[Dog Gone]

The Nimitz will arrive too late to see anything except mop-up action, but the boys at the Lincoln will deserve a trip home.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

We need to put the ole jack-slap on Saddam real quick like.

[dk/coro]

Sounds rather cavalier to me.

I played the carrier deployment game for over 20 years -- and in my humbly opinion, "If something can go wrong, it will." to turn the old phrase. I suspect that this one will not quite be the walk in the park that we all hope for. And, even if it goes smoothly, I remember one night in the Norwegian sea in the fall of '57 when in one launch cycle Saratoga lost three naval aviators and our Air Group in Essex lost eight...for a total of 11 deaths in 1.8 hours.

That my friend is what this is all about. And, 10 months away from home in "peacetime" IS one hellova deployment schedule -- in any man's language.

Tuff ball game DG. Treat it seriously. Respy, DKP/Coronado