 The Attack Aircraft Carrier, a floating airfield capable of carrying and operating six squadrons of the latest aircraft over 90 planes, an airfield that can move at speeds well in excess of 30 knots, appear where it's needed in any part of the world, a giant aircraft launching platform loaded with ultramodern electronic equipment and devastating weapons. She's a vital link in our national security, a potential for power, for peace, for war, but still just a potential until her crew is on board. Then and only then is her potential realized. She means a lot of things to a lot of people. The air group and airfield, a home away from home, to the crew, a place to work and live. She shows a face of reassurance and friendship to friends, a face of controlled power to others, and she provides a flexible wide-ranging addition to the country's strength. Her reason for being is to get her 90 aircraft into position to destroy a given target, no matter how remote or well defended. This is her job and the job of the men aboard her. The pilots in the hands of the flight deck crew from the time he starts engines to the instant the catapult lets go. You've never seen more precise teamwork than these guys show and you've never seen more rugged working conditions even with their Mickey Mouse helmets the jet engine noise is overpowering and the heat you get out on that deck working with those jet planes on a hundred degree day like you get in the South Pacific of the Mediterranean and you feel like you're flying. There's always a 30 knot wind down the deck they walk leaning into it tough job yes there's a word for it Harry a mixture of hard work uncomfortable conditions and always the pressure of knowing a man's life depends on your job a lot of them are only kids 18 19 years old but they're the best they have to be every pilot's life depends on them and they send these planes off to ship like clockwork a plane in the air every 30 seconds and at the precise minute they're scheduled to be over target they'll be there between every flight operation detailed plans are made to shift aircraft between hangar and flight deck position planes in the right order for the next launch ensure proper fueling and maintenance there's not a whole lot of time because recovery of aircraft returning from a mission is usually scheduled to follow a launch within minutes when air operations are underway the huge hangar deck almost as large as the flight deck is busy around the clock here aircraft are repaired and maintained the job is a tough one but it gets done these maintenance men work as hard as anybody in the ship if it weren't for them and the extra effort they throw into the job the planes just wouldn't be ready to fly when the ship is conducting flight operations keeping planes in the air from seven in the morning to 11 or 12 at night many times five or six days in a row any minor maintenance or repairs must be done quickly and these guys stay ahead of the game conducting even major repairs like fast engine changes the only way to do it is to work 12 16 20 hours a day catch a map when you can wherever you can and eat a sandwich somebody brings you if there's no time to make the chow line the peacetime Navy operates at maybe 15 to 20 percent below full strength but when flying practice missions taking part in a NATO exercise or involved in a conflict like Vietnam well it's all out everything goes and these men have to deliver even though they may be shorthanded it's a tremendous job keeping these modern planes ready to fly things have changed a lot since World War two and Korea one of today's high performance aircraft with advanced electronic equipment and the most lethal armament can do the job of several 1940 and 1950 vintage planes we have more going for us than ever before but it makes maintenance and repair a bigger problem and the technicians have to be a lot sharper these men are top-notch real pros they keep them ready ready to fly ready to fight and ready to complete their mission stand by to recover aircraft stand by to recover aircraft all unnecessary personnel thank you for catching up to learn there's a problem landing signal officer ready arresting wires in position the pilot's landing aid system on bringing these jets aboard at speeds up to 140 knots is another tough operation for the flight deck crew here to the precision teamwork under difficult conditions is remarkable and the crew takes them on as fast as two every 60 seconds sometimes a plane misses the last wire and goes around again sometimes the problem is more serious that's why an emergency crew is always there and it's a good feeling to know they are they're trained to go into a burning plane get the pilot out safely put out the fire and quickly clear the deck great guys all of them after every recovery planes must be refueled re-armed and re-spotted for the next launch and always there's that pressure of time the pressure of time the commitment to be on target with pinpoint accuracy and precision it's something every man on an attack carrier lives with from launch to recovery especially the pilot carrier flying takes real professionals because it's a unique demanding job after every flight one of the first things pilots do is check with the landing signal officer he's the one the pilots depend on to evaluate their landings once in a while there's a little controversy over that evaluation but it's all settled with a videotape playback every landing is covered by TV cameras it gives them a chance to see what they did and to plan any changes that will make them more proficient these guys are always trying to do a better