Anybody see CARRIER last night on PBS?

[BOSSHOG]

Incredible camera work, a nice look at human interaction onboard one big freaking "boat!" Its a ten part series, if I figured it out right, two parts were shown last night.

[A HERETIC I AM]

1. I put a thread up on it yesterday. The responses were....interesting.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3214847&mesg_id=3214847

[BOSSHOG]

6. INTERESTING Indeed

I watched for the true mechanical marvel that the ship is and the human interaction in such relatively tight quarters. Maintaining a floating city, feeding thousands daily, keeping law and order. Truly amazing. I'll stifle my pride of service so as not to offend anyone wanting to exercise their constitutional liberties.

[reformedrethug]

16. I freaking loved it

Brought back some memories for me, I was never on a carrier but I WAS a jet mech and even on a land flight line when you have alot of flights going out and coming in you better be aware of your surroundings or you WILL get hurt.

The part I loved was when the XO of the ship went OFF because of the man overboard issue, that is a very serious issue onboard a carrier and if somebody just threw that chemlight into the water they will wish they never joined the Navy. I also liked the focus on the CMC, basically a SgtMaj to me (Marine Corps) and I dont care what uniform you wear, they are interchangeable in their mannerisims, devotion to duty, carring about the troops, and attitudes.

I cannot wait until the next 2 hours are shown tonight and I more than likely will purchase the DVD so I can watch it again later with my kids.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Hahaha

Lots of jerky knees in that thread! :)

[alfredo]

2. Loved it and made me glad I went Army instead of Navy. I don't

like close quarters.

[lpbk2713]

4. I enlisted in the Navy.

I have a fondness for warm food and sleeping in a real bed.


:thumbsup: :hi: :thumbsup:

[alfredo]

17. I had warm food and my real bed didn't rock except during earthquakes.

[DemoTex]

36. I had the best of both worlds: Army pilot flying Navy aircraft and living with the Navy.

US Army (ASA) 1st Aviation Company (Radio Research), Naval Air Facility (NAF) Cam Ranh Bay, Viet Nam. We flew seven Navy Lockheed SP-2Es on "radio research" missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos .. at night.

But no carriers!

[Skarbrowe]

3. Yeah, I thought it was very interesting. I hope to catch the whole series.

I've known a few Navy men and most of them seem to love it. Much better than the Army! I was a female in the Army years and years ago and the best thing I can remember about it was the close friendships you build with all types of people. Watching this series made me wish I was young again. I'm not a war monger and I know that's what all branches of the Military are for, but watching those guys on that floating city ( and the few woman, sure hope they are mentally tough) brought back a very nostalgic feeling. Then again, it made me remember some real a-holes too. :) Actually, I've heard some real horror stories, so I'll just remember it with rose-colored glasses.

[RB TexLa]

5. Crap, I meant to find that. They were advertising it somewhere but didn't list a date or time

[BOSSHOG]

8. If my senile mind

is hitting today, the series will be on every night this week at 8:00 central time. Check with www.pbs.org.

[Love Bug]

9. I toured the Nimitz once years ago...

...when I was stationed in Norfolk in the mid 70s, my roommate was dating a guy who was stationed on the Nimitz. One saturday he offered to show us around so we were able to tour and see the public areas (we weren't allowed in crew quarters). That is one big damn boat! Of course we got a lot of attention because women didn't serve on ships at that time. I see the Nimitz is in the Pacific nowadays.

[reformedrethug]

21. When I was in the Phillipines

back in the late 80's the Midway was in port and I thought that was a big ship, that was until the Nimitz pulled into port, My god that thing is HUGE!!!!! Made the Midway look like a model ship.

[Love Bug]

24. No kidding -- I couldn't believe how big it was.

When I toured it guys were playing baseball on the hangar deck. I was told that the sailors can't abandon ship on that one because it's so high they are likely to die from hitting the water. I believe it.

[Obamanaut]

27. This really happened. Some of the flight deck people have

radios so they can talk about aircraft movement, status, maintenance needs etc. One of my coworkers (with a radio) went over the side. The fall was long enough that he had time to call, on his radio, "Man overboard, starboard side". This was on the USS Eisenhower.

edited to add - he became my hero because of his presence of mind.

[CK_John]

10. I spent 2 yrs on a carrier in the late 50's, the 1st all chopper with marine

hanger and flight deck crews. Other than the size and electronics and women crew it seemed to capture the feel of being there once again. I'll never forget the ocean at night.

[rusty_parts2001]

11. It confirmed a lot of stereotypes...

The officer corps (aviators, the captain, lower eschelon commanders) were elitist and very gung-ho. Enlisted ranks (especially women) appear troubled. One had a drinking problem, another was a slacker in her duties. There was the young sailor trying to accept responsibilities of fatherhood without much maturity or enthusiasm. It is probably a glimpse into the face of the military, but there are quite a few young people in the service who may not have had much of a future in other sectors.

[BOSSHOG]

12. One wasn't necessarily a stereotype

CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS are the glue that holds the Navy together. It also depicted women in leadership roles. There are eight other parts to come so more of their story should be told. I think if anyone in the universe has a "right" to have any sense of elitism it is the Commanding Officer of an Aircraft Carrier. His job is head and shoulders over anything a CEO with a golden parachute has to contend with.

