With the sun drawing me topside, I began clicking with (above) Airman Pedro Lora from New York, NY who's been aboard Indy for seven months. Here Lora is checking the ordnance before it's moved making sure the pins are snug and the straps are holding everything down. "It's a lot of hard work, but I enjoy the teamwork," Lora said.

I did catch some troubleshooters(right) "greasing" up a plane as they were working on a leaking oil problem. AMS3 Travis Edwards from Rock Island, IL (left) and AMS3 Darreck Kaigler from Palm Bay, Fla. said when the birds are flying, it's an ASAP job to find the problem and fix it. Both have been aboard Indy three years and said the flight deck is an amazing place when the action is live. Kaigler said the scariest thing to ever happen to him was when he was still "new" and working in the late evening. "I was in the aft working by cat four while they were launching jets, and out of nowhere I was blown back about 20 feet by a jet blast. Your head has to be on a swivel up here."

These guys are responsible for safely moving aircraft (below) and keeping them "tied" down when they get them parked.

The Captain was just on the 1-MC letting everyone know we had a good day flying and gave us kudos for the great day of hard work. We're pulling in tomorrow morning and should be peirside by 8 am. It was a beautiful day today. The sun was out, the clouds were scattered, and the seas weren't all too bad.

Although the sun was out, the temps were low. "I love the cold and wet days," said ATAN Andy Miller (left) from Detroit, MI with a smirk. Miller's been aboard Indy for one and a half years and said the action on the flight deck, while flying, is "intense." Here he's cleaning up the grease the troubleshooters leave behind, he said laughing.

Ready to get out of what felt like a -30 degree wind-chill, I stopped this (left) group of plane handlers who were getting ready to park a plane. In the group is Ens. Scott Dancer from Jacksonville, Fla; Airman Moran Adalberto from Salem, OR; Airman Jason Jerry from Memphis, TN; ABH2 (AW) Glen Newbins from Denver, CO who's the Fly One Petty Officer, ABH3 Heath Goodwin from Springville, ME; Airman John Jones from Beaumont, Texas; Airman Apprentice Roderic Woods from Poplar Bluff, MO; and ABH3 Steve Lopez from Albuquerque, NM.

Out catching the last rays of the day before he begins night flight-deck observations (above) was Airman Ben Arbacauskas from Seattle, WA. Arbacauskas is required to observe three days and three nights (not back to back) of flight deck operations before he's qualified to be on the flight deck without an escort. "It's part of safety that we all go through to work on the flight deck," he said. "Safety's stressed in everything we do, and for good reasons." Arbacauskas has been on Indy for a year and a half and said being far away from home is the hardest part of the job.