DATE: Tuesday, November 18, 1997            TAG: 9711180255

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

G.W. STANDS READY SHOULD IT GET THE CALL

Three days after being called in for possible action against Iraq, the Norfolk-based carrier George Washington and four other ships in its battle group were ``moving as fast as we can'' toward the Persian Gulf, the battle group's commander said Monday.

``We've been working a scenario like this for almost nine or 10 months,'' Rear Adm. Michael G. Mullen said in a satellite-phone interview. ``The readiness is as high as I have ever seen it. I feel very comfortable that we can do whatever we're called on to do.''

The G.W. and its 5,500 sailors and airmen were getting ready to participate in an exercise in the Mediterranean Sea when it was diverted Friday toward the Persian Gulf. Mullen said that by the end of the week, it will rendezvous in the gulf with the carrier Nimitz and its battle group.

As of mid-afternoon Monday Norfolk time, the G.W. was two-thirds of the way down the Red Sea, accompanied by the Norfolk-based guided-missile cruiser Normandy; the guided-missile destroyer Carney from Mayport, Fla.; the fast-attack submarine Annapolis from Groton, Conn., and the Earle, N.J.-based fast combat support ship Seattle.

Because winds would not allow the carrier to travel at full speed and conduct regular flight operations, the ship has suspended flights. ``The number one issue right now is to get to the gulf,'' Mullen explained.

Mullen said the Normandy has been traveling near the G.W. ``I suspect,'' he said, ``they will go into the gulf with us at the same time.''

The G.W.'s crew and its air wing are ``acutely aware'' of the worldwide interest in the Iraq crisis, the admiral noted. ``We have television monitors all over the ship, in every berthing compartment. We're running CNN International around the clock,'' he said. ``There has not been a broadcast that . . . people haven't paid attention to, particularly, obviously, as the crisis has built.''

There was ``a very clear understanding very early by our most junior sailors that it could very well involve us,'' Mullen added.

From a communications standpoint, the G.W. is much more plugged in to the outside world than were ships involved in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

``We have sailor phones and we have e-mail,'' Mullen noted. ``And so our families have followed it sort of from the inside as well as from the outside.''

And he has been well-connected to other U.S. military components as he has headed for the gulf.

``For the past two days, at the end of the day I have been in a videoteleconference with all of the component commanders involved in this theater,'' Mullen said.

Marine Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command, leads the sessions, which include representatives of the Nimitz, the Navy's 5th Fleet, the Army and Air Force.

``I can see what the boss wants to do,'' Mullen said. ``I know all the players. . . . From a planning standpoint, I've never seen it any better.''

He passed on a message to the families of the Hampton Roads-based sailors. ``They need to know that we understand our business, that we're very safe . . them to keep those cards, letters and e-mails coming.'' ILLUSTRATION: Rear Adm. Michael G. Mullen says his crew understands

the potential threat.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Norfolk-based carrier George Washington is at a peak of

readiness, its captain says, as it proceeds toward the Persian Gulf.

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