Aircraft Carrier’s Crew Clears the Deck of Politics

The Swordsmen who pilot F-14 Tomcat fighters have their orders, and as they fly through bursts of antiaircraft fire on runs over Iraq, the political fate of their commander in chief is the last thing on their minds.

As the House of Representatives began the historic debate Friday over whether to impeach President Clinton, Navy warplanes roared off the aircraft carrier Enterprise’s deck with afterburners spitting blue flames into the darkness of the northern Persian Gulf.

Hundreds of cruise missiles have targeted Iraq’s defenses, but pilots such as Lt. Patrick Mowles of Fighter Squadron 32, known as the Swordsmen, still fly through barrages of antiaircraft fire, “which is nothing like any of us have experienced before,” he said.

The pilots can’t afford to let the threat of the president’s impeachment distract them from a job that could cost them their lives, said Mowles, 27, of Midland, Texas.

“We talk politics like every other American does,” Mowles said as he sat in the officers’ mess with three other fighter pilots just a couple of hours before taking off for a run over Iraq again Friday night. “The fact is, we humbly accepted this challenge, and I’m very proud to answer the call of this country. Plain and simple.”

The Enterprise is the lead ship in a 12-vessel battle group launching nightly cruise missile and jet fighter attacks on Iraq from the Persian Gulf. The bombardment has been so heavy that some of the Enterprise’s pilots land just long enough to reload for another run.

Bombs are even lined up on the floor beside a sailors’ mess decorated with a twinkling Christmas tree and a white banner that says, “Merry Christmas.”

Not Happy With the Battle in Washington

As they prepare for battle each day, many of the Enterprise’s crew of more than 5,500 watch TV footage of politicians calling their commander in chief a liar and debating his impeachment in the middle of military strikes.

Throughout the enormous 19-deck ship, from the admiral’s flag mess to various control rooms and on down to the sailors’ lounge, TV sets are tuned to CNN during the day, when the ship gets ready for the night’s battle.

Many who pause to listen aren’t happy with what they hear, especially the claim from some Republicans that Clinton is using the Enterprise, and the rest of the U.S. forces involved in the attacks on Iraq, as political cover.

“I care, and it’s a concern for my family, who I get e-mail from,” said Chief Warrant Officer George Gonzalez, whose wife and 15-year-old daughter live in Virginia Beach, Va. “It’s kind of a bittersweet thing to think that maybe we went to war based on impeachment proceedings.

“I personally don’t believe that’s the case, but what my family is concerned about is what the public is saying, or what the public is feeling, based on our being out here and sacrificing ourselves.”

A Little Sleep--and a Lot of Caffeine

Gonzalez has only had about two hours of sleep each day since the airstrikes began Wednesday. He supervises the crews that load bombs and missiles on the Enterprise’s warplanes, and he’s running on caffeine and adrenalin.

“Coffee helps--and a lot of Coke,” Gonzalez said as a Marine F-18 fighter was towed into its spot in line for Friday night’s launch of the latest sorties over Iraq, which began about 5:30 p.m. local time. “As long as I keep moving, I’m OK. The minute I sit down, I’m out.”

Gonzalez’s crew members are working as many as 20 hours a day on the Enterprise’s deck, carefully hoisting missiles and bombs of all sizes up to laser-guided, 2,000-pound “heavy penetrators” designed to blast through reinforced concrete bunkers.

Like several other crew members interviewed during a lull in the fighting Friday, Gonzalez said he has no problem carrying out orders to attack another country from a commander who is fighting to save his political life.

“I think it’s a necessary evil,” Gonzalez said. “Unfortunately, [Iraqi] people will die and they will be the story, but that’s the choice they made over the last 10 years.”

Gonzalez would not say whether he believes that Clinton should be removed from office, but after 18 years of marriage, and 21 years of service in the Navy, Gonzalez said, he has strong feelings about the importance of being faithful.

“This country is on a long dive when it comes to moral issues, and that needs to be dealt with,” Gonzalez said. “All I’m going to say is that when our leaders choose to do immoral actions . . . that needs to be dealt with.”

Rear Adm. J. Cutler Dawson Jr., the Enterprise battle group’s commander, said he has not spoken to any of the crew members about the impeachment debate in Washington and does not plan to because they are so focused on their mission.

“I’ve seen no resentment from anyone that’s in this battle group toward anything,” Dawson said. “They’re very professional. They’re doing the job they’ve been trained to do, and they’re doing it very well.”

Even though the Enterprise’s crew finds itself at war just a week before Christmas, and even though the impeachment debate rages back home, morale on the ship is very high, Dawson said--not least because the mission has not suffered any casualties.

One of the ship’s newsletters also carried a full page of e-mail from people across the U.S. who sent messages of encouragement via the Internet, Dawson added.

The Enterprise is being joined today by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which has 72 warplanes, just one fewer than the Enterprise. The Vinson’s crew has been training for missions against Iraq during the journey across the Indian Ocean and is ready to go into action at any time, Dawson said.

Lt. Nicola Gathright sat at a computer screen in the dim blue glow of the Enterprise’s combat direction center on Friday and coordinated the tracking of dozens of ships.

Opinions Divided on Impeachment

Gathright and her crew have to concentrate, scanning for anything that looks unfriendly before it has a chance to strike. The last thing they need is the distraction of politics in Washington, but they can’t escape the debate over their commander in chief’s future.

“We were talking about it just this morning,” Gathright said just a few hours after the last jet had landed on the Enterprise following a second night of combat over Iraq. “A lot of us officers talk about it constantly.

“But it’s the same as in the civilian sector,” added Gathright, 29, who emigrated from Kingston, Jamaica, in 1982 and became a U.S. citizen. “Half are saying, ‘Go ahead with impeachment,’ and the other half are saying, ‘I support him.’ ”

Operations specialist Christopher Armstrong, who keeps his eyes locked on a radar screen just a few feet away from Gathright, said he has no doubt that the threat of impeachment had nothing to do with Clinton’s decision to attack Iraq.

“It’s just like a little kid [misbehaving],” he said. “If you don’t get out the belt and spank [Saddam Hussein], he’s not going to stop.”

Putting Washington’s Problems Out of Mind

Like most crew members interviewed as the Enterprise got ready to launch a third night of airstrikes, Gathright said she is so focused on her job that she can easily put the president’s problems out of her mind and let the politicians in Washington worry about it.

“To be honest, I’m waiting to see what happens there, and we’ll deal with things here,” she said.