Yesterday I had the privilege of taking an incredibly special, personal tour of the USS Nimitz (nuclear-powered aircraft carrier) from super-human and Naval M.D., Greg Rochfort. He showed us all but the “secret” areas of the ship, and I was amazed.

From the massive size of the ship (housing for 5,000 residents, a hospital, cafeteria, nuclear power plant, airport, and more – all floating and capable of moving at nearly 45 mph), to the complexity of the operations it performs, and the logistics to make that happen, it was awesome. The ship was designed before there was Auto CAD - by smart people with just paper and pencils and calculators. 

The Nimitz is so large that ”bullseyes” serve as “you are here” diagrams throughout the halls. The 3.5 acres of flight deck can simultaneously launch and arrest fighter jets on four runways. That is an incredible  feat in and of itself. Aircraft have a short runway so they are propelled off of the ship by steam driven pistons which assist the planes in achieving 180 mph in 2.5 seconds. Landing the planes means bringing them down within a very short space where a hook on the plane must catch the arresting line and create what is essentially a controlled crash. They pilot must have the plane at full speed because if he misses the line, he has to be able to take off again right away or he’ll run off the end of the boat and plummet into the ocean. All of that takes place while the Nimitz is surging in the waves, and moving in the water under its own propulsion. There are so many confounding variables.

There are systems for organizing all of these complexities including figuring out where planes can be parked, which need to be refueled, etc. On the flight deck, being in the wrong place can easily mean being blown off the carrier by the gusts created by a turning plane . There are many deadly hazards. So organization and following procedure are essential.

The carrier is accompanied by a number of other ships which protect it, and supplies are brought on board by additional ships and helicopters.

Greg not only serves as a doctor for the people aboard the Nimitz but also for the personnel on the ships that accompany the aircraft carrier if they need emergency medical attention.

Seeing the Nimitz left me feeling humbled by what man can build, awed by the organizaiton that is in place to run the logistics of such a massive operation, and thankful for all of the military who each do their part to make our defense system as a whole work so magnificently.

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