Nimitz (CVN 68) - Naval Cruise Book

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It has been said that landing aircraft on a carrier flight deck is like landing on a postage stamp. For Interior Comrnuni- cation Electrician First Class Curtis Beers, Jr., andthe rest of V- 2Division, using lights and lenses to get aircraft safely aboard this four-and-a-half acre postage stamp is all in a day's work. It was Beers, superior performance in his field which earned him the distinction of NIMITZ' 1990 Sailor of the Year. The award which was presented at the NIMITZ Christmas Party Dec. 21, 1990, represents the cessful Navy career. At his workcenter in V-2 Division, Beers super- vises the operation and up- keep of the four primary elec- trical and optical systems which assist in the launch and recovery aircraft aboard NIMITZ. We help pilots get aboard safely, he explains That,s our whole purposef, To do that, Beers and his ship- mates use systems like the Fresnel lens, or meatball, an optical landing system mounted aft on the ship' s port side. This series of lights is designed to assist incoming aircraft in maintaining a glide slope which will get the aircraft and pilot safely onto the deck. Another area under Beers' supervision is the Integrated Launch and Recovery Television Surveillance CILARTSJ Sys- tem. This system consists of six cameras, mounted on and near the flight deck, which monitor catapult hookups, aircraft landings and approaches. The Landing Signal Officer CLSOJ heads-up display system, located near the meatball on the LSO platform, allows the LSO to track and assist incoming aircraft. Used primarily for night and foul-weather situations, the heads-up display re- ceives much of its infor- mation from the auto- matic carrier landing system. Closely related to that system is the Manually Operated Vi- sual Landing Aid Sys- tem, which allows the Landing Signal Officer to manually control the Fresnel lens and lights in case of power failure. To the layman, these systems may sound about as simple as integral calculus, to Beers, however, success lies not just in understanding the systems, but in operating them with a can-do attitude as well. You need to find problems before they find you, says Beers. You have to stay one step ahead of everyone else. If you can do those things, and maintain a positive attitude, you'll be OK. And a little common sense doesn't hurt, either. latest achievement in Beer's suc- Beers has received formal Navy training in the Fresnel lens and ILARTS systems only, but has worked extensively with all four systems during his tour aboard NIMITZ. His training began after completing recruit train- ing in 1986, Beers attended Basic Electricity and Electron- ics School and IC A School in San Diego, Calif. After graduating at the top of his A school class, Beers was the number one candidate for assignment to NIMITZ, then deployed to the Mediterranean Sea. I was happy about it, he says, because I had asked for an East Coast ship. Before reporting to NIMITZ, Beers was Sent to Great Lakes, Ill., and an intense 15-week course on the ILARTS system. Again, he fin- ished at the top of his class. In May 1987, Beers reported aboard the NIMITZ Air Depart- ment. When I got here, NIMITZ was turning over with KITTY HAWK in the Med, he says. A month later, NIMITZ rounded South America on its way to Bremerton, and Beers' East Coast ship had switched coasts. As is typical with Petty Officer Beers, however, everything worked out for the best. He took part in that historic 42,000-mile deployment sailed into the Pacific Northwest, and landed on the end of Cupid's arrow. Curtis met Sandy, a Puget Sound native, later that year. They were' married in August 1989, and now have a daughter. In 1989, with NIMITZdry-docked, Beers attended the Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System Maintenance School in Lakehurst, N.J. Upon his re- tum, he hit the books in preparation for the First Class Petty Of- ficer examinations. And once again, Beers was successful: on I an. 16, after less than five years in the Navy, he was frocked to E-6. Advancing to E-6 and being named NIMITZ Sailor of the Year enter very little into his definition of job satisfaction: he seems to have achieved that satisfaction long ago. When someone knows you'll do a job and do it well -- when they know they can count on you, says Beers, that's satisfaction enough.

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