One of the major tasks for the USS CURTIS WILBUR ended up being plane guard. In the evening when the squadrons come back to the carrier to land one of the picket ships needs to trail behind. This is for several reasons but primarily for the safety of the pilots. The ship's command and control can communicate with the pilots if necessary, and at dusk the mast lights help pilots line up for their approach. If a plane were to ditch, we would be the rescue ship. The carrier would not be able to mount a rescue in anywhere near the amount of time it would take for a destroyer to reposition and put rescuers in the water.
The flight deck was also very busy during the operation. Ready deck became a usual announcement, this is when the nets around the aft flight deck are all lowered so the skids on a helicopter do not risk being tangled. Communication checks with the bridge are conducted and the flight deck crew musters to make sure everyone is ready ahead of time.
Over the course of a few weeks, the operation was played out with UN forces slowly dismantling the enemy forces. I will leave out the details, mostly because it had little to do with supply. Many drills were conducted both on-board and with the help of the other ships. The fighter jets conducted mock bombing runs on our wake at one point while I was on the bridge, that was exciting. We took turns boarding other ships, the Australian frigate also participated in that one. The crew was kept busy with practice exercises throughout.
No comments:
Post a Comment