NEW YORK (1010 WINS)  -- You don't get a full appreciation for the Navy until you spend some time on one of the ships. This is my 7th Fleet Week trip, second aboard the USS Kearsarge, and it never gets old. Walked aboard Monday morning in Norfolk, VA, and its been a flurry of activity since.

A little background. The Kearsarge is a LHD, designed to launch aircraft, transport marines, and land and retrieve amphibious craft. The flight deck handles helicopters and jets, including the Harrier and Osprey. For this trip, there are approx. 12 hundred sailors and 700 marines, along with plenty of military hardware and displays geared to Fleet Week. Most aboard seem happy about the mission, especially New Yorkers, who get some extra time at home.

The day on the Kearsarge begins early, 6 a.m. for most, 4 a.m. for my escort, Emmitt Hawks. He's juggling duties in the ships TV and newspaper as well as keeping track of reporters and visitors who seem to constantly wander where they shouldn't. The day starts in the mess, although its hard to call the spic and span Officers Wardroom a mess. Meals are large and seem to be served continuously. I popped in at 11 p.m. on Monday and found two Marines hunched over huge bowls of penne pasta.

Met and shook hands with the Commanding Officer first thing Monday, Captain Jim Gregorski seems familiar because he is, he was the Executive Officer, or XO, the last time I was aboard the Kearsarge. He spends most of his time on the Bridge, which is the one place I visited where I didn't take a picture. ( Yes, I even clicked one in the head, or bathroom). With planes landing, navigators plotting and pilots stearing, I figured an inadvertant flash would get me tossed.

No where is the mix of old and new more apparent than on the Bridge. LCD screens are everwhere, with maps and meters. Yet, navigators still huddle over paper maps, using compasses and protractors to plot and replot the course. The ship glides on top of the sea and can top 30 miles per hour, driven by two huge engines 11 decks below the Bridge. The engine rooms are hot and loud, ear plugs are worn outside of the command room, and temperatures when I was there hovered at about 110 degrees. My guide in the engine room, MM2 Robert Greil of Rushford, N.Y, says it was near 150 degrees when they were in the gulf this February, meaning the check of the meters was done at a brisk walk to get back into the temperature controlled command.

Greil's N.Y. address isn't uncommon in the Navy, and the Kearsarge is no exception. I met a dozen sailors from the Big Apple in the first two hours, from the Security Officer LT Harold Johnson from Flatbush to Master Chief Petty Officer Leon Hasley in the ship's store who hails from Jamaica. All were happy to head home, looking forward to Mom's cooking and hanging out with friends. The port briefing that was on the ship's TV was the usual don't get in trouble warning, watch out for pick pockets, don't get drunk, but with a few ominous warnings about terrorism. The military puts the terror threat at significant, a little different than the color coded system put out by Homeland Security.

Managed to see a lot of corners of the ship, which is essentially a floating village. A post office, bank, library, chapel and barber shop (no basic training shave cut jokes please) to name a few. The ship's medical facility is second only to hospital ships, and is complete with operating rooms, x-ray and dentist chairs. One of the things the Kearsarge does frequently is good will visits around the globe, and will be heading to South America later this year to do just that, providing medical help at a number of ports.

The Kearsarge is also loaded with high tech defensive and offensive hardware. Guns of all sizes ring the ship, and there are numerous radar systems, as well as aircraft. Oh, and there are 700 marines on board, along with a couple of howitzers and an Abrams A1 tank. I feel safe.

Remember MC Hawks, my ship's escort. His day doesn't end until midnight, and he's back up at 4 a.m. Public Affairs guys get busy during Fleet Week. Although they don't like to call it P-R, there is no getting away from the fact the week in the Hudson and through out the city is a great recruiting tool.

I'm on a navy ship, but definately not in the Navy. I'm able to pretty much go where I want, eat with the officers, and stay in a very comfortable two bunk stateroom. But I didn't run into much complaining from the enlisted, although many have what would have to be considered menial tasks.

The USS Kearsarge will be at Pier 88, west side, near the Cruise Ship terminal, and will be open for tours. There is plenty to see, lots of displays and Marine weaponry, just wear smart shoes, no sandles, this is a military ship, all metal, as one Marine told me, it ain't no cruise ship.

Ahoy......Al

Photo of the USS Kearsarge by Al Jones