail.
It couldn't be a nicer day for a picnic out here on the Atlantic, and it's great to sit down to eat what, probably, everybody in the States is eating. You almost expect to see someone washing a car or cutting the grass.
But this is a warship, and opportunities like this are few and far between. A majority of our time is spent supporting the air wing and its flight schedule, or the ship and its complex operational requirements.
Being at sea is not always fun, nor is it easy, but there are days - and today is one of them - when the efforts of leaders and workers pay off for the whole crew.
It's days like today that you'll look back on, years from now, and tell your children about.
Taking care of the troops is important.
Today it's done in fine style. MEMO: Dennis Davio is an aviation electrician's mate 2nd class of VF103. by CNB