If you have ever wondered how the Navy launches and recovers aircraft on the roof of an aircraft carrier, you will want to watch this impressive video. It is segmented with the initial part explaining the colors of the flight deck crew, then some black and white archival footage, and on to modern flight deck operations. You will see why it is such a dangerous place to work.
This may bring back fond memories to those who served on a carrier — you can almost smell the exhaust fumes. While this is an awesome video, there are a couple of sobering moments as well: at the start of the black-and-white segment you will see a deck hand pulled into the intake of an Intruder, and a crash later.
This is the nature of the business these young men and women signed up to do to help keep America free — and they do it every day, in all sorts of weather, from 120-degree heat in the Middle East to the cold north Atlantic. Everyone on the roof must keep their head on a swivel, and some of those bombs the ordnancemen are loading by hand without a hoist are 500-pounders.
A video tribute to the young people who work the Navy’s aircraft carrier flight decks, which when operating have been called “the most dangerous 4.5 acres of real estate in the world.” These are 18–25 year-olds of all races and backgrounds, average age under 21, who come together to function at an extremely high level of responsibility and performance. They know their jobs and do them.