The Main Inquiry by Brian Deis (free novel 24 .TXT) 📕

The Main Inquiry

A Story of Intrigue

Set on one of America’s Super Aircraft Carriers

Jim Main has a problem. He must solve it or die.

See what happens when bad players arrive on the proudest ship in the fleet.

A Novel by Brian Deis

Cast of Characters

Lieutenant Commander Jim Main USS Independence - 33 years old - Call sign “Panther”- Second in command of the wing.

Commander Chris Lastrino - USS Independence- 36 years old - Call sign “Commando” Commanding officer of the air wing. Great pilot. Good friend of Jim Main

Lieutenant Don Coswell - USS Independence - 24 years old - Call sign “Joker”- Plane commander with many missions. Wingman for Main.

Lieutenant Commander Ben Bentley - USS Independence - 30 years old - Call Sign - “Bravo Bravo”- Was JAG for three years and then converted to line pilot.

Lieutenant Commander Len Appleton - USS Independence - 25 years old - Call sign “Rocket”- Naval Academy guy that is serious about his work.

Corporal Fergisson - USS Independence - 25 years old, Marine from a small town in Alabama – very loyal and protective.

Senior Chief Buddy Landsome - USS Independence - 34 years old - He has 65 mechanics working for him and he is hard all the way through. He speaks to everyone as if they are 4 years old, deaf, and senile.

Commander Russel Helmsley - USS Independence - 35 years old - He is the best ship driver in the fleet and has a quiet competence about him that makes everyone do their job a little better.

LT Bruce Shoemaker - USS Independence - 31 years old - Call sign “Jet Man”- Decent flyer that just wants to fly.

Commander Bill Glinter - USS Independence - 33 years old - Senior Supply Officer for the ship. 300 people working for him. Controls all the items on the ship from repair parts to food.

Lieutenant Brian Firestarter - USS Independence - RIO for many pilots. He has experience and flies with anyone that needs the back seat filled. Just wants to fly.

Lieutenant Don O’Conor - Ops officer on USS Lendon DD-855. He is a fine teacher and an outstanding Operations Officer who taught me all about the ship and my job.

Captain Frank Diamond – CO, USS Oliver Perry - Main worked for him as OPS on the Oliver Perry - great relationship with him.

Lieutenant John Ward - USS Independence - Supply officer for the wing. Young LT that is not yet fully competent to do all jobs in the system. Loves those camo shirts and sneakers.

Lieutenant Len Toner - USS Independence - pilot in the wing - Call sign ‘Spinster.”

Lieutenant Pete Keys - USS Independence - RIO lots of experience – call sign “Demon”

Petty Officer Zack Denton - USS Independence - Gold team maintenance mechanic. Worked in the hangar bay.

Lieutenant Rob Renfrow - USS Independence - Rio for Joker - Call sign “Slider”

Lieuenant Commander Russ Karman - USS Independence - Line officer assigned to operations department.

Chapter 1

How Did I Get Here?

The high wind made it hard to walk on the catwalk alongside the flight deck, and my armload of classified files raised the risk that I would not make it to the hatch a few yards in front of me. I imagined the papers flying away and blowing down the middle of the runway, showing off their “Top Secret” stamps for all to see. Everyone has these visions, but this one nearly came true, as the wind tore at the file folders under one arm and the cup of coffee in my hand.

The huge aircraft carrier, USS Independence, was making ready for flight operations. The crew knew to avoid the flight deck level during flight ops, but I was taking a short cut to the bridge. I had just finished a long conversation with my maintenance chief, Buddy Landsome. We were talking about the problems with the airplanes that were scheduled to fly that day. The chief’s colorful manner and the extent of the problems we were facing were the cause of my running close to relieve the bridge watch. The air missions supported fighting on the ground. To keep our people out of harm’s way, we had to have our fighter planes in position timed to the second.

I made it to the hatch that led out of the wind and into one of the 15,000 passageways that went to all destinations on the floating city where I served. The ship was 23 days into a 6-month deployment, and everyone had worked out the kinks in the daily routine of the ship. She was an experienced ship with a stable crew that always got the job done. The aircraft carrier was the ultimate display of the power of the leaders of the free world. They were one of the advantages we had in the cold war. The threat of war with the Soviet Union was at the center of the culture. We were fighting a shooting war in Viet Nam and a cold war that had tensions as high, back home, as anyone had ever seen them.

