THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 23, 1996 TAG: 9607230450
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 116 lines
Deep in the warren of the aircraft carrier George Washington, the sailors of the Combat Direction Center stare at their computer screens.
Before them, a map shows the Atlantic Ocean meeting the Chesapeake Bay. Two lines on the screen form a ``V,'' its apex pointing to Norfolk.
Home. Family. Still 350 miles and almost 24 hours away. Too far, too long.
Their wait ends this morning, when the carrier glides alongside Pier 11 at Norfolk Naval Station, ending a six-month deployment that saw it steam to the far side of the globe.
Nine of the George Washington Battle Group's other ships - submarines, destroyers, a cruiser and an oiler - will nose into the Elizabeth River, as well.
The day before home is one long adrenalin high. Sweaty crewmen haul boxes up and down ladders. So many people rush through the passages that lines form at the ends of stairwells.
The hangar deck, emptied of all but one plane, looks like a school gym getting decked out for the prom. Its floor is littered with huge cardboard boxes. Brilliant signal flags hang from the rafters.
About 400 civilians - spouses and children and siblings and parents - are here, part of a program that allows family members who pay their own way to visit the ship at sea. They wander the decks with wide eyes, clutching cameras.
As if that weren't enough, Gov. George Allen is here, too, part of the ship's official welcome home.
Capt. Malcolm P. Branch, the ship's commanding officer, stands on the hangar deck. Behind him, an enormous American flag has been hung on the wall.
His crew has endured some tense situations. It has troubled some of the world's most hazardous waters. And his ship now offers a gift that every skipper hopes to deliver to his crew and their families.
``We're bringing back every sailor we left with,'' he says.
Far below, far from the dash and excitement of the flight deck, Petty Officer 1st Class Ronald Soriano, a storekeeper, labors, as always, among file cabinets and dank air.
With each roar from the flight deck, Soriano's two-hole punch vibrates, rattling on its metal shelf. Fighters, attack bombers and radar planes are leaving the ``GW'' ahead of its arrival, bound for home in Virginia Beach, at Cecil Field, Fla., and in Norfolk.
Soriano has gone two weeks down here without seeing the light of day. His quarters are three minutes away. He has to remind himself sometimes to go to the hangar deck to get fresh air.
Like many crew members, he has relied on hard work to keep his mind off how much he misses his wife, Jeanne, at home in Virginia Beach. This was his first long deployment in their 2 1/2 years marriage.
Before he married, he really looked forward to all the exotic ports he'd visit. Now, he can't wait to walk on the beach and go to the movies.
``It's a different feeling when I'm married,'' he says. ``I miss all the things we do together when I'm in port.''
Sometimes he's had an awful feeling that something bad has happened to her, and he's called to make sure she was all right. In between their conversations, he talks with his friends on board. They became like family on this voyage, he says.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Gregory Ned of Virginia Beach has tried hard to maintain contact with his son, who will be 11 months and one week old when Ned steps off the ship today.
Ned has kept up with his son's development through videotapes his wife sends. He's also ``talked'' to Kaylen on the phone, saying the same things over and over again: ``Hey Daddy Baby. Daddy Kaylen, da-da-da-da. Daddy miss him. Daddy love him. . . ''
He'll say the same stuff to Kaylen on Tuesday. ``That might jingle a little bell to him: `I know this guy!' '' he says.
On the fantail, crew members lay out the mooring line, a long rope as thick as a man's arm that will be used to tie the ship to its pier. Three men wrestle to create a big loop at the end, using a fid - a wood spike - to splice the triple strands.
Lots of crew and family members are hanging out here. They stare down at the deep blue of the Atlantic or peer toward the shadowy forms of the other ships in the battle group, looming like gray ghosts on the horizon.
Standing apart, leaning on the rail, is Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric Jefferson, a machinist's mate from Chesapeake.
Every day, at least once a day, Jefferson has come here during his breaks from working on the ship's nuclear reactor.
He has thought about his wife, Nada, and his two daughters and two sons.
He has thought about missing the Fourth of July, missing his wife's birthday, then his son's birthday, then his daughter's birthday.
He also has laid plans: things to change when he gets back home. Things like spending more time with his sons.
``Things,'' he says, ``I should have done to make it cool with my family.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
An F-14 Tomcat prepares to launch off the deck of the Washington on
Monday morning as the carrier's air wing leaves for home. The
flattop and its battle group are expected to sail into port this
morning after a six-month deployment.
Photo
MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric Jefferson of Chesapeake says he intends
to make up for the birthdays and other family activities missed
during his six-month deployment halfway around the world.
Graphic
TODAY'S ARRIVALS
8 a.m.
Arthur W. Radford, destroyer, Pier 24
Conolly, destroyer, Pier 2
Scranton, attack submarine, Pier 23
San Jacinto, guided-missile cruiser, Pier 24
9:30 a.m.
George Washington, aircraft carrier, Pier 11
Samuel B. Roberts, guided-missile frigate, Pier 7
Barry, guided-missile destroyer, Pier 25
11 a.m.
Stout, guided-missile destroyer, Pier 10
Baltimore, attack submarine, Pier 23
Merrimack, oiler, Pier 3 by CNB