ABOARD USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN – The leader of all coalition ships in the Persian Gulf stands in the war room, in front of 10 feet of bright, graphically enhanced video screens.
Rear Adm. John Kelly, commander of three aircraft carrier battle groups in the region, talks about the readiness of his forces and how the war room – known as the Tactical Flag Command Center – functions.
Kelly said Sunday that his fighting forces are ready if called upon to attack Iraq.
“People are highly trained, and they understand why they are here, and they are able to execute at a moment’s notice,” he said.
The USS Kitty Hawk, USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Constellation conducted Operation Southern Watch missions Sunday. About 200 planes were launched from the three carriers’ flight decks, with about 60 flying over Iraq.
The war room tracked all that movement on a complex screen that displayed a color map of the entire Gulf region showing all coalition and civilian ships and aircraft. Although the screen appeared cluttered with about 300 tracks, Kelly said it actually was a light traffic day.
“This is the tactical environment we are living with day in and day out,” Kelly said.
If the United States attacks Iraq, which seems imminent, the screen will likely appear doubly or triply cluttered, with coalition planes and Tomahawk missiles headed toward Iraq.
Personnel monitoring the screens will have to wade through the information to paint a clear picture of activity for Kelly and those he serves.
“What you are looking at is not just military tracks, you are looking at all the civilian merchants out there, looking at civilian aircraft, helicopters that are supporting the oil rigs and everything else,” he said.
Coalition ships in the northern Persian Gulf will have to be on constant alert for Iraqi anti-ship cruise missiles. The war room provides information to all ships and aircraft in the region of any impending threats.
“With all of that, it is very challenging,” Kelly said. “We have to be extremely disciplined on how we look at the tracks coming out. We need to use every tool available to assist in identification because comparatively speaking there’s not a lot Iraq can send our way, but we will have a great number of aircraft, both U.S. and coalition, at risk.”
With the amount of air traffic above Iraq during a war, the command center will be critical to decision-makers on ships and the ground and crews in planes.
The vast information coming into the war room and being deciphered must also be screened when sent back out to pilots. Too much information can be detrimental.
Kelly said the Navy can move more information to planes faster than ever before, so it has to be careful.
“It is very much a challenge not to overload the air crew and get them the information they need to do their job and not flood them with other information.”
The command centers aboard U.S. and coalition ships can pass information silently and more quickly than radio or phone using software similar to instant messaging on the Web.
“It’s a technology that’s growing rapidly within the military,” Kelly said. “It’s a mixed blessing.”
Chris Barron, military affairs reporter for The Sun in Bremerton, arrived Feb. 26 aboard the Everett-based aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and will be reporting from the Persian Gulf through at least March 23.
Barron will report on the ship’s crew and their activities. He will respond to reader questions about the crew, the ship and his experiences. To submit a question to him, e-mail Barron at
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