USN Question
 

What is the length of a typical work day for an enlisted guy who works the flight deck on a carrier?

Would a 36 hour shift be possible?

12-18 hours a day, 3 days a week...


...Those three days being yesterday, today and tomorrow.


... the work ain't for sissys.

Its hard ball busting..dangerous work.

From the short time I spent on a carrier, that was my impression. Didn't seem like a place where folks would see long shifts.

On another forum, someone said their son had worked 36 hour shifts on the flight deck. Sounds exaggerated...I don't know of 36 hour shifts anywhere that were routine.

I worked up on the flight deck. It's not bad, 12 hours a day and seven days a week until you pull into port.

There is usually a big difference between what O's and E's pull on the flight deck. Shooters (O's) are usually 12-15 hrs while a lot of your ABE's (the E's) pull 15-18. 24 for an ABE is not unheard of.

This was a mother talking about her son. The claim was that he worked 36 hour shifts "7 days a week" and slept on the flight deck because he was too tired "to drag himself below to his bunk".

Somehow, the idea that personnel would be permitted to do that is suspect...given all the noise, I wonder how anyone would sleep anyway.

Seems more of an exaggeration than anything else.

You get use to it! Squids can sleep through anything!
They are always the ones who keep me awake because they are snoring in our recliner rooms at 2:00am. :mad:

Flight Deck
 

It's not uncommon for guys to catch a few winks wherever they can between cycles. 15 or 20 minutes in the island or a ladderwell or catwalk is the norm. If you're lucky, you might get a quick bite from the hot dog cart during your shift. Those guys made my job seem easy, much respect.

I could catch a few winks in between "gear-up & gear-down" in the touch-n-go pattern. And set 3000 SHP with one eye!