Did you ever dream about what it would be like to land on an aircraft carrier?  Go ahead and close your eyes and visualize that you are in deep concentration not only approaching a very small but growing target that is moving at 30 knots, but also, one that pitches up and down while it rolls left and right.  You dream on and you catch the arresting wire and instantly decelerate from 105 mph to 0 mph in two seconds and stop within 400 feet.  I had that dream!  Did you ever dream about what it would be like to take off from an aircraft carrier?  You know, you're in front of the jet blast barrier that has just been raised, your engines are screaming at full throttle, the seat belts are pulled firm across your waist and over your shoulders, the horizon moves up and down and left and right if it's daytime and, if at night, there is no horizon, then the brakes are released and the catapult shuttle hurls you and your airplane from 0 mph to 125 mph in less than one and a half seconds from the moving carrier deck into the sky.  I had this dream too!  Okay, now what would you say if I said to you it does not have to be a dream, because it doesn't!

            "Do I have to join the United States Navy?", you say.  The answer is "no", although it would be great to do so.  "Tell me more!", you say.  Okay, that's exactly what I'll do here while at the same time I'll tell you about my real life "trap" and "cat shot."

            First, a little about me.  I love aviation!  I have been flying for fun for about ten years now and have approximately 2000 hours.  I work mostly to support my airplane addiction.  Second, the United States Navy has the greatest group of aviation professionals I have ever met.  It also has two of the greatest public relations programs going.  One is called the "Tiger Program" where relatives of crew members can live aboard ship for a few days while underway.  This program allows family members to learn about their relative's job and ship and to help them support their loved ones and the Navy through a better understanding of ship life.  THIS IS A FANTASTIC PROGRAM, BUT NOT THE ONE YOU WANT.

            The other program, the one you need to know about, is the "DISTINGUISHED VISTOR PROGRAM." (DVP)  To begin with, don't be mislead by the word "distinguished" and feel you can stop reading now because you don't look at yourself as "distinguished."  What the Navy really means in its use of the word is "responsible, caring and interested citizen."  If you fit into this latter definition then you probably qualify for Navy consideration to receive an invitation to be an overnight guest aboard one of its carriers while at sea.

            I figure that since the Navy took me notwithstanding my job as a lawyer, then you readers who have honest jobs are likely to be shoe-ins.  Here again, I want to stress it's not who others think you are or whom you know.  Rather, the Navy's DVP mission is to attract people who are interested in their government, that are willing to learn about what it does, and to share that information and experience with their family, friends, co-workers and neighbors.  Having completed my two-day cruise on the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, I am accepting our Navy's charge and most happily and energetically share my story with you here.

            About eight months prior to my cruise, knowing my aviation fanaticism, a friend of mine suggested I contact the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) Public Affairs Office (PAO) to learn about the "Civilian Orientation Cruise" (COC) through the Distinguished Visitor Program.  I made a telephone call to the PAO and an application was mailed to me that very day (361-961-3666).  Upon its receipt, I simply filled out the form, mailed it back, and then I waited.

            Seven months later, I received a telephone call from PAO asking if I'd be available for orientation in Norfolk, Virginia in two weeks and for a carrier cruise immediately thereafter.  After pinching myself to make sure I was not dreaming I promptly replied "yes."  The PAO advised me that cost of the round trip from my home in Houston to Norfolk and my hotel there were at my expense, but the cost to and from the carrier and the room and board there were on the Navy except for a nominal food expense.  Except for the birth of my daughter, Tiffany, a once in a lifetime opportunity like this needed to be accepted and take priority over my other daily activities. The bottom line here is that there was enough time to rearrange everything else in my life and that everyone else in my life would not only understand, but also, jealously wish me well.  Accordingly, I did and they did.

            Orientation took place at 8:00 p.m. at a hotel lobby on the perimeter of the Norfolk Naval Air Base at Chambers Field.  There I met seven other lucky citizens who soon became my friends.  Our group was: 

1. Steve Rubino from Malvern, Pennsylvania.  Steve is a former Navy pilot who flew F-9 Cougars in the 1970's.  He now works as a Boeing 747 international driver for Atlas Cargo Airline.  Incidentally, he formerly owned Mr. Piper's original J-7 Cub and donated it to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.

2.  Pastor Aaron Glaeske, a non-pilot from Madison, Tennessee.

Chief Sesit gives the DVP Group the second of it's many briefings.

3.  Sharon Lawin, Commissioner for the California Parole Board from LaVerne, California.  Sharon, also a non-pilot, does own half of a Cessna 172 with her husband who is a pilot and teaches at Embry Riddle.

4. Robert Kirsch, a realtor and a non-pilot from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Robert' father-in-law formerly served on carriers.

5. Curtis "Mac" Casey from Hollywood, Florida.  Mac is also a non-pilot who works in civil law enforcement.

6.  Tim Bruner, a non-pilot too, is from Searcy, Arkansas and is the Vice-President of Harding University.  Tim's father served on the USS Yorktown II in WWII.

7.  Michael Petty, a fellow Texan from Grand Prairie and retired police officer who is now a security consultant.  Mike got our groups informal "atta boy award" for putting in the most effort to make the trip.  He won the award because as he was flying his Piper Arrow from Dallas he observed an unsafe gear light and wisely made a precautionary landing in Tennessee to have it checked out.  Unable to get it repaired in time, he then drove nine hours to make our departure.

The Tuesday evening orientation and briefing was short and sweet.  In thirty minutes, Ensign Vanderberg informed us we would depart the next day at 9:00 a.m. on a C-2 Grumman Greyhound for a two hour flight to the Navy's newest Nimitz-Class super carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).  He provided both oral and written information about both the C-2 and the Truman.  You can look up the Truman on the internet at www.navy/mil/homepages/CVN75 and the C-2 at www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/air-c2a.thml . Incidentally, the Navy refers to almost everything by an acronym so get used to it.  The Navy refers to the C-2 as the COD, which means "carrier on board delivery."  Having not been in the service myself, I describe the COD as a daily pony express type service that takes mail, parts and people on and off the carrier.