Launching flights around the clock in the Persian Gulf.

A board the USS Vinson--About to return home from the Persian Gulf, this Navy aircraft carrier has spent the last six months balancing two crucial missions: providing close-air support to U.S. ground troops in Iraq and trying to keep the waters safe from terrorists, said Capt. Kevin Donegan.

Donegan, the Vinson's skipper, describes the Persian Gulf as a "challenging environment, because the traffic density here is very high ... That is not only on the surface of the sea, it is in the air and all around."

The Vinson's goal has been "to keep the terrorists from using any of the Persian Gulf to operate as any kind of base," Donegan tells National Defense. "We provide airplanes over Iraq for as prolonged a period of time as we can throughout each day," he adds. "We integrate with the other air forces that are doing the same thing, so that the forces on the ground have those airplanes if they need them."

The Vinson is the lead ship of Carrier Strike Group Three, which includes the USS Antietam (CG-54), USS O'Kane (DDG-77), USS Mustin (DDG-89) and USS Camden (AOE-2).

Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 fighter jets operating from the Vinson are being used not only for ground support, but also to provide surveillance and monitoring. Other aircraft on board include electronic support and early warning systems, such as the E2-C Hawkeye and the EA-B Prowler. The aircraft are part of Carrier Air Wing 9.

The missions that the pilots fly in support of current operations in Iraq are unique and provide a different approach to using fighter jets, said Marine Capt. Ben Buerke, a member of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, based in Miramar, Calif.

"We spend a lot of time loitering," he said. Advanced targeting pods on the F/A-18s and aerial refueling allow pilots to stay on station for several hours. "It is not the most efficient way, but it is an effective way, because not only can we do reconnaissance, but we can also employ weapons within a few minutes' notice."

The F/A-18s are launched more for deterrence and show of force, said Marine Capt. Kelly Hinz, also with VMFA 323. "In Iraq, it is more or less a non-threatening environment. People are not shooting up at us. We do not have the enemy with anti-aircraft weapons or SAMs [surface-to-air missiles] so it becomes a very low threat close-air support scenario. That is the way we treat it."

In this environment, pilots point, it is hard to maintain proficiency in delivering ordnance when so few bombs get dropped. "We are not really in a training cycle anymore. We are in the execution phase and we have to work with the ship to try and get training ... and keep our skills where they need to be, so that when we have to drop weapons, we do it right," Hinz said.

On May 2, Hinz died when his plane apparently collided with another F/A-18 while flying a mission over southern Iraq, according to media reports. Another pilot--Maj. John C. Spahr, also a member of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323--was killed as well.

At press time, the Navy had not released any details of the crash, but some reports indicated that weather could have been part of the cause.

The squadrons conduct training drills off the carrier to keep their proficiency up, but that is still less training than they would like, Buerke said. "It is not like riding a bike. The skills will diminish very rapidly."

Because they view Iraq as a "low-threat" environment, the pilots can fly as low as they need, said Buerke. "A lot of times, we would do a show of force, fly at low altitude and high speed ... If ground forces are being shot at, it is probably too late to have a show of force, then you need to actually drop bombs."

The repetitiveness of their missions reminds pilots of "Groundhog Day," but the work is still satisfying, said Buerke. "The ground guys would ask us to clear path for them, to visually come down low where we use our advanced pods to work the area," he adds.

The fighter jets fly about 28 sorties a day over Iraq, said Rear Adm. Bruce Clingan, commander of Strike Group Three. "We start at about 11:30 a.m. for the first flight of the day and we do not stop flying until 1 a.m. We do that for about 13 flight days in a row, and we only take one day off," he said.

Each sortie lasts about five and a half hours. "They leave the aircraft carrier. They will refuel. They will go to the places in Iraq that need them."

Upon its return in June, the Vinson will undergo a midlife refueling, which takes about three years. Aircraft carriers are made to last 50 years.