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President to Visit USS Lincoln
Aired April 30, 2003 - 13:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well this has got to be very exciting for the Lincoln to know the commander-in-chief is actually going to be landing there tomorrow.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, that's right. It's OK. You can keep going. We don't want to stop business here. Everybody can keep flowing if they need to come through here. We're looking at an outside shot, actually, out on the flight deck.
You see all the aircraft -- thanks (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- getting ready to go today. You know, there has been a lot of talk about the president, Miles, and yes, it is historic. It is a very big moment for the people here on the USS Abraham Lincoln, but an even more historic moment for everybody here, at least, who has been living on the USS Abraham Lincoln. They've been out here for ten months at sea, the longest ever for a carrier during Operation Iraqi Freedom. You have a lot of sailors that are extremely excited to get home.
Today is a huge day. It's the first fly-off. Tomorrow is the second fly-off. Today is the first fly-off. Right now, we're in the P way, and all the different ready rooms line up against this hallway, all the different squadrons operate in and out of these small rooms. And today is the first day you've got the F-14 Tomcatters, the S-3 Vikings, they are the refuelers, the Prowlers, they are the radar jammers, and also the E-2 Hawkeye. Those are the squadrons that are going to be leaving today.
Now, the F-14 Tomcatters, as you know, we spent a lot of time with them, Miles. We were embedded with them specifically during Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is their ready room, and normally, on the front of this door, it says "classified briefing" and we can't come in here.
However, as you know, since the war has ended, that has changed. We did have unique opportunities to come in here and get the briefings. You see two of the pilots here, Dino (ph) and Cressy (ph) e-mailing, of course, very excited to get home. I bet you can't wait. Are you e-mailing family?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am, indeed. I'm reading it right now.
PHILLIPS: Cressy (ph), are you ready to get home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Ready to get out of here.
PHILLIPS: And I know I am talking by call signs, Miles. You know call signs very well, because that's, of course, the easiest way to communicate with everybody.
I'm going to bring you over here to Lieutenant Commander John Swazo (ph), he is actually helping to coordinate the fly-off today with the F-14s. Are you excited?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ready to go home. Definitely.
PHILLIPS: Tell me about the briefing that you are going to do today and tell me what you're doing right now on the computer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, what we're doing on the computer is the ship is going to be a little bit closer to San Diego then we thought, so we're just putting that lat-long (ph) into the -- or the ship's position into the computer, and we'll figure out how much gas we'll need, and give us way points that we have to fly to. Just kind of an easy way to make it happen, automated, and it prints out a card, and we are all set, so...
PHILLIPS: So were you able to sleep last night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, definitely. We had to pack out last night and get everything done, so...
PHILLIPS: I saw you, I think (ph), up until 2:00 in the morning, get your bags packed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we got everything done, so...
PHILLIPS: All right. And tell me some more about the fly-off. How is this going to coordinate with all the different squadrons?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we are going to be the last guys flying off today. So we will launch all ten jets, rendezvous, and then we plan on doing a to do a fly-by the ship, just as kind of a last hurrah. And then we are going to fly into North Island for the night, and then we'll stay there, and we'll fly the next day to Pensacola, Florida, spend one more night, and then on the 2nd, we will fly into Oceana.
PHILLIPS: And, of course, all your friends and family will be waiting for you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, friends and family. Everyone has got a lot of people coming. So, it should be fun.
PHILLIPS: All right. Lieutenant Commander John Swazo (ph), thank you. I am going to let you keep getting ready for your brief, but we are going to tape that live coming up pretty soon. We'll get you doing it.
All right. Now we come over here to Lieutenant Commander Scott Snow, sitting here. This ready room has changed quite a bit since the war was taking place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it has. We've been evicted from the ship, pretty much. We're packing everything up. You can see how everything's pretty much in disarray. The one thing that's pretty tough is that we need everything right up until the very last minute, so there's total pandemonium once the word "go" happens. And then tear all the chairs up, we stick them all out there, everyone gets their personal gear, and throws it down in lockers downstairs to be trucked off back to the East coast.