I was one of the many pilots who flew fighters. Today, it was my day to be on the bridge of the giant ship. The airplanes were a different organization from the ship. During the six months the ship was defending Yankee station off the coast of Viet Nam, the flight organization (called the wing) could be changed twice. The ship was our airport and the ship’s crew supplied services to the wing. There wasn’t much interaction between the two organizations, as the work was so different.

I rode the elevator up to the bridge. As the doors opened, I stood 12 stories off the water, on the largest navigation bridge in the world.

“Good evening, Mr. Main.” said the quartermaster of the watch. “Are you the Air Boss for these flight ops?

“Hi, Chief. I do have this watch and there will be some problems to face with the planes.” I said

The bridge was the main place where the two groups worked together. It was huge, with more people at work than a normal airport lobby. The confusion level on the bridge was usually very high, along with the volume of countless voices at work. Once the ship began flight operations, everything increased several notches. Handling planes was what this record-breaking ship was designed and built to do, so it was taken very seriously by the crew. The work we did was the first line of defense in peacetime, and the lead offensive weapon in times of war. It was 1969 and lives depended on the ability to put the planes in the air on time, with the proper weapons, and enough gas to get back home. The constant presence of an aircraft carrier on Yankee station was a key part of the war plan. It was also used to communicate the war message to the people back home. There were nightly reports on the progress of the war. The awareness of the regular American was at an all-time high but support was not. There was an energetic national debate about the future, which was the center issue for nearly everyone. Even the music of the day expressed the conflict and concerns of the people. The number one song was “The Eve of Destruction”

The planes ran a wide variety of missions, which was what we did as military pilots. The nature of flying to and from a ship had many selling points to the strategic planners. Those of us who flew the missions were entrusted with the lives of countless people on the ground. We did our best to live up to that responsibility every day.

I stepped off the elevator and into the bedlam of the bridge. There was a constant motion to the bridge, which was born from the actual motion of the ship, and the necessary motion of most of the people working there. It was an intimidating atmosphere that most pilots would avoid at all costs. It required dealing with the ship’s crew, who knew little about flying these fighters. The crew spoke a language that we aviators did not understand. This language barrier usually built resentment and created some serious problems when the pressure was high on the flight deck. Since these tense feelings were sure to happen every time the flight ops were run, there was a tension on the bridge that had caused people to freeze, panic, throw up on their shipmates, answer questions in other languages, and many other unpredictable reactions. As imaginable, the behavior of the people was dependent on their training level, and the time in the job. This day was still calm, as the flying had not started, but most of the preparations were done. The ship’s people were concerned with the ship’s operation and position relative to Yankee Station. The ship’s officers maneuvered the ship and stayed within 4 nautical miles of the station point. The point changed every few hours, so keeping track was the full-time job of one of the ship’s officers on watch.

As if the operation of the ship was not enough, the carrier held the center of the formation of more than 30 support ships, used when the ship was traveling from one place to another. Each ship in the formation had a station in relation to the carrier and they were all checked at regular intervals. If the carrier needed to maneuver quickly, the support ships needed to be in the proper position or there would be a nasty collision. The admiral’s staff took a very dim view of a collision inside our own formation, so there was an obvious focus to be sure everyone was in position all the time.

I was not part of all these concerns. Instead, I had the job of getting everyone on the bridge to focus on the planes and the personnel who operated the support equipment. The senior watch officer (SWO) was the leader of the ship’s people on the bridge and his authority was absolute. Even the captain of the ship couldn’t countermand one of his orders. If the captain wished to change an order given by the SWO, the CO would have to convince him to change his order or relieve him of the watch and take over himself. These rules added to the confusion during exciting times.

On the aviation side, there was also a senior officer on watch and that position was called the air boss. The air boss had authority similar to the SWO over all things regarding the wing and the planes. It was that job that I was about to take for the current round of airplane flying. My 12 years in the Navy and my rank of lieutenant commander (LCDR) put me in a senior role among the pilots even though I did not have nearly that time in the aviation side of the business. At 33 years old, I was hoping for the next position to be wing commander, as I was already doing most of the jobs without the title. It was early in the wing deployment of six months, so that was an easy time for me and my wife. Other assignments had taken six months, and some were a year without any personal contact with home. It was during one of those deployments that our daughter was born. Family is hard to maintain while flying, and we were doing pretty well managing this part of our marriage. After the flying days were over, I promised my wife that we would see each other every day and I would have a job that never made her nervous.

I looked for my