All the way at the stern, or rear of the ship, Brandon Null spends his days working with a team of sailors that fix jet engines. They even get to chain them down and test fire them out the stern behind a blast door.
At the tail end of the USS Nimitz, Brandon Null in the jet shop doesn’t pull any punches when talking about what he and his crew do.
“This engine right here costs about $3.7 million dollars, produces about 20,000 pounds of thrust,” and he gets to fix it.
A GE jet engine, from an F/A 18 if memory serves me. Exotic metals, lots of screws and a never-ending list of precise torque values are only a few of the things the sailors in the USS Nimitz’s jet shop get to work with every day.
Null was clearly enthusiastic about and devoted to his job, the immense responsibilities it includes and spoke humbly about how expertly he seeks to perform it.
I’ve replaced a turbocharger in a diesel engine, but this is a whole different animal.
It was cold in his “office.” Null detailed some of the precise temperature requirements his test equipment has, and what might happen if it gets too warm in there.
The racks of servers in his sealed test workspace support a multitude of switches, dials and throttle controls that–when they are testing–link up to an engine secured outside, visible through a really thick observation window. The noise during their six-hour test runout must be incredible, even in here.
It’s spotless in here, or as spotless as a machine shop could be. That makes sense because one misplaced tool or screw could damage an engine.
After hearing his story of being severely injured during the test run out of an engine, I unsuccessfully struggled to hold back tears of pride and respect for him. That experience was formative for him and as he says, “I’m going to be doing this job for as long as the Navy allows me to.”
A look inside the afterburner assembly of the jet engine that Null and his team were working on when I spent a few minutes with him in his fascinating world.
The reverence Null has for keeping his shipmates and his pilots safe by giving his all—every day—made me reevaluate the drive and passion I bring to my life.
| Thanks to the United States Navy for the opportunity to visit the USS Nimitzand see and experience first-hand what life aboard looks like. |
Travis Mason (at right) can walk, talk and splice a line at the same time. With over 20 years in the Navy and a job he loves, his passion comes across readily while he’s explaining life in the forecastle of the USS Nimitz. Note the line on the floor he’s preparing for an upcoming underway replenishment of aviation fuel. (photo by author)
Amidst 350-pound anchor chain links and directly above USS Nimitz’s twin gold-painted 60,000-pound anchors, you will find Travis Mason in the forecastle.
The forecastle (pronounced folks ul) of an aircraft carrier for those unused to mariner-speak is in the bow (or front) of the ship.
Mason spoke with passion about the training he gives to the crew he oversees—a whopping 40% of whom are new to him every year.
Loud, very loud is how Mason described the noise of the anchor chains going out.
I have a hard time imagining what 40% turnover looks like, never mind what it does for job efficiency. Mason isn’t phased though, perhaps because over his 20 plus years in the Navy, he’s learned how to make things work. “We do a lot of training,” he says.
Interspersed with his commentary, a primal rumbling, rattling and screeching indicated that the steam catapults above our heads were launching aircraft…a lot of them. Imagine a screeching fan belt, banging metal trash can lids at near deafening volume; shake the ground you’re standing on and add heavy, feel-it-in-your-chest bass—that’s as close to what a catapulting aircraft feels like in the forecastle as I can describe. Mason just smiles the whole time. “Yeah, that happens a lot. Seems to happen whenever I’m talking in here.” He smiles again and continues splicing a hemp line.
As you’d imagine, the forecastle was spotless, each chain link painted a gloss black. He detailed an aircraft carrier’s anchoring procedure—with the ship in a slow reverse, the anchors are dropped, followed by link after link after link of chain. “It’s the chain that really holds the ship in place,” he explained. The ship will swing around on her anchor chains through the night; special swivels built into the chain prevent them from getting tangled.
And how does one coil the massive links when they are pulled back into the ship? It’s not an issue at all says Mason. “They pretty much take care of themselves.” They are so large, he says, that they’ve never gotten tangled and he doesn’t see how they ever could.
Spotless, well-painted and everything in its place. Mason said that as soon as the anchors come up, his sailors are cleaning and then painting the chains.
Mason’s hands were busy splicing a line together the majority of the time he spent with us. Hearing him speak so openly about the love he has for his job and the fact that after his upcoming retirement he’s going to be “doing the same thing, just not for the Navy” in the Pacific Northwest that he will soon call home made me smile—as well as the advice he has for the crew working for him—“I know they don’t all want to stay here. So I want to see them do what makes them happy.”
I attempted the bowline on a bight that his whirling hands effortlessly produced, but I need a few more decades of practice to even come close to Mason.
| Thanks to the United States Navy for the opportunity to visit the USS Nimitzand see and experience first-hand what life aboard looks like. |
As Captain Kevin Lenox of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz tells it, everyone will get their chance to be the most important person on this 1,092-foot, 4.5 acre floating piece of American sovereign territory.
And at about 2 a.m. on July 13th, 2019 one sailor did just that. Noting a slight clicking noise on the number 2 shaft, he called it in and the shaft was shut down to prevent any damage. “At that moment, that sailor was the most important person on this ship,” said Lenox. “I can’t be everywhere and I rely on everyone working here to do their jobs.”
(at right, Captain Kevin Lenox of the USS Nimitz. photo by author)
Climbing up and down a tight ladder way to check each of the four engine shafts is something that you can either speed through in 45 minutes and then take a 15 minute break or you can do the job thoroughly like the sailor did today explained Lenox.
A scheduled refueling of 1.5 million gallons of aviation fuel was delayed but Lenox was unconcerned. I need a driver “who can keep it to half a degree” and with one propeller shaft shut down, it makes the job considerably harder, said Lenox, adding that he regularly meets with groups of crew-members new to the ship and reminds them that at some point, each one of them will be the most important person on the Nimitz.
| Thanks to the United States Navy for the opportunity to visit the USS Nimitzand see and experience first-hand what life aboard looks like. |
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