PHILLIPS: Now, just to give people a sense -- I'm going to let Brian (ph) sort of wander here. This is the ready room. This is where you did all the planning during the war. Kind of give folks back home a sense of what took place in here every day, every morning, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Southern Watch, and Operation Enduring Freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, essentially, we would have two separate briefs going at once. We would have one brief up forward, using the -- either the overhead for a mass brief, up to 25 to 30 people, and then we have an area in the back, which we call the six pack, and we would have smaller divisions, that of -- sort of a size of flight, will be briefing back here.
So we can have two going on at the same time. It's busy all the time. You are always having someone who is planning, someone who is briefing at that time, someone who is walking to go to the jets. You have the maintenance guys running back and forth, trying to keep all the jets up and running for us. It's a pretty amazing show.
PHILLIPS: And of course, all along the walls used to be maps of Iraq and detailed planning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. A lot of it -- we really went by geographical references, and a lot of times, the guys on the ground would say, Hey, I'm looking at this bend in the river in this city. When people would come back from their flight in the morning, they would debrief us before we took off for our flight exactly where the Marines are, exactly where the Army's 5th Corps is, and what they're working with, where their hold ups are. It really helped us in getting to work with them, working in the CASS (ph) environment helping with talk-ons, where the troop locations are, where the good guys are, where the bad guys are, and how we can help them out the most.
PHILLIPS: And Scott (ph), final question, quickly. A lot of people have been talking about the president, how he's coming on board. I know everyone's looking forward to that. But even more so, the energy on the ship, everybody is so excited to get home. Tell me about that. I mean, this is a huge day to be flying off the ship after ten months and headed home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. I don't think there's a night prior to a fly-off that I've ever been able to sleep through the night. Just for me -- I just get so keyed up and excited. I look at my watch, it's an hour later, is it Christmas yet? It is another hour later, is it Christmas yet? But we're all very excited. It's been quite a long cruise, and we can't wait to get home, see our family and loved ones. PHILLIPS: Commander Scott Snow (ph). Thank you so much. So, Miles, this was our home. This was our home for months during Operation Iraqi Freedom, sitting in here, listening to briefings. And, of course, trying to figure out all the technicalities of what was about to take place. As you know, we learned very quickly about what it takes to be a sailor here on the USS Abraham Lincoln, and, of course, carry out a war-time scenario. Now they're headed home, and they are packing up, and it's bittersweet.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I bet there's a little bit of nostalgia there that you are all feeling as this kind of comes to an end. I'll tell you what, Kyra, I want to ask you a question, but I want to warn Dave Steck (ph). I'm curious about those little upside down Vs on the F- 14s. If you can get a shot of that, I want to ask what those are all about.
PHILLIPS: Oh, out on the flight deck?
O'BRIEN: Yes, the...
PHILLIPS: Yes, those are the number of bombs they drop, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Maybe we can get a shot of that. Some of the fighters are actually -- they are going to leave before the president even speaks, as I understand it, right?
PHILLIPS: Yes, you know what happened is -- actually, I'm going to bring Scott (ph) back in on that. Miles was talking about why are you guys leaving and some of the other squadrons leaving before the president gets here, it's because this is such a massive time for all of you to coordinate and get off, and of course, it takes a lot to bring the president in, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Just for a fly-off, if you are going to do the whole air wing in one day, it will take the whole day, just going squadron by squadron to get us off. For us, we have the farthest to go, so we are going all the way to the East coast, so they are going to let us go off today. Some of the other squadrons making deck space to spot all the other airplanes is very necessary, so they can't shoot them all off at once. If they get stuck down on the hangar bay, that doesn't bode well for them, they won't be able to get everyone off at the same time to be able to fly in formation, and give the ship a good show with a flyby, give them a big round of thanks for helping us out for this whole cruise.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Scott. So, Miles, it really comes down to preparation and, of course, security. You know what it takes when the president visits some place. I mean, the Secret Service and all the sweeps that have to be done to make sure that everything's going to go smoothly.
O'BRIEN: All right. There -- we're seeing the markings that I was referring to. We just zoomed in on it there...
PHILLIPS: OK.
O'BRIEN: Just for the viewers, just wanted to let them know. Now you know what that's all about.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's a signal of how many bombs they dropped.
O'BRIEN: They were busy. They were busy. Now, I have just got to ask you one more thing...
PHILLIPS: Yes, they were, you'll see a lot of marks on those jets.
O'BRIEN: You have to ask one of the Navy pilots right there, if the president's pilot is a "bolter," what does that men for his Naval career?
