I was watching Carrier last night and remembering back to August 2001: The Nimitz was the first ship my son, Petty Officer Second Class Frank Arndt, was assigned to. At that time, the Nimitz was in the Newport News shipyard going through her midlife overhaul.

Father and son on Friends and Family Day aboard the USS Nimitz.

By 2001, the Nimitz had been doing sea trials, and on August 11 she hosted a Friends and Family Day, which is when the sailors can invite a few people to come aboard the ship. Less than a week after we were on the Nimitz, my husband had an accident that put him in the hospital for five months, and within a year he was dead — so that day has special meaning for us. It was the last time the three of us really did something together.

We had to be at the dock so early in the morning it was still dark, and I remember standing there in awe at the size of this ship. There were thousands of family members filling the hanger deck. We went about 30 miles out into the Atlantic, and in the afternoon a couple of planes came out and did a little air show for us.

Those of us who wanted to see the planes went up to the flight deck and lined up along one side by the bridge while the planes landed and took off from the other side. Even with the little yellow ear plugs they gave us the noise was still unbelievable. To show us what would happen if the hook on the back of the plane didn’t catch the cable, one of the jets came in, just skimmed the deck then took back off again. It was one of the most awesome experiences of my life. My son took us on a tour of the ship. Many of the places I saw on the show last night looked familiar. My son tells me he’s going to buy the “Carrier” DVD set.

Petty Officer Frank Arndt is sworn in at Bethesda Naval Hospital, Md., for his third tour.

My son is now one of the crew of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), the last of the Nimitz class carriers being built. I’m now making plans to be one of his guests at the commissioning ceremony next January when the Newport News shipbuilders officially turn the ‘Bush’ over to the Navy. I can’t wait!

Florence Arndt
CSC Financial Analyst
Shaker Heights, Ohio

This is an awful show. I spent 27 years in the Navy (2+ in the crew of a carrier) so I know the dark side of Navy life — and of life in general.  But there’s no balance in this show. 5000+ stories, 10 hours of air time and the racist gets a half hour (episode 4)?! Even the cross-section of the crew in episode 1 was predominantly negative (knocked up girlfriends, drunks, unhappy first-tour sailors, etc.).

I’m not advocating sugar-coating real life, but this show is as real as a soap opera. The producers and editors are sending the message they want to send and it’s a negative message.  ‘Carrier’ will be a great recruiting tool - for the Air Force.

Brendan J. O’Donnell
Captain, USN (Retired)
CSC JDIS Project Manager
Pentagon OSD (PA&E)

For those of you eager to watch Carrier, an unprecedented documentary by PBS in which camera crews were given amazing levels of access to the lives of crewmembers deployed aboard the USS Nimitz, you won’t have to wait long—the premier is April 27. The documentary will air in ten parts over five days. Of course, PBS will continue to air the episodes for a long time after that, so don’t worry if you miss an episode. If you have a Tivo, a marathon screening may be in order—provided you can hold back long enough to record them all first.

For air times in your area, check out PBS’s “When to Watch” page. If you can’t catch the shows when they air, or don’t have a TV, you can watch full episodes online starting April 28.

If you want to catch the episodes in order, here they are.

Episode 1: “All Hands”
Looks like this episode will focus on getting underway and the basics of life on a carrier.

Episode 2: “Controlled Chaos”
This one is about the bonds of camaraderie and trust that develop among sailors who work in a dangerous environment.

Episode 3: “Super Secrets”
From the ship’s mission to the nuclear reactor to dating onboard, there are a lot of secrets on an aircraft carrier.

Episode 4: “Squared Away”
This episode appears to be about mentoring, camaraderie and discipline: the key ingredients to keeping things “shipshape” and accomplishing the mission.

Episode 5: “Show of Force”
The Nimitz arrives in the Gulf and things get hot: 120 degrees on the flight deck, six-hour missions over Iraq, searching for terrorists on small boats, boarding cargo ships looking for weapons. The fun stuff.

Episode 6: “Groundhog Day”
Tedium of the deployment routine is broken by a port call in Bahrain and an urgent search for a sailor lost overboard.

Episode 7: “Rites of Passage”
On the way home, there’s a line crossing ceremony and a violent storm, making deck landings “interesting.”

Episode 8: “True Believers”
Faith onboard comes in many forms, all of which impact the ship’s mission in some way.

Episode 9: “Get Home-itis”
What it’s like these days to prepare for life back home after a six-month absence, including a “Tiger Cruise” ritual. 

Episode 10: “Full Circle”
Homecoming and the different kinds of experiences had by sailors

For more in-depth descriptions of the episodes, go to PBS’s episode description guide.

This article appeared on csc.com in mid-April.

Premiering April 27 on PBS, Carrier will take an unprecedented look at life onboard the USS Nimitz supercarrier, home to more than 5,000 sailors. With a rich history of supporting the U.S. Navy — and having benefited greatly from its many Navy veterans — CSC is proud to be the corporate underwriter for this 10-part documentary series.

