Das Boot

Last week, I carrier qualed at the CVN-74 USS John C. Stennis, one of the Navy's newest aircraft carriers. I had a blast. This was my first time going to the aircraft carrier in the F/A-18 Hornet, however I have been to the boat before in the T-45 Goshawk. All Hornet pilots are required to obtain a carrier qualification toward the end of initial Hornet training. Now that I'm complete with my carrier qual, I'll be shortly headed to a fleet Marine Hornet squadron in Beaufort, SC, where I will be stationed for about three years. Let me tell you a little bit about my experience at "The Boat."

All pilots were required to get a minimum of 10 day traps, 2 day touch- and- go's, 6 night traps, and 2 night touch-and-go's. Each landing attempt, or "pass" is gradeAll pilots were required to get a minimum of 10 day traps, 2 day touch- and- go's, 6 night traps, and 2 night touch-and-go's. Each landing attempt, or "pass" is graded by the LSOs (Landing Signals Officer) on a 4.0 scale. The LSO--affectionately called "paddles" because of the large signaling paddles they used to carry to communicate with the pilot about to land-- does more than just grade you. He's also your mentor, and the calming voice who will help you land the aircraft when the deck is pitching, it's raining, and the fog limits the visibilty to less than 100 feet! If he see's that you're getting a little low, he will tell you to add a little power, and you'd better listen. Your life depends on it!



Life on the ship was an experience in itself. It's really a floating city. There are tons of places to eat, but we ate most of our meals either in the wardroom right next to our ready room (very convenient) or on another wardroom further away that was almost always serving one meal or another. I'm pretty sure they served about 6 meals every day. And the wardroom was always open so if you got hungry between meals you could get a PB&J or maybe even a makeshift root beer float. Aside from flying and eating, we played a lot of cards, read a little, and tried to sleep.
CQ took me three days (and three nights) for a total of 6 flights. The nights can be pretty scary, especially the last night, when you couldn't even see the boat until about 15 seconds before you touched down because of clouds! I finished on Wednesday night, but couldn't get off the boat until Friday, so that gave me a whole day to read, eat, play spades, and watch the guys who hadn't get completed CQ. Now that I'm off the ship, I still feel like the world is rocking around me!