PHILLIPS: Let me see, who can I ask that to? No? OK. Let's ask Scott. Repeat the question, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. The question is, if the president's pilot is a bolter, is he in trouble?
PHILLIPS: If the president's pilot is a bolter, is he in trouble?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, yes, he is. We're all -- we're taking bets right now. And what we have is something called the Fat Jimmy (ph) Over and Under Patch. What it is is if he bolters on the first pass, we expect him to come back and grab the one wire on the second pass, and the patch itself says after skipping four good wires, why skip the fifth? And it is pretty funny. Whenever someone does bolter, the phones start ringing throughout the air wing. We're placing bets on if the guy's going to get the over/under.
PHILLIPS: Miles, we did -- we've watched those. Up here on these screens -- you are going to the screens up there on the right -- I hate to say it, they're showing Fox News, but that's the Navy system. You kind of get a little bit of every network. And then, over on the left, you see color bars. That is the monitor where you would watch the aircraft day and night. It's a black and white video. As a matter of fact, can we see the flight deck, ALF (ph)? Can you bring that up so you see the flight deck? Let me get the guys to change it right now.
And, Miles, that's where they would watch and see how the planes landed, and see -- there you go, right there. So the guys would sit here in the room and see how well the landings were, if they catch the first wire, second wire. Right, Scott, am I explaining that right?
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. What it is, that's the Flag (ph) camera, and you can see it will have the date, the time, the ship number in the upper corner, which is 72, then clear deck or foul deck, which is the flashing "F" right now that it's a foul deck, and then the window that is over the deck is the 12 down in the corner. It will shift from -- this is the island view right here. It will go back to -- in the deck, they have two separate cameras in the deck, and that's what the LSOs will use for lineup for the airplanes as they come down the pipe.
PHILLIPS: So Miles, no doubt it is going to be a very nervous pilot, I am sure, the one bringing the president in.
O'BRIEN: Some sweaty palms on that one.
PHILLIPS: I think these guys should have brought in the president.
O'BRIEN: Maybe so, maybe so. Well, we'll see. We'll be watching that one. Kyra Phillips, there will be no hiding on that one if, in fact, it is a bolter. We'll check in with you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 30, 2003 - 13:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well this has got to be very exciting for the Lincoln to know the commander-in-chief is actually going to be landing there tomorrow.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, that's right. It's OK. You can keep going. We don't want to stop business here. Everybody can keep flowing if they need to come through here. We're looking at an outside shot, actually, out on the flight deck.
You see all the aircraft -- thanks (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- getting ready to go today. You know, there has been a lot of talk about the president, Miles, and yes, it is historic. It is a very big moment for the people here on the USS Abraham Lincoln, but an even more historic moment for everybody here, at least, who has been living on the USS Abraham Lincoln. They've been out here for ten months at sea, the longest ever for a carrier during Operation Iraqi Freedom. You have a lot of sailors that are extremely excited to get home.
Today is a huge day. It's the first fly-off. Tomorrow is the second fly-off. Today is the first fly-off. Right now, we're in the P way, and all the different ready rooms line up against this hallway, all the different squadrons operate in and out of these small rooms. And today is the first day you've got the F-14 Tomcatters, the S-3 Vikings, they are the refuelers, the Prowlers, they are the radar jammers, and also the E-2 Hawkeye. Those are the squadrons that are going to be leaving today.
Now, the F-14 Tomcatters, as you know, we spent a lot of time with them, Miles. We were embedded with them specifically during Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is their ready room, and normally, on the front of this door, it says "classified briefing" and we can't come in here.
However, as you know, since the war has ended, that has changed. We did have unique opportunities to come in here and get the briefings. You see two of the pilots here, Dino (ph) and Cressy (ph) e-mailing, of course, very excited to get home. I bet you can't wait. Are you e-mailing family?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am, indeed. I'm reading it right now.
PHILLIPS: Cressy (ph), are you ready to get home?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. Ready to get out of here.
PHILLIPS: And I know I am talking by call signs, Miles. You know call signs very well, because that's, of course, the easiest way to communicate with everybody.
I'm going to bring you over here to Lieutenant Commander John Swazo (ph), he is actually helping to coordinate the fly-off today with the F-14s. Are you excited?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ready to go home. Definitely.