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. Not to mention there are only 12 such positions in the United States....

and maybe another 5 or 6 in the world - England and France being the only other countries with Aircraft Carriers, if I am not mistaken.

[BOSSHOG]

15. Carrier Skippers

are indeed members of a very small fraternity.

[Jackeen]

35. Other Carrier countries.

Russia, France and Brazil are the only three countries other than the US with carriers capable of conventional fixed-wing ops. India will be the fifth country, when INS Vikramaditya enters service, and China's working hard at it. UK, Italy, Spain, Thailand, and India all have "Harrier Carriers" currently in service, not true strike carriers, but effective none-the-less.

[reformedrethug]

19. Your post

brought up another thing on this show, that PO 3rd Class that got promoted, she came from a very shitty background that most would not have made it out of and here she has made something of herself.

Getting promoted to PO is a big thing, that is the same as Cpl in the Marine Corps IOW a NCO (NonCommisioned Officer) and that brings alot of responsibility and a whole new way of living. People expect alot more out of a PO than out of a non-rate so now she has to live up to it.

Petty Officers and NCO's ARE the glue that holds the Navy and Marine Corps together, if you ask any good officer or CO they will say there is no way they could do their jobs without those NCO's.

[Obamanaut]

31. When I was in high school, there was little chance of college in

future because we were poor. I took courses that were of no use whatsoever in a college track, and went to basic training four days after graduating.

I ended up retiring 28 years later. During those years I did go to college, and even went some more after I retired.

I learned that MOST people in the military are not war mongers, do not really want to shoot anyone, but are there as a way to feed their families.

[Obamanaut]

30. Yes we are the glue, BOSSHOG. nt

[reformedrethug]

20. No stereotypes

just microsoim of life in general. The higher up you are in a company you generally ARE more gung ho towards the company, the lower you are in the ranks the more you bitch. I did not see a single "elitist" on that show, what I saw was officers proud of their achievements (as they damn well should be btw) and I also seen several officers that do care about their troops. As far as the pilots, I think it is something in their genes that makes them the way they are, its an attitude and unless you have been around Naval/Marine Corps avaiators there is no real way to explain it. Of course you have some assholes but if you ask anybody that was in either branch about the asshole pilots you will get the same general answer...they did not fly nearly as much as the pilots that recognized that it is the ground crews that keep them in the air and keep them safe. The asshole pilots will get their monthly flight hours in but trust me they wont get much more.

I knew 2 asshole pilots in my time in the Marine Corps but I knew MANY more decent/good pilots and many of us would bend over backwards to get a bird up for the good ones, for the jerks, well lets just say that we would do our job but not go "above and beyond" to get their bird up. BUT, we NEVER let a bird go up that was not safe, we just sometimes "made" a bird go down by pulling a fuse or whatever it took, a bottle of hydraulic fluid was your friend LOL

[Obamanaut]

32. You made me smile. My last assignment was maintenance

chief in an A7 squadron. It did not take the asshole pilots long to modify their attitudes if they wanted something to fly.

[Obamanaut]

28. A carrier, with its several thousand personnel, is in fact a small

city. In any small city you will find drinking problems, elitists, troubled people.

The aviators have a right to be a little arrogant, I think. They get to land at night with little or no illumination on a small landing strip that is moving away from them at an angle at 20 to 30 miles per hour.

[orangerevolution]

13. I am recording the whole series

Last night was great! Look forward to the rest of it.

[Robb]

18. What struck me, as is more and more the case when I see these things,

...is how young most of the people serving are.

Dang. Am I just getting older?

[reformedrethug]

22. yea we are just getting older

they are not getting any younger, I was 17 when I went to boot and that was well over 20 years ago LOL

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. I saw it: 4 more 2 hour showings; Monday thru Thursday

[rocktivity]

25. Episodes 1 - 4 are available online

Here: http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/full_episodes.htm

You're welcome.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Billy Burnett]

26. Mel Gibson. Excec producer.

Scroll down to see.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_carrier_2008-04-30

[lonestarnot]

29. Ack! Won't be watching that pug zipper freak egotistical bunch of crap.

[earth mom]

33. We've been watching it here and find it fascinating.

There are many here on DU that reject the show as propaganda, but the people on board are allowed to say whatever they want and some of the people actually don't support the war and said so, which gave the show more credibility, IMHO.

In some ways it's a good advertisement for the Navy and in other ways it makes joining the Navy look totally unappealing.

One thing I found very disturbing is that some of the crew were itching to drop bombs. :(

[alarimer]

34. I was struck by that as well.

Except for some of the pilots and officers who appear to have really drunk the koolaid, they seem to be surprisingly free to express themselves. I really can't stand that little piece of shit with the video camera, though. And that stupid Okie racist redneck who managed to get himself kicked out (which is what he wanted). He's a loser who will probably end up having 5 kids with three different mothers, all while complaining about how black people can't take care of their kids. I feel sorry for a lot of them; the officers and pilots for the most part I cannot stand. Yeah, they get to push a button and kill a shitload of people (the pilots, that is). Geez, that's just so much fun, isn't it?

I was pretty impressed with that one young woman (again I can't remember her name) who made petty officer.

And I was moved by the one guy who all but admitted he was gay. He said that he couldn't be who he really was and left it at that. But even that took a lot of guts to say on camera, not knowing who may be watching.

I am glad they are making this about the people and personalities and not about the rah-rah bullshit (which what I thought it would be).