THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412200360
SECTION: MILITARY PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Remember those old '50s films where sailors crowded into smoke-filled wardrooms to watch tear-jerkers flash across dingy screens from squeaky projectors?
Those days are long gone. Now, color TVs - as many as 400 on the biggest ships - are everywhere: berthing areas, work spaces, even galleys.
Sailors aboard ship generally have a choice of four or more channels, all commercial free - unless you count the channel that broadcasts Navy messages.
There are music videos, talk shows, sitcoms, new releases, even some of those tear-jerkers.
``TV is good for morale onboard a ship,'' said Bud Powers, chief engineer at the Navy Broadcast Fleet Support Detachment in Chesapeake. ``There was a time when guys who went out for six months didn't have anything to do for entertainment but lift weights or look at the waves.''
Powers, a retired Army master sergeant, helped the Navy make the transition from reel-to-reel movies onboard ships to closed-circuit TV in the mid-1970s. The Chesapeake facility is the only one of its kind on the East Coast, designing and installing broadcast equipment for the entire fleet.
The latest creation of the broadcast support detachment is the ``501 Super SITE,'' recently installed onboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise. Each shipboard broadcasting system is called a SITE - Ship's Information, Training and Entertainment.
The Navy relies on TV for more than morale-boosting. Monitors carry information, public service announcements, and even live addresses by the commanding officer on a special channel.
In the old days, and even some times now for effect, the skipper had to crowd everyone onto a big deck and holler out what he had to say.
And there are the ubiquitous training films, covering topics including how to save a sailor overboard or avoiding sexual harassment.
Most ships, even submarines, get at least two channels while they're deployed. The larger vessels usually have four channels, and some ships buy added equipment so they can boost it to 10.
A few ships have 15-year-old equipment, but most have relatively new SITE systems onboard. The 22 service members who work at the broadcast detachment are constantly updating ship systems and training ships' journalists at the site in Chesapeake.
``The old systems were small minibroadcasting decks, not very user friendly,'' said Chief Jim Brantley, production chief. ``Getting the 501 Super SITE onboard the Enterprise is like getting a Porsche for your birthday instead of a Volkswagen. It's just a more professional product, which means people will watch it more, and it'll boost morale.''
Three sailors operate the Enterprise's broadcasting system, taping shipboard news and information, ordering and scheduling programming, editing tapes and pushing the buttons that send the signal throughout the ship from 7 in the morning until 1 in the afternoon, then again from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Programming is tailored to the 5,500-member crew - most of them 18- to 24-year-olds - and is ordered from AFRTS, Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in Los Angeles. The Enterprise stocks 500 to 700 movies and up to two months' worth of TV programs.
Some of the programs may be a couple of weeks old, but the crew rarely cares. TV can be a real sanity saver when a ship is deployed.
``Onboard a ship you can't ever really change your work environment, but by watching TV for a while, you can take a mental walk,'' said Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc Sorbello, 27, a broadcaster aboard the Enterprise.
TV is one way to enjoy a convenience from home, so often missed on long cruises, said Petty Officer Russ Clayton, another broadcaster.
``Just think about if you had to live with the same people you work with every day. TV gives everybody a break from each other once in a while,'' Clayton said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by CARL CASON
From left, Art Picard, Marc Sorbello and Russ Clayton, all petty
officers 2nd class, operate the closed-circuit TV system on the
Enterprise. The carrier stocks 500 to 700 movies.
by CNB