European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                2nd class charges an ing engine cum Lator. A few of the hundreds in the Forrest ats round the clock flight deck Crew Park recovered aircraft. The contraption Petty officer 3rd class Greg Francis uses bends tubing for a Hydraulic system. Pm Quot says chief warrant officer 3 Doug Chaney 37, catapult and arresting gear maintenance officer try officer 2nd class Richard Trappier 25, operates resting gears no. 3 engine. He often goes two Days stretch without seeing his rack. Trappier operates the during the Day and when there Are no night actions repairs it at night. In room where he works beneath the flight deck Visini it j i m trying to quit smoking but this is i hell of a Job to do while . Frank Kraemer letaway63 Mac Nery and no ise visitors can t wait Tappier a native of Florence s.c., says his Job is isamtk3171003every Day but somehow it is never Ler Vidimo s never a dul1 moment Quot he says. 9 to work a Acra ands we Are confident our gear is rep if 3fd class gre9 Francis 28, from it to Miro is an a a a on hydraulics Mechanic. He lassisiant9 a ear and Len worked five years As i Leof Wmma a or of a Steakhouse. He quit that Job a 7 years ago to join the Navy was 0r n9 it was the same routine every Day. The mornings in the Steakhouse were terrible because there was nothing to look Forward to. I d Only been out of my Home state twice in my life. I joined the Navy to see things and to learn a technical  now on his second Forrestal cruise Francis has Learned a skill seen some of the world and plans to re enlist. He shares a berthing compartment with 398 other Guys. Quot it s the cleanest berthing space on the ship Quot he says with Pride. Quot i Don t have any problem sleeping. You get accustomed to the traffic and the noise. If i want quiet i go to the Library. Fortunately i Don t need to get off on my  now when he goes Back Home his friends and family Quot want me to stay in uniform so they can show me off a he says. Quot going Back Home is a big ego  Petty officer 1st class Kenneth Ricci works in Quality Assurance in ordnance. He s been in the Navy 10 years seven of them aboard carriers. The 27-year-old from los Angeles compares his life with that of his friends from High school and realizes Quot they Are not going anywhere. They Are still doing the same things it s  the Forrestal is scheduled to return to Mayport fla., its Home part sometime in the next two months. Ricci who is married and has a daughter 8, and a son 3, acknowledges that Long family separations Are hard on sailors. As for holidays Quot ill have my Christmas when i get Home with my family Quot he says. Many Carrier sailors go for weeks at a time without going topside for a look around and a breath of fresh air. Quot you miss it but you get so wrapped up in the Job that you lose track of time Quot Ricci says. Chief Petty officer Phil Stevens 40, is one of those who Seldom sees the Light of Day. The 20-year Man works seven decks below the Carrier s waterline running an auxiliary Power Plant and one of the ship s four 65,000 horsepower engines. A a in be been topside three times on this deployment. Twice for Liberty and once for a haircut Quot Stevens says nearly four months into the cruise. Quot i m an outdoors person Back Home in Jacksonville fla., and yet the time below really does t bother me Quot says Stevens who has More than 100,000 Miles at sea and has been aboard the Forrestal for 41/2 years. When Stevens Isnit working 16 to 18 hours a Day he passes the time writing letters watching to and Riding an exercise Bike. Stevens who has 42 men working for him says he has been offered $50,000 a year by a civilian firm but has no immediate plan to get out of the Navy. Quot Why should i get out i be got a lot going for me in the Navy. I have the american dream a a Good Job a Nice House and a Fine family. I go Back to my Hometown and my friends Aren t doing As Well As i am financially and they have never seen anything. A i came in for the travel but Job Security keeps me in. I Don t think i could find a civilian Job that gives me the Job satisfaction i get  despite the fact that Petty officer 2nd class Michael Shayne a 28-year-old Hospital corpsman must share a compartment with 18 other men he says he loves being at sea. Quot it s taking a cruise to see places Quot the Dundalk my resident says. Quot my wife envies me every time i go away Quot deployments to the Mediterranean and its interesting ports get top Marks from Carrier personnel especially air Crews Quot the Crews love it i be never seen better flying weather than on this deployment to the med and this is my eighth med cruise Quot says capt. Arthur f. Richardson commander of the Carrier s air Wing. Increased cooperation among the nato allies has resulted in a big jump in flying opportunities particularly m night and Low level training operations Richardson says capt. Tim Thomassy is the Forrestal s upbeat Blunt spoken skipper. He believes that living conditions aboard carriers have greatly improved Over the years As has the Quality of Young Carrier sailors he Points with Pride to the result of a urinalysis lest for drug use performed on 3,200 crewmen after the Carrier put to sea from a 19-Day port visit to Marseilles France reputedly one of the world s drug centers out of the 3,200, three sailors tested positively for marijuana. Quot ill Challenge any Junior High school in the states to Best that Quot the Captain says even the old Guys with hundreds of traps Don t like going out on varsity  it. Chris Greene .1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15