Aircraft Carriers-Part 3 of 3

Finally, how is life onboard a carrier? If you worked on a carrier you would be one of over 5000 people to work on the ship. You would work as part of either the “Ship’s Company” or the “Air Wing”. The “Ship’s Company” has around 3000 people working to maintain everything on the ship. If you were in the “ship’s company” you could be a doctor, a laundry worker, an engineer, a nurse, or a cook.

Did you know that the cooks generally make 1,400 loaves of bread each day? Their mixing bowls must be the size of swimming pools. You might be washing dishes, handling weaponry, or even cutting hair. Actually, 250 hair cuts are given every day. Technically, that’s a hair cut every six minutes. It sure makes you wonder, though; what do they do with all that hair?

The “Air Wing” has around 2,000 people who actually fly or handle the aircraft and control what happens on the flight deck. Working on the “air wing” you could be refueling planes, controlling the catapult, or operating one of the elevators. You might be a pilot, a radar man, or a flight coordinator. Imagine being a pilot and getting flung from 0 to 165 mph in two seconds. Every day.

Working on the flight deck is the noisiest and most dangerous job onboard. All personnel wear eye, ear, and head protection along with flotation devices under their colored jerseys.


In fact, the color of your jersey is determined by your designation on deck. There are 7 different colors and 7 different designations.

Everyone works on shifts so the carrier can operate at night also.

If you worked on a carrier you’d have to share a compartment with 60 other people. Your only personal space would be in your single bunk. The bunks are stacked up three at time, and each one has a little overhead light and curtains where you can read, write or sleep. For every compartment there is one bathroom, a small lounge with a T.V., the bunk room, and lockers to store your personal belongings.

My two brothers and I share a bedroom, and sometimes it can get pretty stuffy in there, even stinky. Imagine what it must be like with 60 guys sharing the same compartment. It’s probably not as bad as it sounds because not everyone is in there at once. Still, you’d have to get used to really tight living quarters.

Now that you’ve heard what carriers have done for America, how they currently operate, and about life on board, who knows, you might choose to work on a carrier yourself, and have the time of your life.

Thus ends my speech.

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