Carrier pilots are amazing, but let’s not forget the crews

The roar a fighter jet makes when it lands on an aircraft carrier can cause observers to shudder. That’s what I did on Wednesday as I stood about 100 feet from where F-18s were hitting the deck of the USS Carl Vinson as it cruised off San Diego on a training mission.

It was the second most interesting thing that happened.

I was awestruck a few hours earlier when sailors began to file onto the ship’s f light deck, which is longer than three football fields. In short order, nearly 200 of them were gathered near the bow.

They then formed lines that stretched from one side of the ship to the other and began walking, mostly with their heads down. They were looking for small debris that could get sucked into the engine of a jet or a helicopter, causing damage or starting run-away fires.

This ritual is called a foreign object damage — or F.O.D. — walk. I had seen it done on small vessels, mostly recently the littoral combat ship Jackson, where 17 sailors lined up shoulder-to-shoulder to look for debris that could damage helicopters.

But what I saw on the Carl Vinson was an F.O.D. of grand proportion. A disciplined mass of people slowly walked the length of the deck searching for anything that could lead to a crew member being hurt or killed.

I watched from Vulture’s Row, a balcony on the control island. Standing next to me were eight other journalists. For a moment or two, our chatter faded. The only thing you could hear was the sound of cameras clicking.

It’s also worth noting who was on the bridge while this was happening. In particular, I’m thinking of the Officer of the Deck, the person who directly carries out the captain’s orders, notably on matters of navigation and safety. I didn’t catch his name. But I got his age: 24.

That, in its own way, also inspires awe.

NELVIN C. CEPEDA U-T Off the coast of California, flight deck crew members walk the length of the Vinson’s flight deck Wednesday searching for foreign object debris.