CSC employees who have served in the Navy — some onboard the Nimitz — look forward to the show, while they look back on fond memories that have shaped their lives and careers.

CSC’s JJ Elko onboard the USS Nimitz in 1985 (photo courtesy of Elko).

Some joined the Navy to answer a calling to serve their country, some because of their families, and some simply to pay for college. They served during wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the Iran hostage crisis and the Achille Lauro hijacking. During these dangerous times, they gained and lost friends and shipmates, and experienced the highs and lows of life on an aircraft carrier.

Memories of carrier life

“I was on the Nimitz from 1982 to 1986. It was my first ship,” recalls CSC’s Charles Maiden, a principal engineer and quality assurance tester. “I remember my first day getting there from Naples, Italy. We flew out to the ship on the old C-1. The pilots were talking low, and said they couldn’t find the ship. Couldn’t find the ship! I was thinking it was really big and gray, and you couldn’t miss it. Finally, they did locate it with binoculars, and we made a landing on the flight deck via the wire trap. Now, there is a first day.”

Maiden spent 21 years in the Navy, and today still supports the Navy through his work for CSC’s North American Public Sector division.

JJ Elko, a security specialist and certifier for CSC’s Global Security Solutions, deployed twice on the Nimitz with the Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron II (VQ-2). With 7,000 hours in the air (and two rods and eight screws in his back to show for it), Elko says that taking off and landing on a carrier was unlike any other experience.

“It was probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life. It’s better than any roller coaster because you’re going from 0 to 155 mph in two seconds. It’s incredible,” he says.

Elko spent most of his 21 years in the Navy in the Middle East, and supported naval operations around both the TWA 847 and the Achille Lauro hijackings. His second Nimitz deployment was a sad one, after the deaths of seven crewmembers.

“I flew with all of these individuals in the past, and it was very difficult and frightening waiting for my first catapult launch, especially after having viewed the flight deck video of the crash,” he says. “I’m not ashamed to admit that I was shaking in my flight boots on that first launch. Thank God VQ-2 brought their best pilot aboard to take us off and return safely to the Nimitz.”

Navy often a lifetime calling

David Crocker, a 30-year Navy veteran, deployed 14 times on nine different aircraft carriers — as an aviator, as an executive officer on the USS George Washington and as a commanding officer on the USS Carl Vinson. Crocker originally joined the Navy to pay for college, committing to the minimum four-year-and-one-hour service.

“It wasn’t until I got embedded into the squadron life that comes with naval aviation that I began to feel this kinship and this loyalty to other people. And I began to understand that serving something other than yourself was pretty important, and pretty cool. At the four-year-and-two-hour mark, I wasn’t even thinking about leaving.”

Today Crocker still supports the Navy, as a CSC business developer for Navy and Joint Programs.

“Every day I’m touching people who worked with me or for me in the Navy programs,” he says. “I understand the mission completely, and my goal is to do whatever I can to get the things they need to do their missions safely and more effectively.”

CSC benefits from veterans’ skills

Richard Kelley, senior spectrum management lead, today supports weather satellites operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The expertise he employs in his career at CSC was garnered over a long and diverse naval career.

Joining the Navy because he liked the water, Kelley spent 20 years in a variety of positions around the world. He served on the carrier USS Constellation off the coast of Vietnam, capturing and analyzing high-resolution satellite data for U.S. battle forces. He was part of the commissioning crew for the USS Belleau Wood, responsible for weather support. He also ran a weather office at the very end of the Hawaiian Chain, on Midway Island.

“I ran an oceanographic data collection program aboard an ocean survey vessel, capturing 96,000 miles of data in a 10-month period, while the ship towed a magnetic detector behind it. This was a favorite of sharks, as witnessed by the teeth collected in the sensor after it was hauled aboard following a 30-day deployment,” Kelley recalls.

Before joining CSC in 1991, Kelly was a professor at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, teaching courses in ocean/atmosphere dynamics and synoptic meteorology.

Navy teaches “people skills"

In addition to the occupational skills and technical expertise of Navy vets, CSC has benefited from the less tangible “people skills” gained from years of military service.

“In the Navy, especially as an enlisted person, you’re doing a lot of evaluations, you know how to handle people, how to manage projects and you take care of your people as a manager,” says Elko. “In the military, you’re focused on a job, and it’s inbred into you from boot camp: Pay attention to detail, get the job done the most efficient way you can and watch out for your shipmates. I learned that more than anything in the Navy.”

Crocker says he looks forward to watching Carrier, which he thinks will present the authentic carrier experience that he himself lived.

“I gained tremendous insight into the power of leadership at all levels in the successful operation of this 92,000-ton ship,” he says. “Leadership enabled young 19-year-old men and women to perform at an exceptional level. Collectively, they operated two nuclear reactor plants, launched and recovered up to 150 aircraft per day, prepared and served over 20,000 meals a day, and safely handled over three million gallons of jet fuel on a near-daily basis.”

Carrier premieres Sunday, April 27 - Thursday, May 1, 9:00-11:00 p.m. Eastern Time on PBS, with a preview available now.