PHILLIPS: Tell me about the briefing that you are going to do today and tell me what you're doing right now on the computer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, what we're doing on the computer is the ship is going to be a little bit closer to San Diego then we thought, so we're just putting that lat-long (ph) into the -- or the ship's position into the computer, and we'll figure out how much gas we'll need, and give us way points that we have to fly to. Just kind of an easy way to make it happen, automated, and it prints out a card, and we are all set, so...
PHILLIPS: So were you able to sleep last night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, definitely. We had to pack out last night and get everything done, so...
PHILLIPS: I saw you, I think (ph), up until 2:00 in the morning, get your bags packed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we got everything done, so...
PHILLIPS: All right. And tell me some more about the fly-off. How is this going to coordinate with all the different squadrons?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we are going to be the last guys flying off today. So we will launch all ten jets, rendezvous, and then we plan on doing a to do a fly-by the ship, just as kind of a last hurrah. And then we are going to fly into North Island for the night, and then we'll stay there, and we'll fly the next day to Pensacola, Florida, spend one more night, and then on the 2nd, we will fly into Oceana.
PHILLIPS: And, of course, all your friends and family will be waiting for you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, friends and family. Everyone has got a lot of people coming. So, it should be fun.
PHILLIPS: All right. Lieutenant Commander John Swazo (ph), thank you. I am going to let you keep getting ready for your brief, but we are going to tape that live coming up pretty soon. We'll get you doing it.
All right. Now we come over here to Lieutenant Commander Scott Snow, sitting here. This ready room has changed quite a bit since the war was taking place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it has. We've been evicted from the ship, pretty much. We're packing everything up. You can see how everything's pretty much in disarray. The one thing that's pretty tough is that we need everything right up until the very last minute, so there's total pandemonium once the word "go" happens. And then tear all the chairs up, we stick them all out there, everyone gets their personal gear, and throws it down in lockers downstairs to be trucked off back to the East coast.
PHILLIPS: Now, just to give people a sense -- I'm going to let Brian (ph) sort of wander here. This is the ready room. This is where you did all the planning during the war. Kind of give folks back home a sense of what took place in here every day, every morning, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Southern Watch, and Operation Enduring Freedom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, essentially, we would have two separate briefs going at once. We would have one brief up forward, using the -- either the overhead for a mass brief, up to 25 to 30 people, and then we have an area in the back, which we call the six pack, and we would have smaller divisions, that of -- sort of a size of flight, will be briefing back here.
So we can have two going on at the same time. It's busy all the time. You are always having someone who is planning, someone who is briefing at that time, someone who is walking to go to the jets. You have the maintenance guys running back and forth, trying to keep all the jets up and running for us. It's a pretty amazing show.
PHILLIPS: And of course, all along the walls used to be maps of Iraq and detailed planning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. A lot of it -- we really went by geographical references, and a lot of times, the guys on the ground would say, Hey, I'm looking at this bend in the river in this city. When people would come back from their flight in the morning, they would debrief us before we took off for our flight exactly where the Marines are, exactly where the Army's 5th Corps is, and what they're working with, where their hold ups are. It really helped us in getting to work with them, working in the CASS (ph) environment helping with talk-ons, where the troop locations are, where the good guys are, where the bad guys are, and how we can help them out the most.
PHILLIPS: And Scott (ph), final question, quickly. A lot of people have been talking about the president, how he's coming on board. I know everyone's looking forward to that. But even more so, the energy on the ship, everybody is so excited to get home. Tell me about that. I mean, this is a huge day to be flying off the ship after ten months and headed home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. I don't think there's a night prior to a fly-off that I've ever been able to sleep through the night. Just for me -- I just get so keyed up and excited. I look at my watch, it's an hour later, is it Christmas yet? It is another hour later, is it Christmas yet? But we're all very excited. It's been quite a long cruise, and we can't wait to get home, see our family and loved ones. PHILLIPS: Commander Scott Snow (ph). Thank you so much. So, Miles, this was our home. This was our home for months during Operation Iraqi Freedom, sitting in here, listening to briefings. And, of course, trying to figure out all the technicalities of what was about to take place. As you know, we learned very quickly about what it takes to be a sailor here on the USS Abraham Lincoln, and, of course, carry out a war-time scenario. Now they're headed home, and they are packing up, and it's bittersweet.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I bet there's a little bit of nostalgia there that you are all feeling as this kind of comes to an end. I'll tell you what, Kyra, I want to ask you a question, but I want to warn Dave Steck (ph). I'm curious about those little upside down Vs on the F- 14s. If you can get a shot of that, I want to ask what those are all about.
