USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
The Shuttle Newsletter Edition
“We are Legend”
April 7, 2012 Issue
Purple Shirts: Below the Flight Deck Story and photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Gregory White
USS ENTERPRISE, At sea - The color purple stands out against the white, haze gray, blue, white, brass, copper, and steel that fill much of the interior of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65). Purple is used to identify all things fuel, from the pumps and pipes, to the personnel of Air department’s fuels division, or V-4, which is split up into two categories: Flight deck personnel and below-deck personnel. While many are familiar with the role of V-4’s flight deck personnel, not quite as many are aware of what goes on below the flight deck. The primary goal of these below-deck Sailors is to deliver clean and quality fuel to aircraft and other service equipment aboard Enterprise. “In below decks, we’re in charge of cleaning up any dirty fuel and getting it ready for the guys topside,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Larry E. Dye, a JP-5 pump room supervisor aboard Enterprise. “We have to make sure there is no water or sediment in the fuel that we give the aircraft.” Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuel) Airman Nicholas A. Smith checks a fuel sample Dye said it is important to deliver clean fuel for water and sediment aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65). because sediment can clog an aircraft’s engine and water can freeze at high altitudes, also causing damage to an elements fail, there is a small manhole cover on the filter tank aircraft. that can be removed in order to render repairs. “Whenever we take on fuel from a supply ship, that fuel “A very small person would have to climb into the tank and goes down to our JP-5 storage tanks,” said Chief Aviation remove the elements for repair,” said Smith. Boatswain’s Mate (Fuel) Troy A. Nichols. Personnel in the filter rooms are required to manually check There are 192 fuel tanks aboard “Big E.” Sixteen of those samples of the fuel every fifteen minutes to ensure no foreign tanks are service tanks. The rest are storage tanks. debris has gotten into it. They take visuals and log them. Fuel is moved from storage tanks to the JP-5 pump rooms Each filter pumps over 2,000 gallons of fuel per minute. where it is stripped of water and sediment and run through a They are the last point fuel passes through before being pushed JP-5 purifier. up to the flight deck to fuel aircraft. Bad fuel containing “The purifier spins really fast,” said Dye. “It uses centripetal sediment and water that is caught by the filter goes to the sump force to separate sediment and water from the fuel by spreading tank. From there it is moved into a contamination tank. All fuel it to the outside walls.” is reclaimed and everything else is properly disposed of. After purification, fuel is pushed from the pump room to With responsibilities in 192 tanks, two pump rooms, 10 one of four JP-5 filters. The filters use elements to filter out any reactor spaces, and seven shaft alleys, among others, V-4’s really small particles that may have been passed through the below decks personnel get around the ship and have to be purifier. familiar with the location of all of their equipment, pipes, and “The filter gets rid of any water or sediment that may still be valves. They use a Human Machine Interface (HMI), a diagram in the fuel when it gets here (to the filter room),” said Aviation of the entire fuels system, to locate what tanks are full and Boatswain’s Mate Airman Nicholas A. Smith, a filter room which are empty, as well as which ones to turn off and on. operator. “If anything gets past here, the filter is not doing its “Enterprise is the last aircraft carrier to contain a job.” conventional style fuel system,” said Nichols. “That means that Smith said that the filter uses two types of elements called a every valve we have on our tanks, our manifolds, in our pump “coalescer element” and a “separatory element.” If any of the FUEL continued on page 3
The Shuttle
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Saturday, April 7, 2012
Big E Happenings Enterprise Transits BAM
APRIL is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Visit www.sapr.navy.mil for more information.
Bab el-Mandeb
ESWS Question of the Day: What is MAMs? Yesterday’s ESWS answer: RIP stands for Remain in Place.
Today, Enterprise will transit the second of three crucial choke points in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility. Bab el-Mandeb, located between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, provides access to billions of dollars of goods traveling to and from the Mediterranean and to and from the Indian Ocean.
Free Mail in 5th Fleet! Sailors and Marines currently assigned to ENTERPRISE may send, but not receive, personal correspondence without postage via the ship’s Post Office while operating in the 5th Fleet AOR. Free Mail is limited to all letter-class mail 13 oz. or less, to include sound or video recordings that are of personal correspondence sent to any place within the United States, or any Military Postal Office (APO/FPO). The word “FREE” must be handwritten in the upper right hand corner. The complete military return address should be placed in the upper left hand corner with the sender’s name and rank.
3M 3M Question of the Day: What items must be verified on an Equipment Guide List (EGL)? Yesterday’s 3M answer: When procedures on an MRC must be changed, submit a feedback report.
The Shuttle USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
The Shuttle is published and printed daily underway and bi-weekly in port by the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) Media Department, FPO AE 09543-2810. This newspaper is an authorized publication for members of the Department of Defense. Please direct all story ideas, questions and comments to MC1 (SW) Steve Smith at smithsw@cvn65. navy.mil. Commanding Officer Capt. William C. Hamilton, Jr.
