- The captain of America's most famous aircraft carrier,
the USS Kitty Hawk, has been sacked for losing control of his crew, just
as President Bush is readying the US military for an attack on Iraq.
-
- Naval chiefs dismissed Captain Thomas Hejl after a series
of arrests of crew members for alleged robbery, assault and drug-smuggling.
-
- In a blunt statement announcing the departure, Vice-Admiral
Robert Willard, the Commander of the US Seventh Fleet, said that he had
acted 'due to a loss of confidence in Captain Hejl's ability to lead his
crew.'
-
- Although the admiral stopped short of directly linking
the decision to a possible war with Iraq, he said that the loss of confidence
in Captain Hejl's leadership extended to his ability to 'carry out essential
missions and taskings.'
-
- He added: "The United States is engaged in a global
war against terrorism, and it is vital that our forward deployed ships
be ready to carry out our nationís taskings when ordered."
-
- The 86,000-ton Kitty Hawk is the only one of America's
dozen aircraft carriers to be permanently deployed overseas. She is based
at the Yokosuka naval base in Japan.
-
- In recent weeks US sailors from the Kitty Hawk, which
is named after the part of the North Carolina coast where the Wright brothers
launched the first powered flight, have been involved in a spate of on-shore
controversies.
-
- On August 11 a petty officer was charged with assaulting
and attempting to rob a 68-year-old Japanese man. He fled the scene and
was arrested 200 yards short of the Yokosuka naval base. Two days later
Japanese police arrested a 19-year-old crew member for carjacking after
a 43-year-old woman was attacked in her car at a traffic light. Ten days
after that, a 29-year-old second class mate was arrested by Japanese Customs,
allegedly with a kilogram of cannabis in a cylindrical crisp container
in his bag. The man, who was arriving at Narita airport from Bangkok via
Hong Kong, has denied the charge.
-
- The Kitty Hawk, which can carry 70 aircraft, was stationed
in the Arabian Sea during the conflict in Afghanistan and would be expected
to play a central role in any war with Iraq. Captain Hejl was replaced
by Captain Robert Barbaree, commanding officer of the warship USS Seattle,
who sounded an immediate warning to crew members that he intended to impose
a stricter regime. "An aircraft carrier, like all warships, will only
be as good as the sailors who serve aboard," he said.
-
- The giant aircraft carriers of the US Navy are run like
modern cities, boasting 2,400 telephones, six-channel television, five
dentists, four shops, two barbersí shops, two lawyers and one post
office. On any one day more than 17,000 meals are being prepared and served
for the 5,600-strong crew.
-
- Boarding one is like entering a time warp back to the
former Deep South. In the bowels of the carrier, where the crew are cooped
up for six months at a time, manual workers sleep dozens to a room. Most
are black or Puerto Rican, paid $7,000 to $10,000 a year to work in the
broiling temperatures of the kitchens and engine rooms.
-
- As you move up the 11 segregated levels towards the pilots'
quarters beneath the deck, the living quarters become larger, the air cooler
and the skin tones lighter. Officers exist in almost total ignorance of
the teeming world beneath them, passing around second-hand tales of murders,
gang-fights and drug abuse. Visitors are banned from venturing down to
the lowest decks, which swelter next to the vast nuclear-powered engines.
-
- Despite the reminders of normality suggested by libraries
and supermarkets, there are few real diversions. Television monitors are
dotted about the ship relaying news programmes and feature films from the
United States, but otherwise the daily routine revolves around work, sleep
and repetitive slop from the shipís canteens. Religious differences
are catered for by allowing different denominations to worship in the shipsí
chapels - there are 12 Muslim chaplains serving in the US Armed Forces.
-
- Access to the deck, which buzzes with F14 and F18 aircraft
taking part in exercises, is banned for all except the flight crew. Every
couple of months, the carriers stop for a few days shore leave to restock
with supplies and allow the crew to glimpse natural sunlight.
-
- While the officers have the distraction of military exercises,
the rest of the crew spend most of their time looking forward to their
return.
-
- "I wanted to see the world, and board and lodging
is free," is a typical response when questioned about the appeal of
life below decks.
-
- "I would only have ended up in prison" is another,
frank, explanation offered.
-
- The US Navy, sensitive to claims of on-board racism after
well-publicised riots on the Kitty Hawk in the 1970s, has trained recruiting
specialists to persuade ethnic candidates that their career opportunities
can extend beyond the engine rooms. This was backed by an advertising campaign
promising that "You Can Be Black, and Navy, Too."
-
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-403363,00.html
-
-
- Comment
-
- Mark Zucha
Nashville, TN
9-4-2
-
- I realize that your site is not responsible for the content
of the articles posted, but, the recent article from Roland Watson and
Glen Owen of the Times London hit an all-time low. And, since their email
addresses were not linked to the article, I've decided to vent here.
-
- To suggest that institutional racism runs rampant in
the US Navy is absurd and is insulting to the enlisted men that proudly
serve their country under difficult conditions. Yes, there are divisions
between officer and enlisted ranks. There have been such since pre-Roman
times. And, there is a high percentage of under-educated minorities in
the ranks. Again, historical fact, but, to compare this to old south Jim
Crowe days is unjustified.
-
- Civilians without demonstrated need to be below decks
are prohibited from going near the nuclear reactors because they are NUCLEAR
REACTORS!!!!! -not because the navy doesn't want to air their dirty little
secrets.
-
- This type of mud raking reminds me of a play that ran
in the UK during the late 1980's in which USAF personnel were portrayed
as heroine fiends with a cavalier attitude toward pushing the nuclear button.
-
- I served proudly and professionally for five years in
the USAF and my brother served in the Navy. We were there primarily because
we were poor white people and had few educational or vocational opportunities
at home. And, although I disagree politically with the beliefs and actions
of our current president, my disagreements are based on facts, not some
unsubstantiated pile of crap like the article cited above. Impress me
with some real journalism next time.
-
-
|