European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 16, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse 8 the stars and stripes May 1985 mines no longer in horseman buggy Era now one most potent weapons in navys Arsenal by Lon Cabot Naples Bureau chief Sicily Treyve Long been valued As much for their implied threat to enemy forces As for their Awe some destructive and today mines arc considered one of the most potent weapons systems in the navys weve come from what you might Call the Day of horseman buggy mine warfare into a More modern said Ronald commanding officer of Mobile mine Assembly unit based at the nato mine depot in bal we assemble mines very similar to the Way Ford motor company assembles its Swart we can put them out in very rapid preparation team Swart and 36 enlisted mine warfare specialists maintain hundreds of mines used in naval amphibious operations in the Mediterranean and in nato Maneu vers throughout Swarts group also includes a mine preparation team that is ready to deploy aboard any aircraft car Rier in the Mediterranean with As few As four hours Swart said operations such As mine sweeping in the red sea and the mining of nicaraguan harbours have made service members and the Public aware that mines arc potent mines Are As Roc solid and reliable As any weapons system going he with mines you Are talking about a reliability percentage in excess of 50 with other weapons if you talk about 60 you re talking about a fantastic weapons the effect of a mine Field is also very whether its a real mine Field or an imagined the perceived threat is often As great As the minefield deluged with information who has spent his entire 14year Navy career in mine said going into the Field not knowing much about it is like taking a drink of water from a fire you Are going to be deluged with mines have been around since before the american he there were More ships sunk by mines in the civil War than by and a Little known fact is when David Glasgow Farragut said his famous Damn the full steam he was actually referring to photo by Lon Cabot Ronald Swart with from left to right an Antisubmarine a ground mine and a captor or encapsulated torpedo fortunately for water had soaked through the explosive charges in the Keg mines he drove his ships so the mines he called torpedoes had become insensitive and didst sex Swart said when most people think of they still envision the pre world War ii Contact a buoyant Ball of bristles called a he said while Contact mines Are still in More sophisticated influence mines introduced after world War ii Are More common and have become increasingly More influence which have sensing devices that respond to the presence of a can be placed on the Ocean Bottom or anchored at a predetermined one of the newest mines in use today is the for encapsulated captor is a Deepwater mine and releases its torpedo on an acoustic when it senses a submarines it releases the which chases Down and destroys the Summa Swart the explosive equivalent of today mines is about twice that of which filled mines used in world War one of the More common mines used today the Mark 55 has enough explosive Power to actually lift a de Stroyer Clear out of the water from Stem to mines Are classified in two ground mines lie on the Ocean Bottom moored mines have anchors and Are sus Pended in another misconception Swart said Many people Harbor about mines is that they re very mines dont just he mines Are really pretty they blow up deliberately and Only after receiving a target a mine is ignited by a Chain most mines have a hydrostatic plunger that is depressed when the mine hits a predetermined water the plunger lines up switches in an explosive train that arms the mine so when a ship passes the mine senses it and Swart said although mines Are relatively once Many safety precautions Are taken by the men and women who work on the mine Assembly there Are four stations on our mine Assembly a mine Shell is brought into the Assembly building and instrumentation Racks Are placed into the the second stage is a testing station where All the instrumentation is tested to make sure everything is functioning the third station makes sure All the watertight closures on the mine Are properly torqued for then the mine is moved to the final where flight or All the necessary tags and identifications needed to ship a is put each of the four stations in the mine Assembly building has a Quality control person monitoring safety precautions taken in the Assembly mine men probably have a broader spectrum of training than most Electron in related specialists in the Navy Swart because mines Are electronically its a must that mine men be very exacting in their although mine specialists Are referred to As mine More women Are being assigned to the Swart the mine Assembly group at Belpasso and the group in Souda Crete the Only other mine group in the Mediterranean both have women mine specialists there Are Only about 450 mine specialists in the Navy Swart it is a pretty elite and one that is getting More and More attention be cause of the increased importance mine warfare has taken on in recent pilots Arent playing when they go for the Ball by Lon Cabot Naples Bureau chief Sicily when pilots of Fleet logistics support so 24 or 24 go for the they Arent playing the Ball is an optical Landing catching it Means the Pilot is on course for a Carrier what we do is take 300 feet of the runway and give the pilots a 20foot area of the with five feet on either Side of the Center to touch Down that makes it a 20foot by 10foot Box they have to touch Down on to have made a successful Carrier land said John training officer for or based at the naval air station in or 24 provides Airlift support to units of the 6th Fleet operating in the Mediterranean and other naval forces within the european although our primary Mission is to provide the Fleet with timely service in terms of casualty repair items and Mission essential one of our most recognized services is providing the men aboard those ships with said William com manding officer of or also known As the lifting All the pilots in the Squadron have to go through a routine re qualification in the c2 before they make any Carrier said Dan a Veteran of More than hours flight time in a Archer said Field Carrier Landing practice Means the difference Between a successful or aborted Carrier and you dont get Many second chances when youre Landing a c2 on a heaving aircraft car Rier deck at he a Pilot who has had flying experience in a c2 can re qualify for Carrier landings in anywhere from two to six Archer a Pilot who has never flown the c2 must spend from six to 18 months flying the c2 before qualifying for Carrier Field Carrier Landing practice is the heart of the qualification process for c2 Field Carrier Landing practice is a building Block said to every stage of it gives you a Little More experience in handling the during Carrier Landing a Pilot Maneu vers his c2 through the same approach pattern used in aircraft Carrier once the Pilot Banks the air Craft toward the runway he begins gauging his descent and Angle of approach according to the signals he receives from a fresnel Lens optical Landing system pilots theres a lot of jargon used in this said training officer Angle of attack is the Posi Tion of the plane As it comes in on line up is How the plane is and Meatball is what we Call the signal the optical Landing system gives As a c2 straightened out and began its descent on the Labella jotted comments on a notepad about the aircraft Angle of descent and this is called a he said As he tapped a thumb on the stick like control he held in one we use this to signal the Pilot through lights on the optical Landing when he sees certain lights he knows Hes either got the Ball and is Clear to land or that Hes to take a wave off and come in the whole of Field Carrier Landing practice is to allow pilots to get the feel for setting themselves up for Carrier approach and he that Means knowing when to Start your break your Angle of approach to the ship and being Able to set the air Soj up eth the ship for its also earning How to judge the wind and getting a feel for what it takes to catch the
