DATE: Thursday, October 23, 1997            TAG: 9710230501

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   92 lines

``CAMELBAKS'' GIVE NIMITZ CREW A LIFT THROUGH HOT PERSIAN GULF DAYS

More than halfway ``home,'' yet still half a world away, the crew of the soon-to-be Norfolk-based carrier Nimitz is settling into life at sea, sweeping sand from the ship's sizzling steel deck and carrying ``camels'' on their back.

Life in the Persian Gulf, where the nuclear-powered supercarrier arrived nearly two weeks ago, is plenty hot - but about what the nearly 6,000 members of the crew and air wing had expected.

The ship is six weeks into its six-month cruise, which began in Bremerton, Wash., but will end next March in Norfolk, the Nimitz's birthplace 22 years ago.

``Right now we're up in the northern (Persian) Gulf, basically fulfilling the `no-fly' zone, enforcing United Nations sanctions over Iraq,'' Capt. Isaac ``Ike'' Richardson, the Nimitz's commanding officer, said by satellite telephone Tuesday.

``I'm happy to report that, along with the Air Force team, we've seen no violations.''

The Nimitz's arrival coincided with Iran's most extensive naval exercises in years - 10 days of war games covering a 15,000-square-mile area and involving more than 100 vessels.

But the exercise caused the Nimitz Battle Group no problems. Although U.S. and Iranian naval forces were in close proximity, both countries worked hard to avoid any ``incidents.''

``Everybody went about their own business,'' said Richardson. ``I can tell you their mariners are extremely courteous and professional, like we are. There have been no confrontations, or anything like that.''

The Nimitz, with an air arm of 75 aircraft and an escort of six warships, reached the gulf Sunday, about two weeks ahead of schedule. President Clinton had ordered an accelerated deployment in response to violations of the ``no-fly'' zone in southern Iraq by both Iraqi and Iranian fighters.

The violations occurred Sept. 29 when Iranian jets attacked bases in southern Iraq that are used by Iranian dissidents to launch attacks against Iran. Iraqi fighter jets then scrambled in response.

U.S. officials viewed the Iraqi flights as a test of American resolve by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who has challenged the legality of ``no-fly'' zones in the north and south of his country.

But the episode appears to be over, Richardson said. The only challenges remaining are the heat and sand.

At 8 p.m. Tuesday, the air temperature was 95 degrees, but reached 120 degrees on the flight deck, where jet exhausts filled the air. Inside, the carrier's mammoth air conditioners strained to keep living compartments below 80 degrees.

Perhaps the most unique device crew members have found to stave off dehydration are ``Camelbaks'' harnessed on the sailors' backs.

The devices, available in outdoors shops and popular with stateside cyclists, are plastic bladders worn in an insulated backpack. The containers can be filled with water and ice, and their contents sipped through a drinking tube that loops over the wearer's shoulder, leaving both hands free.

``They work like champs,'' the captain said.

The Nimitz, based at Puget Sound in Bremerton, Wash., for the past 10 years, is headed to Hampton Roads to have its nuclear reactors refueled, the first time that has happened since it was commissioned at Newport News Shipbuilding in 1975. The three-year, $2 billion process also will see modifications to its computers and electronics, and the replacement of piping and wiring.

Richardson, previously assigned to an F-14 Tomcat squadron at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, said it has not been an easy move for the crew's families. The logistics alone complicated most everyone's life.

Two-thirds of the 2,900 Nimitz crew members are married and about 40 percent have children, prompting the ship to initiate a planning program for the move more than eight months ago.

About 650 families have already moved to Virginia. New sailors assigned to the ship since about June have done so knowing it would be moving to Norfolk, and about 100 families moved straight to Virginia rather than come to Bremerton.

``Most of the families moved before we ever left on Sept. 1,'' Richardson said. ``We have about 250 families still to move.''

They remain in government housing, for the most part, awaiting the end of the school year before they move to Hampton Roads.

``We pretty much were the sweetheart ship of Bremerton,'' Richardon said. ``We were there for a long, long time. But the crew is very excited about coming back to Virginia.''

The 3,000-member air wing is composed of eight squadrons based in California and Washington state. Unlike the ship's company, its members will return to the West Coast after arriving in Norfolk.

The Nimitz will remain pretty much where it is for the next two to three months before entering the Mediterranean Sea for the first time in 10 years, then returning to Norfolk.

While liberty ports are few, the crew has been keeping in touch with family and friends via satellite telephone, and with 9,000 to 10,000 e-mail messages a day. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Nimitz will call Norfolk home after its arrival in March

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