Fighter pilot’s parents take Navy cruise of a lifetime

By Correne Martin

Brian and Mary Edwards had the distinct opportunity to be guests of the U.S. Navy, and join their son, Lt. Nate Edwards, on the combat-ready, nuclear-powered aircraft super carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, last fall, during its return five-day voyage from Pearl Harbor to San Diego.

The Stennis (CVN-74) was completing a seven-month deployment in the Western Pacific, including the South China Sea and Sea of Japan. The Stennis carrier strike group included the Stennis and its escorts: two destroyers, a cruiser, and an unseen and unknown number of nuclear-powered submarines. The Stennis crew encompasses Air Wing 9, of about 6,000 personnel, and carries about 10 helicopters, 70 fighter jets and other support aircraft.

Nate, 28, is a naval aviator and FA-18 Super Hornet pilot in the Warhawks VFA-97 Fighter Squadron, which has 12 to 14 jets alone. The VFA-97 home base is the Lamoore Naval Air Station, in Lamoore, Calif., the Navy’s largest air station and home to over 200 fighters.

Nate is a 2007 graduate of Prairie du Chien High School and attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., on a Navy ROTC scholarship. He was commissioned in the Navy in 2011 and earned his wings in 2012. The time from commission to being on an aircraft carrier is typically four years.

“[Aviators] start with a propeller plane, then a training jet, then they get their wings and train for shooting missiles and bombs before going to a fighter,” Mary explained.

The Navy has had a longstanding practice of allowing guests to accompany its service men and women on a small number of return trips from deployment, in gratitude to them. The Navy refers to these as Tiger Cruises. In this case, Nate’s squadron had been deployed for eight months and was heading back to base.

The trip for Brian and Mary started when they boarded the massive Stennis at the Pearl Harbor Navy base in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“Upon leaving, the Stennis personnel manned the rails to render honors to the USS Arizona. It’s a solemn and moving Navy tradition,” Brian observed.

The ship’s flight deck—essentially a miniature air field at sea—is over 4.5 acres long and towers about 20 stories above the water line (and seven stories below). They experienced first-hand that the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, during flight operations, is one of the most dangerous and loudest work places in the world, with constant activity, fuel and live bombs everyplace. When the planes land, their tailhook catches a wire cable about 1.5 inches in diameter and stops the plane going about 150 mph in a distance of less than 500 feet. After so many traps, or landings, the cable is replaced.

“They never get used to landing that thing on an aircraft carrier at night, in a storm,” Brian said.

For Nate’s parents, the experience of being only yards away from flight operations on vulture’s row (observation area) was unreal.

“When you watch the jets go full power just seconds before being launched, the jet noise is so loud when they raise the jet blast deflector that you vibrate from the pulsations. Ear plugs and hands over your ears don’t help much,” Brian described. When the planes launch, they go from 0 to 150 mph in about 2.5 seconds, he noted.

While on deployment, the ship’s personnel work 12 hours on and 12 off, seven days a week, and can launch and recover aircraft day or night and in almost any weather conditions. Life during deployment is difficult and exhausting, and sailors told the Edwardses it’s very repetitive—each day is a lot like the day before. Pilots like Nate fly one to two missions every day.

Tours were allowed of nearly every section of the ship, including the bridge where the ship is controlled, the tower where the air boss controls flight operations, the catapult control pod where the shooter controls the steam catapult that helps launch the planes, the brig (jail), medical facilities, multiple kitchens and cafeterias, mess halls that serve 18,000 meals a day, the blue room where screens can show any military location at any place in the world, the jet engine repair shop and the sheet metal shop.

The aircraft carrier is a self-contained small city. Despite tight quarters, everyone was polite and helpful and very few places were off limits, Brian said. Tours of the two nuclear reactors were among those not permitted, and armed guards stood by to ensure so.

“However, they did provide an outstanding lecture on the history and safety of nuclear power in the Navy,” he accounted.

According to Mary, the two of them, as guests of Nate’s, were his responsibility, when it came to tours and events. Every night, on the hangar deck, there were live bands, kids games, big screen movie showings and more entertainment. There are also basketball courts and gym facilities on the ship for personnel and guests to access. In addition to the delicious meals, soda, coffee cookies and chips were available all day, every day.

One of the highlights of the cruise included an air show with a live-fire demonstration by the fighters and the five-inch destroyer guns. There were also man-overboard and air rescue drills and other regular duties performed by the personnel, who still had jobs to do until the ship docked.

“If there was a crisis, they could’ve been sent out immediately,” Mary said.

The most touching moment for the couple was watching their son take off from the ship with  other planes on the last day, before arrival at the San Diego Navy Base.

“We had watched him take off before, but not from a ship,” Mary said proudly. “This was something you don’t generally get to see your kid do.”

Overall, their excursion went by quickly. “We met dozens of fantastic, respectful, competent, professional sailors and aviators. They always stepped aside for us, spoke politely,” Brian declared. “We are so proud of the men and women of the U.S. military and feel privileged to have spent five days among them.”

Nate is currently at Lamoore, where he’ll stay for three years as an instructor of new aviators. He has about 1,000 air hours under his belt. He will continue flying fighter jets when training the newcomers, on both coasts, and maintain a certain number of hours to keep his currency. Once naval aviators get their wings, they owe the Navy eight years, so Nate has four more years until he can “re-up,” if he chooses.

However, Mary said, “His body can’t do that forever. They’re only allowed so many traps per day. Because of the G-forces, their bodies can only take so much.” She noted that, oftentimes, aviators such as Nate take jobs as airline pilots after retiring from the Navy. But she said he isn’t sure what he’ll decide to do.

In the meantime, he’ll press on in the skies whenever he gets the chance. He says it’s a rush,” Brian said. “He loves what he does.”