http://www.boston.com/dailynews/302/world/The_ancient_meets_the_modern_i:.shtml

The ancient meets the modern in life aboard a U.S. Navy warship

By Chris Tomlinson, Associated Press, 10/29/2001 01:35

ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (AP) U.S. sailors still have to swab decks and work all hours of day and night. But now, when they are done with 12-hour shifts, they can read e-mails from home, eat a fresh apple and watch the latest movies.

In many ways, a sailor's life hasn't changed since the first boats ventured into uncharted waters centuries ago. Sailors still spend months at sea in cramped quarters and storms still roll even mammoth ships like toys in a bathtub.

But 21st century technology has made it all a little less painful, even when fighting a war against the Taliban and the suspected terrorist groups they are harboring in Afghanistan.

''I come from the days when after three days at sea you were eating powdered eggs and powdered milk,'' said Command Master Chief Petty Officer David Vitulski, who has spent 27½ years in the Navy. ''Now we have fresh eggs and milk every day.''

Better supply lines may mean fresher food, but the Navy tradition of standing in line hasn't changed. Sailors holding trays snake down narrow passageways during the four meals a day, and, of course, they still grouse about the taste.

E-mail, something so simple, yet miraculous by Vietnam War standards, makes all the difference to sailors in the Arabian Sea taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom. Many old-timers may not be comfortable with computers, but for younger sailors, e-mail is virtually a human right, Vitulski said.

''One of the big things that keeps them going is real-time e-mail that's very important to them,'' he said. ''E-mail and surfing the Web has really had a great effect.''

Seaman Nick Urbas, 19, checks his e-mail in the ship's library.

''I've got a girl back home and I can keep in touch with her,'' said Urbas, a weapons specialist. If he has time, something now scarce, he can play video games on the library's Playstation.

Even with e-mail available, when one of the daily flights from shore arrives with normal mail, sailors still run for the mail room, hoping for packages and scented letters from loved ones.

Not all ships have the same luxuries. Life is perhaps easiest on aircraft carriers like the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a 1,000-foot-long, 18-story-tall home to 5,500 people.

The carrier has its own television studio that broadcasts three movie channels throughout the ship as well as CNN, when available, along with live shots from the flight deck and a compass showing the ship's position, speed and direction.

Sailors still have to keep in shape. But step aerobics between the planes on the hanger deck is as common as push-ups and sit-ups.

Most of the ship is air-conditioned, a relief in a region where high humidity makes mid-80s temperatures feel much warmer. Many sailors who work below decks say they rarely venture on deck, some saying they see the sun maybe once every two weeks.

It can be as hot as 110 degrees in areas like the laundry and the kitchen and especially on the flight deck, where jet exhausts superheat the air. Many sailors in those areas work with bags of water strapped to their back with a tube that runs over their shoulder to suck on.

If life at sea has changed, so have the sailors themselves. There are 724 women on the carrier, working in every possible job, including fighter pilot, and there are members of every major religion and ethnic group.

''The young men and women are a lot more educated than when I came in; they are not as naive as I was,'' Vitulski said. As the senior petty officer, he is responsible for the health, welfare and training of enlisted sailors.

One reason for the improved quality of life is that in a volunteer Navy, it has to be better.

Navy commanders have ''made a concerted effort to improve the food, to bring more from home aboard the ship,'' said Petty Officer Larry Peiper, a chaplain's assistant and a seven-year veteran.

The ship's commander, Capt. Rich O'Hanlon, said his top priority is crew safety and morale.

''The ship's crew is a family,'' said O'Hanlon, a New Yorker. ''When there is stress, we handle it like a family: We talk about it. We support each other.''

Before the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, the crew had been told to expect as many as seven port calls during six months at sea, visiting cities in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Now they don't expect to step on land until they get back home to Norfolk, Va., in March, if then.

''Many of these kids joined to see the world, but they won't see much of it on this campaign,'' Peiper said.

Many of the sailors who work with the planes pull 18-hour shifts, staggering back to narrow 21-person berths where they sleep in bunk beds stacked three high. Privacy at sea is a curtain pulled around a 76-inch-long by 26-inch-wide by 24-inch-deep bunk space.

Taking part in a combat mission brings extra pay. In addition to sea pay and hazardous duty pay, sailors don't have to pay taxes on their earnings while in a combat zone.

And there is the pride in defending your country.

''They are standing a little taller,'' said Vitulski, the senior enlisted sailor in Carrier Air Wing One. ''We are protecting America's freedom. No matter what role they are playing, it's important.''

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001