Waffles and pancakes are being doused with maple syrup. A baseball game burbles unwatched from the flatscreen television on the wall.
Wardroom 3 on the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier could be anywhere in Middle America. However, this is no ordinary diner.
In a few hours, some of the pilot officers dampening their luxuriant moustaches in big mugs of coffee will be flying over Syria in F/A-18 jets.
Photo: Reuters
Their mission: To take opportunities to add to the about 700 tonnes of deadly explosives the giant, nuclear-powered carrier’s air wing has dropped on targets linked to Islamic State (IS) militants in just over six months.
The Truman was supposed to be on its way home to Norfolk, Virginia, by now.
Instead it is in the Eastern Mediterranean, its mission having been extended by US President Barack Obama for an extra month as part of efforts to intensify a campaign which, commanders say, is gradually degrading IS with a view to neutralizing the self-styled caliphate altogether.
It is not hard to identify weariness and a longing for home among the 5,500-strong crew of a boat that began combat operations in the Persian Gulf on Dec. 29 last year.
Deep in the labyrinthian bowels of the Truman, some of the senior members of the crew preparing the unprecedented volume of laser and GPS-guided missiles the carrier’s planes have unleashed have been working 16-hour days, seven days a week.
Lieutenant Tom Flynn, 28, is relaxing between preflight briefings in Ready Room 8.
A pilot with a squadron known as the “Pukin Dogs,” the Indiana native says morale has been bolstered by last week’s relocation of the Truman from the sweltering Persian Gulf to cooler waters and temperatures off the west coast of Syria.
“It makes an incredible difference up on the flight deck. You get in your jet and you are not all sweaty. In the Gulf it could be quite disgusting,” Flynn said.
The deployment with the Truman has been Flynn’s first combat experience and he reveals no signs of qualms when asked to reflect on it.
“I wouldn’t say elation, but it is definitely satisfying to be able to put the years of training to use,” he said.
Once Flynn climbs into his F/A-18 jet, the man responsible for steering him into position to be catapulted off the boat is Flight Deck Controller Chad Clark.
“It’s a kind of coordinated chaos. We are like the quarterback calling the play for our teammates,” said Clark, 43, as he explained the ballet-like dance of multimillion-dollar aircraft and arm-waving color-coded sailors being played out beneath him.
It is Clark’s job to ensure everyone is doing their job in the build-up to the literally deafening, shuddering spectacle of takeoffs in which the fastest jets go from standstill to 265kph in the space of just two seconds.
Longer than the Empire State Building is tall, the Truman’s deck covers just under two hectares, the size of a decent smallholding in much of the world.
However, only a minority of the crew work on it. Most of them are employed below decks on support tasks that range from everything from hairdressing to the delivery of about 20,000 meals every day.
Movies, chess games and “Truman idol” singing competitions help to break up the monotony.
However, even Rear Admiral Bret Batchelder, the commander of the battle group built around the Truman, admits home is calling strongly after about seven months at sea.
“The sailors took the extension in their stride, but their hearts are at home,” said the Afghanistan and Iraq veteran, who will personally be heading back to his native Colorado.
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