New documentary "Carrier" on PBS

[BTravlin]

Thought I might alert everyone here to a new documentary called "Carrier" that will be shown on PBS starting on 4/27. It's a 10 hour film that I believe will be aired in five 2 hour segments. The film was made by a crew who spent a full six month tour aboard the USS Nimitz where they were given totally free access and full editorial control. Includes various ports of call across the Pacific plus some time posted in support of the Iraq war.

It looks like it could be a very good series and I think it could lead to some good discussions here due to many SBer's who have military backgrounds.

 

[mike_s]

NOt sure why this thread/subject is in the Pub.... seems like it should have been in the mainstreem threads... If it wasn't for this thread I wouldn't known about the series as I didn't see it advertised ANYWHERE else.


Anyway, I TIVO'd and watched most of this series. It was pretty good.

They definately covered a lot of opinions of those serving on board.


Anyone notice the production company? ICON. That's owned by Mel Gibson. (He was also listed as executive producer).


The only one I didn't get was "hour 1" when they were leaving. We had satelite problems due to a storm.

I expect we'll see this aired again though. If not on PBS then maybe on History Channel, Discovery or Military Channel.

 

[scubafool]

I watched all of the episodes as well. It was pretty good.

Seemed to me to be more a human interest story than a "military" story. There wasn't that much technical stuff about the carrier and the planes, but there was a lot of stuff about the people on the carrier, their dreams, their problems, their background, etc. It was a pretty good job of depicting the diverse personalities that exist in the military, in spite of the discipline and the attempt to make everyone conform to a particular standard.

 

[mike_s]

I watched all of the episodes as well. It was pretty good.

Seemed to me to be more a human interest story than a "military" story. There wasn't that much technical stuff about the carrier and the planes, but there was a lot of stuff about the people on the carrier, their dreams, their problems, their background, etc. It was a pretty good job of depicting the diverse personalities that exist in the military, in spite of the discipline and the attempt to make everyone conform to a particular standard.

I agree that this was more about "life" story than a "military story.


still good though. Nice to see something with a change of pace though.

 

[ScubaTexan]

Not sure why this thread/subject is in the Pub.... seems like it should have been in the mainstreem threads... If it wasn't for this thread I wouldn't known about the series as I didn't see it advertised ANYWHERE else.

I agree, so I moved it over to Non-Diving Related Stuff.

 

[augk]

I have been watching it on PBS very interesting watching. Even got my wife interested in watching one night while we were up late with our newborn we watched the last two episodes back to back.

 

[ScubaTexan]

I think my uncle served on the Nimitz during Vietnam. I'll have to ask him.

 

[Noboundaries]

I saw probably four hours of the series. As a former Navy carrier pilot on the Kitty Hawk and Enterprise they did a commendable job of capturing the routine of life on the carrier. I didn't watch it all though. It brought back too many uncomfortable memories of just how inconvenient life is at sea. With the exceptions of some amazing sunsets, nightly movies, mail call, and an occasional 48 hour stand-down, most of those memories are anchored to 100-120*F staterooms, constant noise, chronic fatigue, 18-20 hour workdays for weeks on end, and missing my wife.

Even the flights got repetitive to the point of boredom. Hell, I fell asleep one night about 2 AM while trying to tank my single seat A-7E Corsair off an A-6 whatever Intruder while flying in extreme turbulence. My transponder wouldn't transpond so I got stuck in a high holding pattern for 90 minutes overhead the ship. Tanking in those challenging conditions seemed like it would break the routine so I joined up on the tanker and gave it several attempts, right up to the point I fell asleep. When I woke up I was about 2,000 feet below the tanker about a mile in trail hearing him yell my callsign. Don't know if I was just plain bored, exhausted, or both.

What I saw indicated it was a good series. My wife loved it. Of the Navy life she remembers the parties, traveling overseas to meet me in port, and the status of being a Navy pilot's wife. I'll probably buy her a copy.....just before I leave on a short, very doable, two week business trip so she can watch it while I'm gone.

 

[BTravlin]

The Navy recruited me out of high school for their nuclear program. Said if I joined I'd have been stationed on a carrier or sub. At the time I thought I could handle a carrier but no way on the sub and there were no guarantees so I passed. After watching this I don't think I would have liked carrier duty either. Kudos to those who are able to do this. They're better men than I am.

 

[mavdog]

I did 2yrs on the Nimitz, with the Mardet, back when they had them. I watched some of shows. It seems very different now. I think there were only two or three women on the boat when I was there. Also, there is alot more going on below deck than I saw on the show. I could go weeks without ever seeing the sun. I agree with Noboundaries it was uncomfortable, alot of missing the wife and stuff.