Leaving from the Warhawks briefing room we were asked to surrender all camera and smart phones into a bag that will be held until the next two briefings were finished. We were led into a darken room with cool blue low level lighting and enough screens to launch a rocket to mars. The first area had to do with defense of the carrier fleet. This was the Combat Direction Center. The radar systems from each ship in the Carrier Strike Group – and the overhead radar of the plane they launch are all linked in to a central radar scan. The goal is to identify all ships, submarines, and aircraft within the general area to determine whether they are “friendly’s” or not and to keep them at a safe distance beyond their own strike capabilities. Even beyond radar, intelligence is use to gauge the current political theme of the world and the location of fleet plays a big part in the defense strategy. Once a target is identified it is noted whether or not it has weapons and if its intentions are likely not good. In any event it will never get within strike range and the people in this room have the authority to protect our ships. Fortunately, we were in a fairly safe place in the world in our location just off Mexico.
I scanned these images from the Distinguished Visitor guide that is non-classified.
Up a stair well and over we entered the next place where cameras were not allowed and it was the Air Traffic Control Center. Here the mission and the assignments were monitored for each aircraft. They were able to answer the questions around the two jets that came in side by side to cover the one with lost communications.
Also a scanned image from the guide book:
As we left the briefing room we learned that the lowest rank in the room made the coffee and popcorn. Both smelled great. It was time to move onto the kitchen for some KP.
As we entered one of the 6 kitchens in the Stennis, we were greeted by the head of food operations. He had a small plate with a warm baked cookie for each of us and we loaded in the room around the food prep table. Feeding 5000 sailors every day is no small feat. The kitchen crew is constantly working to serve 18,600 meals a day! This requires over 2 million pounds of food each day. He reminded us that the majority of the people on board are between 18 and 22 years old and they are not looking for beef wellington. He had some days which are hard fast rules, Taco Tuesday, Pizza Saturday, and Sunday Brunch. We lucked out because it was Sunday! Among the foods offered was a lemon pound cake. Senator Stennis, for whom the ship is named, loved to give out lemon pound cake as a gift – and every Sunday you can expect pound cake at the brunch. The Navy no longer uses deep fryer vats on the ship and they have come up with baked substitutes that work great. Baking keeps the kitchen staff from dealing with oil change outs and clean ups.
All of this walking through the ship looked the same. I never quite knew where I was but I tried to greet every sailor I passed.
From the kitchen, we made our way up to a very special area at the bow of the ship. The Forecastle anchor rooms of the carriers are decorated as special places. The massive anchor chairs are 1000 feet long and each link weighs 150 pounds. The chain delivery system is well laid out. Within the Forecastle Room is the main seal of the ship along with a special ship bell. Two small windows out the front give the anchor operators a look at the dropping of the anchors.
As we were nearing the end out our time onboard the Stennis. We asked our Public Affairs team to pose for a quick photo.
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