Established 1936 – John A. Collins, President

EMBASSY SUITES BY HILTON, GRAND RAPIDS DOWNTOWN

Big E's Sports Grille

710 Monroe Avenue NW, Grand Rapids

WEDNESDAY, AUGUTS 12, 2026 – 7:00 AM

Picture yourself on a 4.5 acre expanse of steel, covered with cloverleaves or cleats, used to tie down aircraft. The ship is underway and looking up into the halyards, you see the two signal flags, Foxtrot and Corpen, flapping in the breeze as the ship is moving at about 30 knots. Stand off to one side as the whine of jets coming alive, little trucks moving the planes to one of four catapults, and the absolutely beautiful rhythm of the deck crew in their different colored vests, looking like a rainbow wardrobe performing a ballet. Each color signifies a different task.

There is anonymity on the flight deck as each person is wearing a helmet and tinted goggles. The pilots don’t need to know who is standing in front of his/her aircraft, but only need to know what that person does.

We have the narrative of a former Sundowner, a crew member of VF-111 aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), describing flight operations. Phil VanderWall will describe the typical launch and recovery process.

Invocation: Eric Nelson
Introduction: Paul Chardoul

Aircraft Carriers

1. “But here am I, riding this steel behemoth – the most ominous killing machine ever conceived; a weapon of war with the innocuous name of carrier. It transports our crew and air wing personnel to the Oriental dens of sin. It takes us to the blood-soaked terrain of the Vietnamese. It is, in a single thought, one of the most obscene but amazingly brilliant products of human ingenuity.”
   ~ Gerald Maclennon, God, Bombs & Viet Nam: Based on the Diary of a 20-Year-Old Navy Enlisted Man in the Vietnam Air War - 1967

2. "Flight operations aboard U.S. Navy aircraft carriers... succeed under trying circumstances, performing daily a number of highly complex technical tasks in which they cannot afford to 'fail.'" 
   ~Organizational Researchers on High-Reliability Systems

3. Aircraft carriers are described as four and a half sovereign acres of U.S. territory, representing the ultimate high-reliability organization where young sailors manage immense daily risks.