Lexington (CVA 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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figiugiriim Smallest of the major departments, Operations is the brains of our outfit. More than 250 men are split into seven divisions-aero- Iogy, air control, radio, photography and signals. Number one is Big Ed Gendron-CDR lNavy typel and Department head. Organizing-planning-information processing. Everybody wants us to do something different. UNREPS we have to have. AIR OPS we have to have. EXERCISES we have to have. YARD AVAILABI- LITY we must absolutely have. Schedules have to be set and meshed. Sometimes they are changed. It is not true laccording to a usually unreliable sourcel that the office yeomen refuse to start typing a new schedule for two hours, knowing by past experience that changes are bound to occur. Higher commands must be placated. COMSEVENTHFLT will have his UNREP on the lOth, on the Ilth we get new DD's for plane guards, EMCON will be set on the I2th through I5th during EX- ERCISE GEDUNK, COMNAVAIRPAC will have sufficient flight time logged in by the Air Group, CINCPACfClNCPACFLT will have an operationally ready striking force. Other departments will be made happy. Gunnery will be allowed four hours on the morning of the I4th for a practice shoot. The Air Group will have night flying for necessary qualifications of pilots- buddy bombing and loft bombing practices will be scheduled-and so forth. Air Department will clear the Hangar Bay so Supply can move stores. Internally the different Operations divisions have divergent iobs. Organizing and planning is done from on high-when and where we do what. Information processing is done by the divisions. How's the weather? is an idle, conversation-starting phrase to most people. To LEXINGTON AG's of OA Division, however, it is the be-all and end-all of their existence. From daily radiosonde balloon ascents, teletype weather reports from hundreds of distant stations, facsimile recordings sent by Fleet Weather Centrals, and personal observation the weather-guessers know what the weather will be like as closely as the meteorogical science allows. Main Communications is the central office for OR Division and through it pass all incoming and outgoing messages. Equipment varies from the always reliable dit-dah key to newer, larger, faster electronic marvels. Radiomen must know more than the Morse Code- they must know teletype, transmitters, patch panels and how to get along with the Communications Watch Officer. Though under the Communications Otficer's aegis, the Signal Gang is a separate organization. Tactical messages sent mainly by flashing light is their specialty. Not for away from Main Comm is the murky darkness of CIC - fiilled with plotting tables, charts, display boards, and radars. Combat is a giant information processing machine, many small bits of in- formation are collected, analyzed and evaluated against the Big Picture-for use by the Bridge in any tactical situation. Adjacent to dim CIC is dim CCA. This means Carrier Controlled Approach room and is manned by the bright eyed, always sober Air Controlmen of OC Division. The Air Picture is their problem- where each plane is at all times and how it is doing. The Really Big Overall Picture is in Air Intelligence. Amongst numerous charts, diagrams and books, the strategic capability of the ship and all potential enemies is kept up to date by AI. big- gest problem is remembering which pins stand for which. Thumb tack poisoning is a cornmon occupational ailment. , Working directly with Air lntellignce is the Operations Depart- ments' Photographers of OP Division. Every take-off and landing is put on film. Every identilication photo is taken by OP. Their lab stays open 24 hours a day-it has to, to get the work done. One thing you have to consider when talking about gathering information-it takes equipment. Lots of it and each piece damned complicated. Keeping the gear working is the iob of OE Division. Department motto: NEXT WEEK WE HAVE TO GET ORGANIZED. ens bill bealer-admin assistant ltig harvey mckelvey-CIC type

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CCA pfotfer ploffing the synoptic weafher chori clpplicafion of fhe new iwo-balloon rcidiosoncle theory I,