Out observing flight operations was the Safety Officer (right) who said with a slight grin that the hardest part of his job is getting people to do what they already know they should do. Lt. Cdr. Rodriguez from Nashville, TN has been aboard Indy for the past six months and said his favorite part is the excitement of the flightdeck.

These guys really aren't posing (right), this is what members from Crash & Salvage do when the birds are landing; wait, wait and hope they are not needed, but ready to act if ever needed. "Posing" here is (L to R) Airman Timothy Jones from Mehia, Texas; Airman Chad Atwater from Midland, Texas; and ABH3 Mike Sasser from Columbia, SC. Sasser said that he likes that Indy's taking part in something "more real" here in the Gulf. "It's not an exercise or a drill," he said, "It's real, and I guess that makes being away from my family for three years easier to accept."

This (right) is part of where the information comes from that the Mini Boss needs. Airman Lane Kidd from Longview, Texas receives his information via the phone talker in the Pri-Fly space and he writes it on this board backwards, so it can be read from the opposite side. Kidd has been aboard Indy for one and a half years and said although it's hard not seeing new faces too often, it's been good to see places he would have never seen outside of the Navy.

Well, I'll try and not miss too many days while we're underway. It can get pretty mundane out here. Pick a routine and the next thing you know half a year has gone by. You really start looking forward to items coming to you off the ship after ohhhhhh, the first day. So, I was pulled away before I could ask this guy his name, so I'm naming this photo (below) 'The other eyes.'

Well, today we conducted a full day of flight operations with the exceptions of bringing on any mail. It looked like it was going to storm most of the day, and at the same time it was sunny and blue... go figure. (Left) Joining the media up on the flight deck to shoot flight op's today was PHAN Delbert Davis (left) from Gregory, Texas and PHAN Brian Hoosack from Long Island, NY. Both work as photographers for the Indy photo lab.

Now, I thought I had the best job an enlisted person could have, but (left) AW2 Tim Muller from Scottsdale, AZ would beg to differ. "I've got the best job an enlisted guy could have," he said. "I sit in the back of a S-3 [with VS 21] and work with radar, sonar, sensors and other stuff." Muller said the flying is incredible and most exciting when they are flying low levels doing what he called, "Yank and bank."

For awhile now I've wanted to get up in Pri-Fly to take some photos. This is where the coordination of information for Indy's aircrafts are conducted. Here the 'Air Boss' and 'Mini Boss' (left) manage incoming information about the aircraft's' on the flight deck and hangar deck and get it to the appropriate people. "Mini Boss? The official title is Assistant Air Officer," CMDR Bill Rose (left) from Patuxent River, MD said while answering one of two phones in front of him and speaking on one of those telephone operator looking headsets. "I don't mind being out to sea," he said, "It's part of the job, that's why I'm here."

Watching the action and relaying information in "team pri-fly" also was Airman Scott Coleman (below) from Tulsa, OK. He reported aboard Indy in September of '96. "I like it, glad I joined," he said pretty matter-of-factly. "It's a lot of long hours, and being away from home even when we're in port, it's hard to handle sometimes." Coleman said to fill his 'off-time' he reads and takes PACE (Program Afloat College Education) courses.

Now this is where part of the flow of information begins (left), Airman Aaron Stuart from Winchester, IL is an elevator operator and he calls out "spots" to flight deck control. "The spots are where the planes are sitting," Stuart yelled out. He's been aboard Indy eight months and said being part of the "911 Battle Group" is exciting, but said it's difficult not knowing when you might deploy.