‘Shooter’ ship conducts last-minute tests, drills

ABOARD THE USS BUNKER HILL-Many of the more than 300 sailors aboard this cruiser, operating in the northern Persian Gulf, woke up two hours before reveille Tuesday morning to hear their commander-in-chief deliver a final ultimatum to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. For those who forgot to set their alarms, the message was hammered home later in the morning, when the cruiser's skipper, Capt. Faris Farwell, took to the intercom and announced that all crew members should carry their protective gas masks with them at all times.

In the event of a chemical or biological weapons attack, sailors were told they must pull the plastic masks over their heads in less than 10 seconds. Later on Tuesday, a voice shouted over the intercom, "Drill, drill, chemical attack, chemical attack!" Then a deafening pinging alarm went off. A young officer, clad in workout shorts and a T-shirt, ducked into his berthing area, out of the reach of senior chief petty officers roaming the hallways to ensure masks were on. "I forgot my gear," he said sheepishly.

Up on the bridge, young naval officers, most not even in middle school when generals named Schwarzkopf and Powell last mustered massive U.S. forces in the Gulf region, navigated the Bunker Hill through crowded and dangerously shallow waters. The ship's keel glides only 20 feet above the gulf's floor.

Officers have nicknamed the 300-square mile area of the gulf they patrol here "Dhow City" after the dozens of wooden Iraqi fishing boats resembling Chinese junks that troll the blue waters. Officers pass the tedium of five-hour watches on the bridge by counting the number of dhows that float by. One day, they counted more than 70. Tuesday, however, few dhows were visible as the ship steamed northward.

Off the ship's starboard side, silhouetted by a brilliant late afternoon sun, was a naval minesweeper, checking for the deadly mines that nearly sank another Navy cruiser, the Princeton, in this same stretch of waters 12 years ago. Lying behind the minesweeper were Marine amphibious transport ships, which have already carried their Marines to Kuwait. Those ships wait at sea for a return voyage, under the cover of the Bunker Hill's air defense radar systems.

But offense-in the form of Tomahawk missiles-is the reason the Bunker Hill is called a "shooter." The 20-foot, 6-inch-long rockets are stored upright in square white steel containers in the ship's Vertical Launch System, an automated launching pad that rises over three decks and can fire as many as 61 missiles at a time.

Petty Officer Vernon Rose, who monitors the launch system as a gunner's mate, said seeing the rockets launched would be an emotional experience. "I know what they can do," he said.

On the ship's rear, two gunner's mates stood alongside the 61 hatches that will lift open and send the missiles off in a sea of flames and white smoke. Using an electronic handheld trigger, they repeatedly opened and closed each of the hatches. Normally, they check the rocket tubes every other month, but they were told to move up the tests earlier this week. The Tomahawks are not visible down the dark missile shafts because they are covered by a dark green rubber membrane that reads, "Extremely Fragile."

In the magazine below the ship's five-inch gun, Petty Officer Jason Mitchell put an extra coat of black polish on his boats and sipped a can of Coke in the shadow of the gun's mechanical loader. Mitchell says maintenance on the ship's gun is up to date, so now he has time to take care of his own gear. He said he expects to feel "an adrenaline rush, the kind you don't get during a drill" if the ship is called on to bombard Iraq.

Mitchell's boss, Chief Petty Officer Derik Millar, the ship's top gunner, said his challenge is to keep his gunners focused and make sure his younger charges don't get overwhelmed by the battle. "We train, we train, we train and run drills like crazy," he said. "When we know its an exercise, we'll do it quickly, efficiently and effectively. But if its not an exercise, there will be more emotion going with it."

Tuesday night, a gunner's mate, binoculars slung over his shoulders, paced at mid-ship in front of an M-60 machine gun, keeping a lookout for small craft that might escape the ship's radar systems. Standing watch can be monotonous, especially at night. Gunners passed the evening by trading insults across their headsets with the other 20-year-olds on watch as a full moon rose over the Arabian Peninsula.