The first try at a solution to the problem was known as the "Challenge Athena" experiment. Challenge Athena I-initially an experimental system on board the USS George Washington (CVN-73)-is a two-way, low-speed (around 768 kilobytes per second-kps) satellite link based upon commercial antenna technology. Originally developed for use in delivering intelligence photos and conducting video teleconferences, it has grown into a much broader communications system, and in the process has become incredibly popular with everyone in the fleet. Along with the obvious benefits to top planners and commanders, Challenge Athena provides the crew not only with two-way E-mail contact home, but also with direct live access to commercial television channels like CNN and ESPN. A new high-speed version of the system, Challenge Athena III, is about to be installed throughout the carrier force, as well as on fleet flagships, big-deck amphibious ships, and perhaps even major combatants like the Aegis cruisers and destroyers. A comparable system is being developed for use by submarines, to support Tomahawk cruise-missile targeting, special operations, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) missions. The domed Challenge Athena antennas are located on the flight deck level, outboard of the island and the crotch.
Now it is time to go below. After a drop down a stack of six ladders from the bridge, we find ourselves on the 03 or "Gallery" level, directly under the flight deck. Heading inboard, we find two central passageways running the length of the full ship. Almost a quarter-mile long, these passageways seem to go on forever, with only an occasional cross-passageway to break the monotony of "knee knockers" and watertight hatches. Most of what we see here are doors, lots of them, behind some of which are the real "brains" of the ship-the various command, air wing, and squadron spaces. In addition, most of the air wing officers and flag staff personnel live here. If you turn left and head aft down the main starboard passageway, you pass compartments filled with the hydraulic cylinders for the arresting-gear system. These are gigantic, filling the space between the two main corridors. The compartments here are also even more spotlessly clean than the rest of the ship, since one of the first signs of trouble in a hydraulic system is telltale leaks of fluid.
Farther aft are many of the squadron ready rooms. These large spaces are the headquarters for the various flying squadrons and detachments attached to the carrier's embarked air wing. The ready room is the inner sanctum of a flying squadron, a combination of clubhouse, rest area, and meeting/ briefing/planning center. Since the rules of naval aviation allow a freedom of speech and expression that would not be tolerated in other areas aboard ship, ready rooms are extremely private places (where life as a naval aviator is seen at its most raw and splendid). This means that they are for aviators and only aviators, and permission is required before anyone else is allowed inside.
Ready rooms are wondrous places, filled with historic photos, trophies, and plaques from the unit's past. At the front of the ready room is the desk for the squadron duty officer and a large white board for briefings and discussions. There also are rows of the most comfortable chairs you will ever sit in. Based on a design that predates the Second World War, they are soft but firm, with thick leather covers embossed with the squadron's colors and logo. They can also recline for a short nap between sorties, and have fold-down writing tables for scribbling notes.
At the rear of the room is a small enclosed area where the terminal for the Tactical Aircrew Mission Planning System (TAMPS) is located. TAMPS is an automated system that allows air crews to perform route and mission planning. Since it can take into account effects like terrain masking and enemy air defense weapons envelopes, TAMPS is a major improvement over the old system of paper maps, photos, and air crew intuition. After each squadron does their planning over the networked TAMPS system, the staff of the air wing can review an entire strike/mission plan before the mission is flown.
After leaving the ready room, we'll head forward. After we've passed through about a third of the ship, the tile changes from normal Navy gray to a bright blue, meaning that we have reached what the crew calls "blue tile country." This is the central command and control complex for both the ship and the carrier battle group. The deck in "blue tile country" is subdivided into a series of spaces, each dedicated to a different set of warfare tasks. These include:
• Combat Information Center (CIC)-This is the battle nerve center of the ship, with displays for all of the ship's sensors, as well as information acquired from data links and national sources (the DoD term for reconnaissance satellites, aircraft, and other systems). The CIC is specifically designed to present all the available data on the combat situation to the officers making the decisions about how to "fight" the ship. Filled with consoles, terminals, and big-screen displays, this space has separate zones for antisub, antiair, and antisurface warfare, communications, damage control, and other functions. Back in World War II a captain normally fought his ship from the bridge, but today's Arleigh Burke or Phillip Vian will normally be found at a glowing console within a dimly lit CIC. Aircraft carriers' CICs are somewhat different from those of other ships. On a carrier, not all of the terminals and personnel are in a single room, as they are on an Aegis cruiser or destroyer. This better hardens the ship against attack, and avoids a huge and overmanned space, which could be destroyed by a single hit. Thus, the various warfare specialties-antiair (AAW), antisubmarine (ASW), antisurface (ASUW), etc.-have their own small control centers, which forward their data into the main CIC.
• Carrier Air Traffic Control Center (CATCC)-The CATCC is a control center for handling airspace and traffic control around the battle group. This one is different from a local FAA control center, in that it moves with the ship and has the ability to data-link information from offboard sensor systems like Aegis ships and AEW aircraft (E-2Cs, E-3's, etc.).
• Tactical Flag Command Center-The TFCC is essentially a duplicate in miniature of the CIC. The difference is that the TFCC is specially configured to maximize access to data that flag officers (i.e., admirals/ battle group commanders) need. To support this requirement, the TFCC was developed with the same kinds of large-screen displays and workstations that you would find aboard the Aegis ships that screen the carrier. (The TFCC used to be called "Flag Plot," but that space now resides up on the island.)
• Joint Intelligence Center (JIC)-The Joint Intelligence Center is a clearinghouse for information required by the ship, the battle group, and embarked air units. Analysts in the JIC can draw from vast databases of National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) maps, satellite photography, and anything else the intelligence community provides. The JIC staff is a "rainbow" organization from every unit in the battle group, as well as from other services and intelligence organizations. Even better, they can probably tell you what it all means.
• Ships Signals Exploitation Space (SSES)-This small sealed space is for the really secret stuff: "exploitation" of enemy radio signals and electronic emissions. Equipped with data links to national and theater-level intelligence systems, the SSES can provide battle group leaders with up-to-date information on enemy intentions and activities. Only specially cleared intelligence and communications technicians are allowed inside.