Nuclear Weapons Watch
On any giving day aboard the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt, there are a number of Drills. Practise for any potential situation the ship may encounter. "Man Over Board", General Quarters9 Battle Stations",to NBC Warfare. NBC meaning Nuclear, Biological, Chemical warfare. Each carrier, on station, has a cache of nuclear weapons. The crews assigned to these weapons need practise just like everyone else aboard ship. We were told to ignore the ordinance , and the nuclear tech monitors. That's like saying "don't think of pink elephants", because that's all you are going think about. At times when the nuclear weapon was placed on the plane, it was under armed guard. Except when the ship was in Spain. It was the year after a B-52 collided with an aerial tanker and dropped Nuclear weapons into the sea off Spain. So after "Flight Quarters" secured for the day, Marines, in snappy uniforms, and side arms,would watch over the weapon.
One day when I had the duty, I was asked to report to the Officer of the Deck, the OOD. He informed me that I had the 2000 to 2400 watch, on the nuclear weapon, on the hangar deck. For some reason unbeknownst to me, all Marines were busy. What? How? So I get outfitted, not in a snappy Marine uniform,and side arm, but navy undress whites, with a white helmet, white duty belt, billy club, and a plastic clipboard with directions on how to challenge an intruder. Intruder? On ship? And the best part was, the OOD said I couldn't look at the weapon. Yeah, Right. I saluted the OOD and took charge of the weapon. and I looked at the weapon. Slung under the A4 Sky Hawk amid ship, it hung. It looked somewhat like a drop tank only smaller. It was covered in canvas to hide from prowling eyes.
Watches in the Navy were pretty much alike. The first two hours go by rapidly , as does the last hour. But that third to fourth hour seemed like an eternity. It was quiet in Hangar Bay Three. Lights were dimmed, and"No bright lights shining outboard", or red lights were the plan of the evening. So feeling brave, I stepped inside the roped off area, with the plane and nuclear weapon aboard, and I touched it. How often does anyone ever get to touch a nuclear weapon? About 2300 hours, the Nuclear Weapons team relieved me, as they were returning the bomb to the ship's armory. Or, were they?
On any giving day aboard the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt, there are a number of Drills. Practise for any potential situation the ship may encounter. "Man Over Board", General Quarters9 Battle Stations",to NBC Warfare. NBC meaning Nuclear, Biological, Chemical warfare. Each carrier, on station, has a cache of nuclear weapons. The crews assigned to these weapons need practise just like everyone else aboard ship. We were told to ignore the ordinance , and the nuclear tech monitors. That's like saying "don't think of pink elephants", because that's all you are going think about. At times when the nuclear weapon was placed on the plane, it was under armed guard. Except when the ship was in Spain. It was the year after a B-52 collided with an aerial tanker and dropped Nuclear weapons into the sea off Spain. So after "Flight Quarters" secured for the day, Marines, in snappy uniforms, and side arms,would watch over the weapon.
One day when I had the duty, I was asked to report to the Officer of the Deck, the OOD. He informed me that I had the 2000 to 2400 watch, on the nuclear weapon, on the hangar deck. For some reason unbeknownst to me, all Marines were busy. What? How? So I get outfitted, not in a snappy Marine uniform,and side arm, but navy undress whites, with a white helmet, white duty belt, billy club, and a plastic clipboard with directions on how to challenge an intruder. Intruder? On ship? And the best part was, the OOD said I couldn't look at the weapon. Yeah, Right. I saluted the OOD and took charge of the weapon. and I looked at the weapon. Slung under the A4 Sky Hawk amid ship, it hung. It looked somewhat like a drop tank only smaller. It was covered in canvas to hide from prowling eyes.
Watches in the Navy were pretty much alike. The first two hours go by rapidly , as does the last hour. But that third to fourth hour seemed like an eternity. It was quiet in Hangar Bay Three. Lights were dimmed, and"No bright lights shining outboard", or red lights were the plan of the evening. So feeling brave, I stepped inside the roped off area, with the plane and nuclear weapon aboard, and I touched it. How often does anyone ever get to touch a nuclear weapon? About 2300 hours, the Nuclear Weapons team relieved me, as they were returning the bomb to the ship's armory. Or, were they?
Labels: Nuclear Weapons Watch
posted by philtait at 11:11 AM
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