A definite chain of command in this "office"

Despite ongoing politics and wars around the world, little can dampen the sheer spectacle of an aircaft carrier the size of three football pitches and carrying 75 planes arriving in the local harbour.

This past week Sydney had just that, as the USS Kitty Hawk (left), steamed in to the Garden Island Naval base (parking right outside Russell Crowe’s house no less), and over 5,000 sailors disembarked for a few days shore leave.

Struck as I was by the scale of this truly enormous ship, I was also intrigued about “work life" on an aircraft carrier and found someone willing to answer a few questions.

In all, over 5,000 sailors/marines/crew (30 percent women) work together for 5-8 months at a time, in an incredibly demanding, dangerous environment (especially on the flight deck).

Apparently, the majority of the pilots are not as brash as the movies would have you believe - "some are, most aren’t" - and even though the ship is nearly 400 metres long and 61 metres high, “it’s very, very cramped and you do get sick of it very, very quickly – just think about being stuck in your office for months at a time.”

Out of those 5,000 sailors, how many might you know? “It's A LOT of people and you may only know a few hundred of them; your team, your friends etc. Again, think about how many people you know in your office.”

And, despite the awe of the ship, “it’s not a glamorous lifestyle and it gets old quickly.”

Aside from the business of maintaining its status as a floating city, life on the carrier draws other comparisons to a big – if ever so slightly dangerous – office block. There’s a PR team to deal with the press and when things go wrong (like a plane being shot down or crashing into the dock – did someone say crisis communication?). According to a report on ABC this week, the crew on shore leave are also required to act accordingly and stay away from the press; This time round many did volunteer and charity work.

Then there are the necessary dentists, doctors, hairdressers and communication lines on board, with the average crewman sending seven or more e-mails a day and tens of thousands of phone calls being made.

No doubt there’s complaints about the canteen food too, but when the chefs are working to prepare over 12,000 meals per day, you might thank them for producing anything.

As a world or perhaps ocean apart from life behind a desk, it’s pretty fascinating. But there's one point when the comparisons have to stop, because on the USS Kitty Hawk – top down, command and control communication is likely to remain dominant for some time yet.

Alex

Comments

[Annie Waite]

Did Crowe try to start a fight with it?!

[Alex Manchester]

No sadly, but when I went to watch it come in at lunchtime last Thursday, there was a moment when it looked as if the whole thing would just plough into his house. Luckily the tugs put the brakes on, but it would have been something to witness!