Executive Officer Capt. G. C. Huffman
Command Master Chief Public Affairs Officer ABCM (AW/SW) Eric M. Young Lt. Cmdr. Sarah T. Self-Kyler Editors MC2 (SW) Kristin L. Grover MCSN Harry Gordon
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Navy News Navy’s Newest Squadron Prepares For New F-35 Fighters By Ens. Elizabeth Allen, NAVAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING COMMAND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
EGLIN AFB, Fla. -- Navy personnel are busy preparing to teach the next generation of Sailors how to work with and fly the newest military aircraft, the F-35C Lightening II Joint Strike Fighter, as Strike Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA-101) readies for its standup ceremony on Eglin Air Force Base May 1. The F-35 is a single seat, multi-role fighter aircraft with the capability to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions. The aircraft is in full production at the Lockheed Martin plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The F-35 is designed to eventually replace the F/A-18 Hornet and AV-8B Harrier tactical fighter aircraft and was planned with a common design, but three unique service variants, to keep development, production, and operating costs down. “This is brand new aircraft platform from tooth to tail,” said Cmdr. Scott Kartvedt, commanding officer of VFA-101. “We’re not parlaying off any Navy stealth legacy programs or support systems. This will be the first new stealth and carrier-based tactical fighter aircraft since the introduction of the F/A-18 29 years ago.”
The original Fighter Squadron 101 (VF-101), nicknamed the “Grim Reapers,” was established May 1, 1952 and flew various models of fighter aircraft including the F-4 Phantom and F-14 Tomcat. With the retirement of the F-14, VF-101 was disestablished in 2005. To support the new Navy version of the F-35, VFA-101 will be reestablished May 1 at a new hangar and training facility on Eglin AFB and will serve as the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), training pilots and maintainers for the fleet. The first Sailors to help stand up VFA-101 will receive ‘Plank Owner’ certificates for their assistance with the new aircraft, new training facilities and redesignated squadron. As per Navy tradition, plank owners are individuals who were members of the crew of a ship when that ship was placed in commission. “I’m learning a lot and really enjoy working with other services,” said Senior Chief Logistics Specialist (AW/SW) Mirtha Martinez, Material Control Department leading chief petty officer for the squadron. “I’d love to come back in five years and see the squadron fully functioning.”
FUEL continued rooms, and in our filter rooms are manually operated by the fuels personnel working aboard our ship.” Nichols said that the HMI aboard a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is touch-screen technology that allows a Sailor to press icons on the screen to operate all valves. “They have what’s called electric pump operators,” said Nichols. “Our guys actually have to go to location and physically turn our valves.” Sailors working in Air department’s fuels division rely on each other to be skilled, knowledgeable and where they are supposed to be at all times. They have to know how to read an Aviation Fuel Operating Sequencing System (AFOSS) in order to perform properly. “We drop tanks, fill up tanks, turn valves, move fuel from one place to another, and keep logs so communicating and paying attention is vital,” said Dye.
Marine Col. Arthur Tomassetti, vice commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing, said establishing a squadron to train and work with the F-35 aircraft has not been easy, but the leadership has taken charge and is working towards building the best facilities possible to work with this new aircraft. “The concept was simple; establish an initial training center for pilots and maintainers for the F-35 weapon system,” said Tomassetti. “Bringing that concept to reality has been and will continue to be complicated and challenging. So the first step is you start with the best people you can find, put them together, and say ‘go.’ Over the past two-and-one-half years, those carefully selected people have put together a strategy, developed plans, adapted to the dynamic and ever changing environment and schedule, and continued to track towards the goal of establishing a training center for F-35 pilots and maintainers.” The mechanics of the Navy F-35 will initially be taught by Lockheed Martin personnel to Navy instructors, who will then begin teaching students after completing instructor certification.
“We have a big job down here. It’s more than just fueling aircraft.” Fuels personnel use sound-powered phones to communicate with each other as they set themselves up strategically throughout the ship. Thinking three moves ahead, like a game of chess, they get to where they need to be and await orders to open and close valves. “If a fuel tank runs out, we don’t stop,” said Nichols. “We open a new tank and close the empty tank simultaneously so that we never lose fuel to the flight deck. We’ve got to keep operations going at all times.” With its conventional style systems, Nichols said, Enterprise breeds a different type of Sailor. “Once you’ve been on Enterprise you can operate on any ship in the fleet,” said Nichols.
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Saturday, April 7, 2012
Sailor of the Day Electronics Technician 2nd Class Michael J. Smith
ET2 Michael Smith, from Brewster, N.Y., joined the Navy four years and four months ago to travel and follow a family tradition. Smith enjoys baseball, football, video games and going to the gym in his spare time. In the future, he plans to advance in rank, start a family and buy a house.
Aviation Maintenance Administrationman Airman Lebaron M. Walls
AZAN Lebaron Walls from from Detroit, joined the Navy one year and three months ago to strengthen and add to his personal and professional skills. In his spare time, Walls enjoys running, reading and working on qualifications. He plans to apply for the STA-21 program and build a path for his siblings to follow.
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