job when a carrier is on station a pilot makes two sometimes three flights a day including a night flight it's a rugged 24 hours it's a job even to put on all that gear let alone fly in it for two or three hours but the pilots need it all of it it's still a tough way to dress for work you know it's not like it used to be in the old days where a pilot jumped in a plane and took off flying off a carrier it's just a job to these guys so they say but they'll also tell you it's a kick they wouldn't trade for anything in the world no question they love it planes in the air on their way to the target the attack carriers potential is realized and this potential includes attack bombers capable of carrying nuclear and conventional weapons with the supersonic speed range and maneuverability to penetrate the stiffest defenses and deliver a devastating blow to the most remote targets and low level attack bombers capable of providing effective aerial support for ground troops on these planes the pilot is teamed with a highly trained bombardier navigator who operates the ultimate in electronic blind flying aids regardless of the type of aircraft frequent practice missions prepare the crews for the real thing to be effective the attack carrier must have a defensive capability equal to its attack potential the answer to this is fighter aircraft and early detection fighter aircraft to provide air cover air superiority over any enemy attacking planes for early detection carrier-based radar picket planes stationed in a huge circle around the ship and the long-ranging advanced design ships radars which keep up a constant search for unidentified aircraft the data from these two radar sources fed to the ship's combat information center provide the ability to detect enemy planes hundreds of miles away making it almost impossible for enemy aircraft to penetrate within striking range of the ship without being detected when an attacking force is discovered pilots flying the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world street toward the target at speeds over 1600 miles per hour fast enough to engage the enemy long before he can do any damage the carrier's modern complex computer system the naval tactical data system works out fighter deployment and intercept problems in millions of a second allows the combat information center to evaluate any threat and vector fighter aircraft to the target in this day of modern warfare enemy aircraft or missiles may approach a task force at speeds of thousands of miles an hour and simultaneous attacks from several directions at once are to be expected some fighters carry such advanced electronic equipment and weapons that a second crew member is needed a radar intercept officer who works closely with the pilot together they're capable of intercepting and destroying enemy aircraft under all weather conditions they may never even glimpse the target if necessary a plane's range can be extended by air-to-air refueling specially designed clip-on belly tanks transform many carrier planes into tankers and if a plane returns to the carrier low on fuel these tanker planes are always available when a mission is completed and it's time to go home the floating airfield has changed position because it's always on the move but it's where the pilots expect it to be an attack carrier he's a place of business for the crew some time name in the paper to the public a job well done to the shipyard worker a most welcome site to a returning pilot she presents many faces to many people perhaps the most significant face she shows as to a potential enemy to a hostile country the attack aircraft carrier is an unwelcome site and for good reason one of the most difficult to neutralize weapons is the attack carrier it's always on the move difficult to keep up with hard to pinpoint and hazardous to attack what does a potential enemy do well he goes to a limited war concept Korea for example the enemy finds himself confronted with the attack carrier aerial cover in support for amphibious landings at Ponyang and Incheon cover for the successful evacuation of 100,000 troops and their equipment at the Choson reservoir even when the enemy captured the airfields in South Korea he didn't achieve air superiority carrier pilots were right in there flying thousands of sorties 1955 attack carriers cover the evacuation of the Tachin Islands 1956 cover during the Suez crisis for the evacuation of 1700 United States citizens 1957 a show of force in the eastern Mediterranean 1958 Kimoy and Matsu simultaneously in Lebanon carriers provide air cover for Marine Corps amphibious landings 1960 carriers off the Congo for possible evacuation of citizens and on the alert during the Berlin crisis 1961 off Guatemala and Nicaragua to help prevent any invasion from the sea 1962 Cuban missile crisis quarantine and the readiness to aid in forcing missile removal if necessary plus constant surveillance of inbound ships plus constant surveillance of Cuba itself and 1964 the Tonkin Gulf and Vietnam in crisis after crisis carrier aviation has met the challenge the advent of nuclear-powered carriers and escort vessels has made the carrier task force even more mobile even more frustrating to an enemy as ships and planes become more and more sophisticated they will demand more and more of the men who serve in them and this challenge too will be met night or day east or west no matter where an enemy may initiate a crisis no matter how remote and inaccessible no matter how far from the United States land base a face of our nation will appear the attack aircraft carrier and the men who make her what she is