PHILLIPS: Oh, out on the flight deck?
O'BRIEN: Yes, the...
PHILLIPS: Yes, those are the number of bombs they drop, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Maybe we can get a shot of that. Some of the fighters are actually -- they are going to leave before the president even speaks, as I understand it, right?
PHILLIPS: Yes, you know what happened is -- actually, I'm going to bring Scott (ph) back in on that. Miles was talking about why are you guys leaving and some of the other squadrons leaving before the president gets here, it's because this is such a massive time for all of you to coordinate and get off, and of course, it takes a lot to bring the president in, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Just for a fly-off, if you are going to do the whole air wing in one day, it will take the whole day, just going squadron by squadron to get us off. For us, we have the farthest to go, so we are going all the way to the East coast, so they are going to let us go off today. Some of the other squadrons making deck space to spot all the other airplanes is very necessary, so they can't shoot them all off at once. If they get stuck down on the hangar bay, that doesn't bode well for them, they won't be able to get everyone off at the same time to be able to fly in formation, and give the ship a good show with a flyby, give them a big round of thanks for helping us out for this whole cruise.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Scott. So, Miles, it really comes down to preparation and, of course, security. You know what it takes when the president visits some place. I mean, the Secret Service and all the sweeps that have to be done to make sure that everything's going to go smoothly.
O'BRIEN: All right. There -- we're seeing the markings that I was referring to. We just zoomed in on it there...
PHILLIPS: OK.
O'BRIEN: Just for the viewers, just wanted to let them know. Now you know what that's all about.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's a signal of how many bombs they dropped.
O'BRIEN: They were busy. They were busy. Now, I have just got to ask you one more thing...
PHILLIPS: Yes, they were, you'll see a lot of marks on those jets.
O'BRIEN: You have to ask one of the Navy pilots right there, if the president's pilot is a "bolter," what does that men for his Naval career?
PHILLIPS: Let me see, who can I ask that to? No? OK. Let's ask Scott. Repeat the question, Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. The question is, if the president's pilot is a bolter, is he in trouble?
PHILLIPS: If the president's pilot is a bolter, is he in trouble?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, yes, he is. We're all -- we're taking bets right now. And what we have is something called the Fat Jimmy (ph) Over and Under Patch. What it is is if he bolters on the first pass, we expect him to come back and grab the one wire on the second pass, and the patch itself says after skipping four good wires, why skip the fifth? And it is pretty funny. Whenever someone does bolter, the phones start ringing throughout the air wing. We're placing bets on if the guy's going to get the over/under.
PHILLIPS: Miles, we did -- we've watched those. Up here on these screens -- you are going to the screens up there on the right -- I hate to say it, they're showing Fox News, but that's the Navy system. You kind of get a little bit of every network. And then, over on the left, you see color bars. That is the monitor where you would watch the aircraft day and night. It's a black and white video. As a matter of fact, can we see the flight deck, ALF (ph)? Can you bring that up so you see the flight deck? Let me get the guys to change it right now.
And, Miles, that's where they would watch and see how the planes landed, and see -- there you go, right there. So the guys would sit here in the room and see how well the landings were, if they catch the first wire, second wire. Right, Scott, am I explaining that right?
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. What it is, that's the Flag (ph) camera, and you can see it will have the date, the time, the ship number in the upper corner, which is 72, then clear deck or foul deck, which is the flashing "F" right now that it's a foul deck, and then the window that is over the deck is the 12 down in the corner. It will shift from -- this is the island view right here. It will go back to -- in the deck, they have two separate cameras in the deck, and that's what the LSOs will use for lineup for the airplanes as they come down the pipe.
PHILLIPS: So Miles, no doubt it is going to be a very nervous pilot, I am sure, the one bringing the president in.
O'BRIEN: Some sweaty palms on that one.
PHILLIPS: I think these guys should have brought in the president.
O'BRIEN: Maybe so, maybe so. Well, we'll see. We'll be watching that one. Kyra Phillips, there will be no hiding on that one if, in fact, it is a bolter. We'll check in with you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
