I don’t have any military experience to share, but I do have a personal experience to share that involves one of the Nimitz’ most crucial missions.

In 1980, I had twin brothers-in-law assigned to CVN-68, the USS Nimitz, at the same time. This was very uncommon following the deaths of the Sullivan brothers in one attack during World War II. The elder twin, Joseph Mooney, was attached to VF84, the Jolly Rogers F14 squadron, and his brother James was assigned to Nimitz’s Ship’s company as a BT (Boiler Technician).

During the Nimitz’s late 1979 Mediterranean Cruise, several American Embassy workers were taken captive in Iran and held hostage for several months. This would later be known as the Iranian Hostage Crisis. The Nimitz was dispatched from Naples, Italy, near New Year’s Eve of 1980, to sail around Africa and into the Persian Gulf to establish the base of operations for a hostage rescue attempt. During that time, its crew grew to over 6,000, and it complement of aircraft grew significantly. Its location in the Persian Gulf, known as Gonzo Station, positioned the ship beyond the sight of any land until its return to Norfolk Naval Station on Memorial Day, 1980.

During this cruise, many records were set for the duration of a cruise that had been established during World War II. This cruise was also Nimitz’s first venture south of the Equator. Any Navy veteran can tell you what happens to ‘Pollywogs’ when crossing the Equator.

As we know now, circumstances led to the failure of that rescue attempt, but it did not tarnish the pride of the crew. Upon their return to port in Norfolk, a special ship’s greeting was arranged for family members to welcome their crew members home. President Jimmy Carter flew out to the ship to address the crew before entering the harbor, and then flew into Norfolk to welcome the families. In all, it was estimated that about 20,000 family members were on Pier 12 that day for the welcome. The Navy treated us like dignitaries during our entire visit.

I am proud to have been one of the family members to witness that event. I won’t share too many memories, but 28 years later, I still think back to that day. The crew lined the perimeter of the deck in their white ‘Cracker Jacks’ as the ship was positioned at the pier. One of the people standing near us on the pier had a small baby that had never seen its Dad. Another family near us had a first grandchild to show a chief for the first time. After all, the ship had been at sea, and out of sight of land, for almost six continuous months, and I am certain that there were other families with similar stories.

It wasn’t easy locating my Brothers-in-law in that crowd, but we eventually did and enjoyed hearing a lot of stories about the cruise. Later that year, the ship’s cruise book was issued, and on one page that recorded the ship’s return to port, there was a picture of me, with my two-year-old son on my shoulders, straining to locate Uncle Jim and Uncle Joe.

I have now been with CSC for 22 years, and I am really looking forward to seeing ‘Carrier’ in a few weeks.

Warren Hull
CSC Team Lead, MCS Mainframe, eMedNY
Rensselaer, NY

After completion of Aviation Machinist Mate School I was assigned to Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron 15 (HS-15) power plant shop. At that time, HS-15 was something of a fill-in unit. We served aboard the USS Guam, USS Independence, USS America and USS Nimitz. We were attached to the USS Nimitz when it was commissioned in 1975. My duties consisted of night shift flight deck troubleshooter (green shirt), maintenance test flight aircrew and search and rescue swimmer.

There are many fond memories of my time on Nimitz. From scuba diving off Cuba during our hot weather trials at “Gitmo” to being as cold as I have ever been, above the Arctic Circle a week later during cold weather trials. But one of the most memorable events was during recovery after a successful maintenance test flight.

The pilot hit the flight deck so hard with the rear of the helicopter that it sheared off the tail wheel assembly. The Sikorsky SH-3 cannot land without a tail wheel, so we hovered abeam of the ship while the deck crew figured out how to get us back aboard. I watched out of the cargo door as the flight deck crew tied a mattress to a wheeled dolly and lashed the dolly to the flight deck with chains. The pilot did a remarkable job of landing the back end of that aircraft centered on the dolly without visual reference to our position. The moment the helicopter was safely down, the deck crew massed around it to chain it to the flight deck.

It seemed like a long time at the moment, but the entire event, from losing the tail wheel to chaining down the aircraft took all of about 10 minutes. This event was not something that can be trained for. It showed me how ingenuity, resourcefulness and teamwork can overcome a difficult situation.

Among others, my Naval experiences gave me confidence in myself, showed me the value of teamwork and “how to make lemonade when life gives you lemons.”