What It's Really Like To Live And Work On An Aircraft Carrier

Matt Lutton, Mashable: Life in the 'Danger Zone'

What it's really like to live and work on an aircraft carrier

I grew up fully under the spell of Top Gun.

I wore out my VHS copy of Top Gun when I was 8-years-old, fast-forwarding to all of the scenes with airplanes nearly everyday after school. I fell completely into the movie's world of fighter jets and macho sailors protecting the free world. My dream, like the dreams of so many other kids of the 1980s, was to grow up to be a naval aviator like Maverick.

As I grew older and began to watch how America fought its wars, I became aware of the awing power of not just our planes, but our aircraft carriers. Nearly all of our modern military maneuvers from World War II to the present have involved the use of carriers and their arsenal. A modern carrier can transport around 70 planes and helicopters that serve many different roles: Fighters, bombers, electronic warfare, anti-submarine, search and rescue, aerial refueling and more.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: An in-depth look at what life is like on an aircraft carrier.